Lindy Thackston Goes on Record with pressdog

Lindy Thackston. Whether you call her the New IndyCar Pit Hotty, I Am Lindy or just LindyCar, the former Indy 500 Festival Princess spends her work days sprinting up and down the pits to get the skinny for the customers (fans).

Check below for her hints about the famous pit sky lair, how geeked she is for spending May at The Speedway, her confessed love of the firesuit and so much more. For more background on Lindy's journey from regular Indy 500 attendee to TV news reporter and hurricane chaser to motorsports sideline person, visit lindythackston.com.

pressdog: We read in your most excellent Q&A with Will of isitmayyet.com that you were facing a challenge in going from 40-second ALMS pit stops to 9-second IndyCar stops. How's that going for you? What has been more difficult than anticipated? Easier than you thought?

Lindy: It’s actually a lot easier than I thought it would be! Not sure why it didn’t dawn on me that it’s easier to talk for 9 seconds than for 40. The most difficult part of it is when several are pitting at once and our producer is trying to get to each one of us before our car leaves… that can get pretty hectic.

pressdog: What do you think fans are looking for in their TV race coverage?

Lindy: I think they want us to take them places they can’t go on their own. They want to feel like they are there. They want to hear from lots of drivers, not just the most popular few. They want knowledgeable and easy-to-listen-to-announcers as their link between them and the race. I think they want to see on the screen the throttle and other readings while riding along on an onboard camera. I could probably go on and on, but most importantly, they don’t want us to stop coverage because our time slot is over. Versus lets us keep going, and fans seem to love it.

pressdog: You've been around the Indy 500 your entire life, even serving as festival princess in 2001. I see on your site you won't be doing the actual race, but are you going to be working from the track in May? If so, how weirded out will that make you?

Lindy: I will basically be living there during the month of May! Although we are not covering the actual race, we are broadcasting 30 hours of coverage, including bump day, qualifying, pole day, carb day, a preview show, and a post race show. (View the Versus May schedule here.)

You are right -- I am a little weirded out -- mainly at the fact that I have come full circle, in a way. Being a 500 princess set me on my television career path. I met Scott Blumenthal, the then general manager of WISH-TV. I interned there, then interned at WISH’s sister station WLFI in Lafayette while in my final semester at Purdue. I was on-air as an intern, which landed me my first TV job in Illinois. I moved to a Florida television station next and got mixed in with the American Le Mans Series, which led me to IndyCar.

We are only two races in, but the IndyCar Series feels like home, and I think race day will be a little overwhelming for me.

pressdog: Were your mom and dad on the phone to everyone they ever met when you got the IndyCar gig?

Lindy: YES! Along with my grandparents, aunts, uncles… They are proud. And I’m just happy they can finally watch me on TV without having to visit me out of state.

pressdog: Do you have your LINDYCAR personalized license plates yet? Or are you going the tattoo route?

Lindy: That is such a good idea! I can’t believe how much that name has caught on… I like it. I get LindyCar, I am Lindy, and I just heard a new one last week: Lindyanapolis.

pressdog: Now that you've seen IndyCar fans up close from the other side of the mic, what strikes you about them? How would you describe an IndyCar fan?

Lindy: I think there are two types: There are Indy 500 fans, and there are IndyCar Series fans. I was surprised at how welcoming they are, and how loyal. I think they are smart because they understand it’s not just guys and girls driving in a circle… they get the strategy involved.

pressdog: Do the teams and drivers seem willing to talk to you or do you have to sprint after them and leg-whip them to the ground to get a word?

Lindy: I haven’t had to leg-whip anyone yet, but I’m not above that.

Seriously though, the teams and drivers understand they are there because of the fans, and we are one of their most important links to their fans. They are all very happy with the coverage on Versus, especially the time dedicated to pre- and post-race. Although we try our best not to make them stand around and wait, I have yet to have one of them tell me they didn’t have the time or they didn’t want to talk because they’d had a bad day on the track.

There are plenty of times I have to grab their arm and yank them toward me because they are getting hugs and high fives, but so far, no leg-whips.

pressdog: Do you watch yourself -- a replay of the broadcast -- and critique your performance? Where do you get your feedback, aside from pressdog.com?

Lindy: Aside from pressdog.com, I get feedback from my producers, IMS and Versus execs, and others seasoned in the fields of TV and motorsports. I do watch myself -- although I hate it -- but it’s critical in making yourself better and stronger. Just because I landed this job, doesn’t mean I don’t have room to improve. I watch other motorsports pit reporters, and I ask a lot of questions.

Although I hear the feedback is pretty positive, I never Google myself!!

pressdog: It looks from your site that you went to college looking to be a TV reporter. Did "race pit reporter" cross your mind or was it just something that opened up and you one day said "that would be cool."?

