SPEEDWAY — On the ninth floor of the Pagoda at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is Pagoda Command. On Tuesday morning it’s a little more quiet than a race day, but non the less busy.
“Last week is kind of like a buckle up week with Rev and the Mini Marathon,” Louis Kissinger, the general manager of IMS Operations.
“This is the time to get buttoned up,” said David Letherman, the senior director of IMS Event Personnel. “There’s no new ideas at this point except the ones we don’t know about yet.”
Letherman and Kissinger oversee a lot of what’s going on in Pagoda Command.
“I’m overseeing a variety of different groups, in the easiest way for staffing,” said Kissinger.
“I’m kind of in the nitty gritty on all the operational plans. On race day, I sit here in Pagoda Command, just put out fires,” said Letherman.
They work together on a daily basis to make sure the greatest spectacle in racing goes out without a hitch. And, they’re lifelong friends.
“It’s awesome to work with your best friend,” said Letherman.
“You have to develop that trust to go into war with these folks, it feels like, and really live through some really hard times,” said Kissinger.
The two grew up in Elkhart County, met at Purdue and took part in the Orr Fellowship. The Orr Fellowship is an early career development program connecting recent graduates to companies through out the state.
“Prevent what's known as the brain drain and keep good talent in the state,” said Letherman.
Before working at IMS, the two had never seen the Indy 500 before.
“Because in Northern Indiana, at least we were getting Chicago television, so I didn’t even know the race was on delay in Indianapolis until I was in college,” said Kissinger.
Now they see the race like few others.
“I mean it’s awesome, but with the way that we see things it’s, it’s stressful just with the things that were involved in and the ways that we are working on race day,” said Letherman.
But the payoff is welcoming 350,000 people to the track for one of the largest sporting events in the world.
“You did it safely and you did it well, and I think that’s the payoff. That’s the sense of pride you get,” said Letherman.
