It's something most race fans can only dream of.
Jeff Gotelaer, a spotter in the NTT IndyCar Series, saw his first win with the Arrow McLaren No. 7 team on May 9.
"To get my first win in the IndyCar series at the Brickyard was something I never thought would ever happen," Gotelaer told CK News Today. "As soon as he crossed the line, I bolted to the elevator and onto my golf cart to head to victory circle."
This is Gotelaer's second full year with the team, and in that time the highest driver Christian Lundgaard has finished is second place.
"We have had four second place finishes from the beginning of last year, so it was very special to finally get the win," Gotelaer shared, adding that the race went according to plan. "We took the lead with 16 laps to go and kind of slowly opened up a nice gap to second place. Those last few laps took forever to complete, I was just waiting for a caution or something to happen that could possibly jeopardize the win."
Gotelaer will be spotting for Lundgaard again at the Indy 500 on May 24. It will be extra special this year, as the race will run for the 110th time.
"For the 500, I will be spotting high above turn 1," explained Gotelaer, who will have a co-spotter stationed at turn 3. "The facility is so large. I can only see half the track from any one position."
Despite missing a near crash, that involved Lundgaard's teammate, practice and qualifying for the Indy 500 went well and Gotelaer expects the No. 7 team will have another good result.
"We have made a lot of gains during the five days of practice and should have good balanced car when the green drops on Sunday for the biggest race in the world," he said.