Lindy: I’ve always had a very open mind about where my career led me. And I still do. Pit reporting is something that opened up to me out of nowhere when a producer saw my work online a few years and sent me an e-mail asking if I knew anything about motorsports … and I said, “that would be cool.”

pressdog: Jack Arute has the sky lair. Are you and Robbie Floyd jealous of it, or do you guys actually hang and party in the lair after the race?

Lindy: Robbie and I spread vegetable shortening all over the sky lair floor after the track closes.(pressdog: kinky.)

Kidding.

I think I might have the sky lair in Kansas for pre-race. Stay tuned.

pressdog: Away from the track on work weekends, are you closing down bars, partying like a rock star? In your room reading books? How do you pass what little down time you have?

Lindy: I’m still trying to get used to the schedule. Right now, I’m exhausted once I finally get home because my race weekends are jam packed with work and events… and then I only have a few days till I’m back at the airport. I’m actually pretty busy working on the next race. I do radio and Internet interviews, hang with my brother (we go for sushi a lot and occasionally I try to keep up with him on a workout), hang with my dog Baxter, and I spend way too much time on Facebook. I also just moved in to my new place so I am trying to get it furnished. Right now it’s just me, Baxter, and an air mattress. Rereading this, I sound pretty boring.

pressdog: What's your biggest fear of pit reporting? Accidentally f-bombing? Passing out? Getting hit by a flying wheel gun? Having Danica go all Jet Li on you?

Lindy: Catching fire and missing an obvious question.

pressdog: Sounds like from your site that you hear from fans? Are they nice to you? Is it more than you expected?

Lindy: It is WAY more than I expected. I’m very down to earth and have a hard time accepting people want to hear from me. I think no matter how well-known I get down the road in my career, I’ll still feel like I’m really not that big of a deal. I feel like I need to thank and answer everyone, and I guess that’s another thing I spend my off days doing…

pessdog: Do you get assaulted for autographs? Is that bizarre?

I don’t usually get assaulted, but I do get asked a lot for autographs and more so for pictures. Mainly happens when I’m in my firesuit. It always surprises me that people know my name since we are so early in the season.

pressdog: When you first started seeing yourself on TV in the famous pony-tail-and-head-set look, did that take some getting used to?

Lindy: Not really. I’d like to wear my hair down sometimes because the pony-tail and headset give me a headache (I turn my headset up full blast), but it’s just way too hot for that…

pressdog: Talk to me about the firesuit. Do you love it? Is it so super comfortable you like to wear it around the house? Maybe slap on some pearls and you're ready for evening wear?

Lindy: I love the firesuit! The best part is having my name on it. They clean it during the week so unfortunately I don’t get to bring it home. But I’m hoping I get to keep it when the season is over. It’s really pretty comfortable, just hot.

pressdog: I know you are from Indiana, but I would have sworn I heard a whiff of North or South Carolina in your voice? Are my ears just whack on that?

Lindy: Funny you bring that up because just recently I was arguing with some people on the road who swear I have an accent. I think I speak with no accent whatsoever! But that’s just me. I talk on air exactly how I talk in person.

pressdog: What's the most exciting element of your job? Where do you always get juiced? Qualifying? Start your engines? Closing laps? Mid-race?

Lindy: The start of the race and the restarts.

pressdog: After the street races, which you are used to with ALMS, we're going to an oval. Your first? What kinds of anticipation, etc. do you have going into Oval Season.

Lindy: This will be the first time I’ve covered an oval race. I’ve obviously been to Indy, and I was at Homestead for testing.

Honestly, I expect it to be a lot easier to get around and I expect to have a lot more room to work in the pits.

I’m also told there to be a lot more chatter on the team radios.

pressdog: If you see Danica, will you tell her pressdog says "hey?"

Lindy: She is in my part of the pits for Kansas… so you can count on it!

You can watch Lindy in her super-comfortable firesuit and listen for her phantom accent at 5:55 PM Saturday (4/25) on for qualifying and Sunday (4/26) at 3:55 PM for the race.

Comments

[Roy Hobbson]

"Catching fire and missing an obvious question."

Line of the year.

(Of course, I may be partial. I have these EXACT same fears when I'm talking to my wife after work.)

[Roy Hobbson]

Oh, and this is some top-shelf shit, Mr. Dog. Very non-mainstream-ish & thus, entertaining. Brilliant work.

[will-isitmayyet.com]

Yet again, excellent work, Mr. Dog.

[Henry - Indy-hp]

Pressdog gets the scoop once again--interview with Action Thackston--cool. I hope I get the chance to chat with her sometime, as a fellow Boilermaker and all.... Keep up the good work, man.

[Squall]

This is yet another example of why Versus is quite superior to ESPN.