Logansport native Jacob Spence works as a member of the Holmatro Safety Team during IndyCar Series practice for the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Photo by Phill Dials for Cass County Communication Network

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Logansport native helps keep IndyCar safe as part of Holmatro Safety Team

Last Updated on May 25, 2017 by cassnetwork

Photos by Phill Dials for Cass County Communication Network*

If you’re headed to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend or you plan to watch the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 on TV, keep an eye out for Logansport native Jacob Spence.

Spence, a 1997 graduate of Logansport High School, is starting his sixth season as a member of the Holmatro Safety Team, which provides trackside support at all IndyCar Series events.

According to their website, “the Holmatro Safety Team is represented by four-person crews of professional firefighters and paramedics on each of three trucks. Two are safety vehicles with state-of-the-art Holmatro rescue equipment onboard, while the third is utilized for track clean-up. As a world leader in rescue equipment, our gear is called upon everyday to save lives. What we learn in racing helps us to keep ahead of the new technologies that will ultimately make their way into the cars that our customers will deal with on the street. The Holmatro Safety Team will continue to be the world leader in motorsports safety and on track response.”

Spence is a firefighter/EMT with the team, so on any given day, he’s either in the back of the Holmatro Safety trucks or walking pit lane.

“If we’re on the trucks we respond to all of the crashes from any driver,” Spence said in an interview Wednesday, May 17 before practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “My responsibility is either to check for fire or to check for fluids on the track, depending on which position I’m in on the truck. Once the medic has made sure the driver’s ok and he doesn’t need any extra help and once any fire’s put out or any fluid is taken care of, then I work on getting the car ready to take off the track.”

Last Wednesday, Spence was in pit lane, and that’s where he’ll be on Sunday, May 28.

“Our responsibilities are walking up and down pit lane watching the pit stops. That’s our main thing, is to watch the pit stops, make sure that no crew members get hit, nobody gets injured, watch for fire where there’s refueling going on, any fluids that may be coming off the car and then any equipment that may leave the pit box and go bouncing down pit lane or rolling out of pit lane that may cause a problem.”

Spence worked in McHale Performing Arts Center as a “techie” in high school, and continued his education at Purdue University.

“I know it will shock a lot of  the Logansport alumni that went to high school with us, but I did go to school for theater design and technology after the McHale stuff,” he said. “But unlike the ’97 Tattler, I did not go back to run McHale Auditorium. Ken Fraza’s still there.”

“About my second year into college, while still doing a lot of the theater work and concert work, I got asked to join a local volunteer fire department up there and fell in love with it and put myself through EMT school while I was there at the school,” Spence said. “I decided basically in my senior year that I wanted to change jobs and become a fireman instead.”

He’s now a captain for the Indianapolis Fire Department, where he’s worked for 16 years.

“In my role, I’m what’s called the battalion executive officer. There’s a battalion chief over each battalion; the fire department’s made up of seven battalions. I assist that chief in running the day to day operations of the battalion. We oversee five firehouses with about 50 firefighters on any given shift. We make sure everybody’s got the manpower tht they need, staffing they need, any equipment issues and then on emergency scenes, I help with the running of that, making sure everyone’s staying safe, taken care of.”

In January, he received the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) Service Award, presented to local Indianapolis-area personnel who have, over an extended period, demonstrated outstanding service to the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) International. He was awarded the Department of Public Safety Distinguished Service Award in 2015.

Spence’s love for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” began in Logansport. He doesn’t remember exactly how old he was – maybe 9 or 10 – and his dad, Don, won tickets.

“The Marsh there in Logansport was doing a giveaway,” Spence said. “That was my first 500 and I’ve been in love ever since with it. Listened to it on the radio, I remember sitting in Logan, we were in the area where you couldn’t watch it on tv, so we listened to it on the radio. My mom is a huge race fan. I have an uncle that did some pit crew work as well for a short time while I was a kid, so I’d listen to his stories. So yeah, I’ve been a happy race ran for many years.”

Spence and his wife, Lecia, worked on the same ambulance service. She’s a nurse in the emergency room at Community North and in surgery and recovery for St. Vincent. They reside in the Indianapolis area with their  German shepherd, Greta, a one-year-old rescue dog.

He joined the Holmatro Safety Team in 2012.

“My lieutenant that I work with in the fire department is on the safety team and he knew I was a big race fan. We were actually at a work party and my wife said “Well, why aren’t you going to get him on the safety team?’ and he said ‘Well, he’s never asked.’ So, he looked at me and said ‘Do you want to be on the safety team?’ And I said ‘Well, I’d like to but that’s your job,’ and he said “Put an application in.”

This year, he’s scheduled to work 11 of the 16 IndyCar Series races, including the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500.

“On race day, I’ll be working in the pit road this year,” he says. “There are four of us. This is obviously the largest field for any of the races and it involves a lot of cars, 33 cars, and it’s a long pit lane, and it’s one of the busiest pit lanes we deal with.”

The Indianapolis 500 is known for its traditions, and the Holmatro Safety Team has their own.

“We line up at the head of the field,” Spence says. “The IndyCar ministry people come out and we do a prayer. We do the lineup for the colors and the National Anthem, then we all shake hands and make sure everyone stays safe, say a little word of encouragement and go from there.”

As for his own personal race day traditions: “Just take it all in,” he says.

“There’s nothing that compares to this track,” he says of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, “and I know, especially for guys that have been on the team for 20-30 years, last year’s ‘500’ was definitely surreal, with it being sold out.”

His most memorable experience to date?

“Definitely last year, the 100th running of the Indy 500. Standing on the front stretch at the beginning of the race. When I started coming to the race in the early 90s, late 80s, it was still really heavily attended. Obviously everyone knows it’s kind of been in flux some in the last few years, but it was so packed. I’ve never seen anything like that, just the amount of people, all the stuff, all for racing. We could hear them in the trucks as we were driving around. It was so loud, so that was a sight to see. All of the tracks do something special. There’s a lot of stuff for the Armed Forces and the veterans which is always good. The flyovers always give you chills.”

Because of the local TV blackout, WRTV6 will air the 101st Indianapolis 500 Presented by PennGrade Motor Oil at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 28. The race begins at 12:19 p.m. on Sunday.

Visit IMS.com to purchase tickets and for more information on the complete Month of May schedule at IMS.

 

*Grand Prix photo from IMS Media

 

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