I’ve always followed the Indy 500. However this month will be from a different perspective. I have the fortunate opportunity to intern with WISH-TV in Indianapolis this summer to continue my passion of sports broadcasting. In turn, I will get an up-close, behind the scenes view of the race and drivers.
On Friday, all 40 Indianapolis 500 hopefuls joined together outside Macys department store in Castleton to sign autographs and greet fans. It was a unique experience from the very beginning.
Despite the congested traffic, we got out there ahead of the 6pm start to setup and meet those involved. The people at IZOD were very friendly as was a PR director for Macys, Liz from Chicago.
They treated us (media) very nice. We each got a bag full of 5 t-shirts and a hat. Another perk of this business!
The drivers began to arrive at 5 til 6pm. You learn with experience, like anything else, who the nicest drivers and teams are. Some drivers let the popularity get to their head…Danica Patrick for example.
Ashley Adamson, a great young sports reporter I was with was hoping to get a quick minute interview with driver of the #7 car. We talked to Haley her public relations director and of course were denied. Haley says that “I wish you would have contacted me before hand and we could have made it work. Danica has dinner plans with her husband I’m sorry.”
Really? Maybe two minutes of her time? Nope…too “big-time” to do so. She immediately darts to her car surrounded by her posse of security. So instead we head over to Team Penske requesting the same with Helio Castroneves but this time were successful…the same request and the 3-time Indy 500 winner is more than willing to do an interview and is always one of the best sound bytes.
It’s humbling to see a “big-time” driver like Castroneves open to interviews whereas an unproven diva like Patrick refuses. They’re still arguably the two most popular drivers in IndyCar, however Patrick remains unproven.
Scott…drop the hammeron Danica…nice!