Drivers see spotters as valuable resources
Critical information must flow quickly from those above
As Scott Dixon’s INDIANAPOLIS car twisted through the air, 20 feet above the track, spitting fire and shattering into hundreds of pieces, all Robbie Fast could do was look on in horror.
Dixon’s spotter for the last nine years, Fast has seen all kinds of on-track disasters, but what he witnessed in May’s Indianapolis 500 still makes him wince. “Indy scared me to death,” Fast said.
From Fast’s perspective — the spotter stand in Turn 1 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — Dixon had two choices after Jay Howard lost control of his car and hit the wall: Move to the high line and risk running straight into Howard or stay low and hope Howard didn’t bounce off the wall and across the track.
Dixon, who had less than a second to decide, stayed low, and it could have cost him his life.
But Fast said Dixon made the right call.
“Earlier in the month, the No. 2 car (Josef Newgarden) did the same thing, and he stayed back up to the wall,” Fast said. “So when Howard hit the wall, it’s one of those crashes where you think, ‘OK, it’s going to come off and go back up.’ So you don’t say, ‘ Go to the top.’ ”
Truth be told, you don’t say much at all. In the split-second before Howard came careening off the wall in front of Dixon, there was no time for Fast to relay instructions. There was nothing he could do but try in vain to warn Dixon of the violence to come. “Up top! Up top! Right there! On the top!” Fast pleaded over the radio. Then silence. “Oooooh. Jesus.”
Dixon escaped that wreck with an injured left ankle and raced the next week.
Fast has become so adept at his craft in his more than a decade atop a spotter’s perch, he’s rarely lacking for work. The Chip Ganassi Racing spotter estimates he’ll work 36 events this season, including Indy cars, stock cars and sports cars.
Oval races such as those at Indianapolis, Pocono Raceway and the one this weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park are what Fast and other spotters live for. On road and street courses, it’s difficult for spotters to see as much of the track as they can at ovals, so their jobs are limited to a turn here or there. However, from atop their perches on ovals, they usual- ly can see everything.
Their job is to keep drivers apprised of what’s going on around them and keep them out of danger. Is there an accident ahead? How big is the gap between cars? Who’s sneaking up to pass?
While facts such as these are important, the foundation of the relationship between a driver and spotter is built on one thing: trust.
“I trust my spotters 100%,” IndyCar veteran Tony Kanaan said. “The closest relationship a driver can have apart from engineer is with the spotter. You have to trust him. If he says I’m clear going down, them I’m going down. And if it’s not clear, that’s a problem. I think it’s the second-most stressful job in racing, apart from driver. ... They are making decisions for us, and things happen quickly at
220 miles per hour.”
Indy cars can travel the length of a football field in a second, so spotters have to see things before they happen and quickly spit out the information. A split-second late, and the results could be disastrous.
“You are so focused on what’s happening when you’re doing
220,” IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe said. “You’re looking so far in front of you to see what’s coming, and having someone that’s looking beside and behind you paint that picture for you, it’s invaluable.”
Painting that picture is an art form. No driver is the same, so the communication is different for each.
Take Chip Ganassi Racing spotter Jason Reiner and his driver, Max Chilton. Reiner is a fast-talking New Yorker. Chilton grew up in Surrey, near London.
“English vs. English are two different languages,” Reiner said with a laugh before explaining that there is a significant difference in the racing terminology used in Europe and the USA.
The other part of the communication equation is how much is too much?
“Usually, I like them to be more quiet and let me do my thing. I have control of things. You can’t rely on them 100%,” Kanaan said of his relationship with spotter Bruce Kempton.
But Hinchcliffe works differently with his spotter, Bob Perona. “Knowledge is power,” Hinchcliffe said. “The more information you have, the better. If you’re able to process it while you’re out there, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t. The guys I know that tell their spotters to shut up and do the bare minimum are the guys I sometimes am terrified to be around at (tracks such as Pocono).”