This might sound dumb but bring back the flowers

[mattf765]

I always remember seeing the flowers that lined turn 3 and 4 that you could see on the wall cam. Whatever happened to that? That was as much a part of a good Indy telecast as Florence Henderson and Jim Nabors or Paul Page and Jack Arute Am I the only one? It seems like visually, the track has kind of declined lately with the rust stained tops of walls and catch fences. I know the SAFER barrier probably gets in the way of correcting some of this but I miss the good ol' day's(and for me as a 28 year old, that's the late 80's and early 90's.)

You'll see them at about the :31 mark of this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm0AElwE-dM

[Doyouloveit?]

I think they had them last year IIRC

[IceMan35]

You know, I totally agree with you. The flowers are great tradition. But I thought they brought them back last year? Hopefully they continue this year!

[sean26]

I agree 100%, start a petition for christ sake

[Darth Airbox]

I think they had them last year IIRC

bares repeating

[mattf765]

They may very well have brought them back last year but I don't remember seeing them. If so, I hope the continue the tradition.

[Stick500]

I think I'll show up at the race this year with a T-shirt that says "Bring back the Flowers and the Bombs"

[Big Oz]

I think they had them last year IIRC

They did! They brought them back last year. Pay attention people!

[jp]

Weren't they just a couple of flats from The Home Depot?

[Darth Airbox]

Weren't they just a couple of flats from The Home Depot?

Better than a couple of flats from Menards

[PHJIndy]

I just wish they'd cut the grass regularly.

[drdisque]

Weren't they just a couple of flats from The Home Depot?

Correct, this is a common question on the talk of gasoline alley and apparently they're just a couple of flats of flowers from the home improvement store sitting on top of the wall positioned in a way as to look good for the camera.

[Ren Butler]

Yeah, when I sat in turn 4, I seem to recall that the flats were propped up by long sticks. They didn't look so nice when you were actually at the track.

But they definitely added some flair on TV. It partially counteracted all the hot-dog wrappers, plastic bags, and napkins that always seemed to litter the track. IMS has done a great job of beautifying the grounds in the last decade or two.

[Doctorindy]

I walked out to the ones at the exit of T2 one day and took a photo. All it was was some 2x4's propping up a piece of plywood...with some plants in cheap plastic pots. But it looked great on television.

They could buy all the materials and potted plants and bring it back in both turn 2 and turn 4 for probably less than 100 bucks. Really no excuse, it's the little things that used to make the ABC broadcast classy and a nominee for Sports Emmys every year.

[beachracer-xccf]

It was just an ABC Sorts thingy if I recall but it was always a really nice touch to the broadcast.

[Grover]

I know its dumb, but I really hated it when they weren't there and it made me smile last year when I saw them again.

...its the little things...

[11rowsof3]

Ha! That's awesome, I never knew that they were just propped up there for TV, I had always thought with the SAFER installation or something, the area was removed. I had always envisioned a grounds keeper carefully planting and watering the flowers for race day.

Agreed 100%, they always looked great on TV.

[jp]

bares repeating

lol. We should should start a petition to get them to bring back the flyover.

[Ren Butler]

I had always thought with the SAFER installation or something, the area was removed.

The flowers seemed to disappear when they raised the walls for NASCAR. But that might have just been a coincidence.

[cheeseczar]

Flowers at a race track are just a stupidly delicious contrast.
It makes absolutely no sense but it works so well.
It's a reason I always like Martinsville too.

[11rowsof3]

Flowers at a race track are just a stupidly delicious contrast.
It makes absolutely no sense but it works so well.
It's a reason I always like Martinsville too.

That sums it up. Flowers in the foreground of a shot of a Carbon Fiber missile going by at 230 mph. Awesome.

[Doctorindy]

The flowers seemed to disappear when they raised the walls for NASCAR. But that might have just been a coincidence.

They were definitely there for 1993-94 (the first yeasr with the new walls). Might be just coincidence.

Looks like they were absent by the 1996 race. For 96, they had actually changed up some of the camera locations, and those two spots seemed to be not used.

[Doyouloveit?]

The flowers seemed to disappear when they raised the walls for NASCAR. But that might have just been a coincidence.

I want to say they disappeared when the safer barrier was put up, but I could be wrong.

[Doyouloveit?]

25 second mark.

[racer0053]

Flowers at a racetrack make it that much more classy. It's stupid and an insignificant thing to complain about but I say put them by all the wall cams if at all possible because it's something that everyone notices subconsciously, it screams class, and it's cheap and easy. A win win

[ZOOOM]

Nothin like some beautiful roses to enhance o'll Dan'ls trip down the front straight!

ZOOOM

[mattf765]

Maybe I'm in the minority but growing up, I always thought that Indy was a classy event for those with at least a semi sophisticated sense of life. Some have called Indycar the "wine/whine and cheese" series of auto racing but I think at one time that was accurate and everything Indy wanted to be. I don't know if having flowers visible on a worldwide telecast is gimmicky or "cheesy" but for me, personally, it's just a small part of what makes the Indy 500 the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

[Scuff]

At one time there were quite a few flowers inside turn 1 . Peonies, and enough of them that they were able to spell IMS or something like that, with the plants. That was before inside walls when armco and the creek kept cars out of the infield.

[Jim Wilke]

I have a buddy, Mark Diil, who is high up in IMS marketing. He said this was one of the most common questions he got and he made sure it was taken care of.

[illinoise]

I like flowers as much as the next person, and I don't mean to be negative, but when you have 30+ sleek, 200 MPH rocketships screamaing around a track, I'm not exactly paying a whole lot of attention to peonies or marigolds. But, hey, different strokes for different folks.