INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Safety Patrol, commonly known as “Yellow Shirts” because of their jersey color, is an integral part of the success of the Indianapolis 500 each year.
During May and other IMS events, they can be seen parking cars, directing traffic, providing directions, patrolling grandstands, operating elevators, checking IDs and tickets, getting celebrities from point A to point B, tidying up and many more other tasks.
They are true ambassadors not just of the track but of the entire sport, of the state of Indiana and even of the United States due to the many overseas fans of the Indy 500, and they strive to show true “Hoosier hospitality” to all.
“This year we hired 675 security patrols and scheduled them for the month of May,” said David Letherman, the IMS officer who directs the security patrol. “The Yellow Shirts are empowered through the IMS College program, under which we have hired 160 college students to work at various locations around the route in operations, ticketing, credentials, customer service, marketing and sustainability.”
Many people think the Yellow Shirts are all volunteers, but they are paid seasonal workers.
It can be fun to be one, but it’s not always easy.
Two people who know the job inside out are Jacque and Bill Powers of Martinsville, Indiana, who will retire after Sunday’s Indy 500 after 32 years of service as yellow shirts. They are both Gold Badge members of the Safety Patrol. Bill is the stand captain of the Pit Road Terrace grandstand and Jacque is his assistant.
Both have retired from their regular jobs. Bill was a mechanic for Rolls Royce and Jacque was a suspension supervisor at Martinsville High School for 18 years. They were both racing fans before becoming yellow shirts in 1992, although Bill is quick to point out, “Jacque more than me.”
“As a kid, at least one Sunday in May, we’d get out of church, go to the IMS and watch the race cars, and then we’d go to Weir Cook Airport and watch the planes land,” Jacque recalls. “That was our May tradition.”
Bill was a drag racer for a while and still enjoys visiting oval field tracks like Paragon (Ind.) Speedway, which is near her home.
They became yellow shirts in a roundabout way.
“One day, while I was chatting with a friend, I said something about Danny Sullivan,” Jacque said. “Our friend told us he was working as a yellow shirt at the circuit and one thing led to another and we became yellow shirts too.”
Now, 32 years later, they can look back on a multitude of events.
“We used to do everything except air races,” Jacque said. “We have competed in the F-1 race, the Brickyard and the motorcycle race in addition to the 500 mile race. We’ve also been working on special events that happen at the track like a Christmas party at the hospital, the Easter egg hunt, the Mutt Strut and the mini marathon and stuff like that.”
Meeting drivers and other celebrities – and in some cases even becoming close friends – was a real benefit. There are lots of driver and celebrity stories and a house full of Indy auto parts and other memorabilia.
But being a yellow shirt also means putting in long hours, standing for long periods, taking very long walks and being exposed to the elements. Sunburn and leg cramps are the rule and not the exception. Sometimes they have to stand on black asphalt for hours, and the Indiana sun can be brutal.
So it can rain.
The 2021 Indianapolis 500. (Photo by Chris Owens/IndyCar)
“If it rains, we still have to be in front of the stands,” said Jacque. “When these aluminum stands are wet they are slippery and fans usually come down the stairs to escape the rain. If someone slips and is injured, we have to fill out an accident report. The weather can vary greatly.
“We will move from sunburn to wearing a winter coat under the yellow shirt. The Grand Prix can be cool and wet.
“We need to watch the crowd for signs that someone is suffering from heat stroke or drinking too much,” she added. “We help them figure out which section their seats are in because that can be confusing. We make sure they don’t have glass bottles, don’t stand on the seats and don’t smoke; that kind of thing. On race day we have to remind people to take their tickets with them when they leave their seats.”
The grandstands monitored by the powers that be are temporary and will only be set up for the 500.
“There is never a Section 32; it goes from 31 to 33,” said Jacques. “We have a group of regulars that come every day and every year and have made their own Section 32 sign that they DJ on. Of course they take it off on race days otherwise other fans would be really confused trying to find their place!”
There were definitely challenges with some members of the public.
“Once four little kids got drunk and I endured a lot of profanity,” said Bill. “I endured it as long as I could and then I called the police on the radio and the police got her out.”
There is annual training for the Yellow Shirts each year to provide guidance on working with the public and on possible situations and challenges.
“One of the things they emphasize is not to say, ‘I don’t know,'” Bill said. “We need to make a call or use our radios and get an answer to any question that comes up.”
People are both the best part of the job and the worst part of the job.
“We met a lot of people – fans, team owners, sponsors, drivers, driver wives, movie stars,” Jacque said. “Being a yellow shirt allowed us to join CARA Charities before it broke up and our son won one of the Rich Vogler Scholarships.”
The pair also worked various positions at Chicagoland Speedway, both in the pits and in the garage, and they worked at Champ Car as pit watchers. Once responsible for making sure cars’ pop-off valves were sealed, Bill operated the radar gun at a race in Cleveland to spot cars speeding in the pit lane, and they recorded tire temperatures in the pit lane pit lane.
“Those were all things that we had to do because we started out as a yellow shirt and we just got to know different people,” Jacque said. “We’ve made friends over the years with people whose names we don’t know. They know our names from our name tags, but we don’t know theirs.”
“There’s Paul and Mike; One sits on one side of the handrail and the other sits on the other side,” said Bill. “I know Paul’s name; It’s Paul Johnson. He’s been there for 68 years and Mike’s for about 50 years, but I don’t know Mike’s last name.”
“One has a guide dog; He’s another regular,” said Jacque.
Names are a secondary issue if the friendships are true.
Upon learning that one of the fans sitting in her department needed a kidney transplant, Jacque requested a donor kidney.
“It was funny; I didn’t know what to put him on the application,” she said. “I had her phone number, so I called his wife and got his name. That’s the kind of relationships we have with people that we’ve bonded with.”
They weren’t a match, but the offer was definitely appreciated. What will they do for the 108th edition of the Indy 500 in 2024?
“Jacque will be here every day that she can and I’ll come back for Pole Day and Carb Day and we’ll probably go to Kentucky to watch it live on TV when it’s faded out on local TV,” he said Bill. “On the days that we are at the track we will probably buy tickets at Pit Road Terrace because we have a lot of friends there.
“We’re both also members of the Indianapolis 500 Old Timers, so we’re going to see people we know there,” Jacque said.
“When we work, we get paid to look after the people, not the race cars,” she added. “Now it’s our turn to watch the race cars.”
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