Nobody does it like Jim unfortunately. Him doing that and Florence singing "God Bless America" were some of the best staples of the 500 every year. Hoping to get back up there this year but we'll see how the vaccine rollout progresses. Penske has made some major changes to the facility.
Looks like the track has had a major facelift. A shame they could not roll out last year. Everyone involved scranbled to make the race a success. I followed the logistics daily to see what they said and did. That said....they are really looking forward to putting it together this year.
I feel isolated up here in Muncie. Tommy and I attended downtown events surrounding the FF and Regionals here since the 90s but this year, even with all the games right here, seems do distant. Guys in town and can't hang with them. Russ and Rob close and no repartee.
The state and local news, papers and business' are going all out to host and make things safe. Some of downtown is still boarded up, burned and broken from this summmer's "peaceful protests" so it is probably better not to have hte normal influx of folks to the city. From what I see so far this tourney is doing well on all fronts.