{"id":30834,"date":"2017-11-09T08:00:56","date_gmt":"2017-11-09T14:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/?post_type=newsroom&p=30834"},"modified":"2023-03-02T14:03:49","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T20:03:49","slug":"meet-rick-fowler-traffic-manager-indianapolis-motor-speedway-tax-office-fixer","status":"publish","type":"newsroom","link":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/around-block\/about-us\/meet-rick-fowler-traffic-manager-indianapolis-motor-speedway-tax-office-fixer\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Rick Fowler: Traffic manager for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and tax office IT fixer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

When Rick Fowler was a kid, his mom told him not to play in traffic. He didn\u2019t listen.<\/p>\n

All grown up now, he\u2019s surrounded<\/em> by traffic, spring through fall, at one of the world\u2019s busiest racetracks: the Indianapolis Motor Speedway \u2013 home of the storied Indy 500.<\/p>\n

When not in the tax office during tax season, Fowler manages a team of \u201cyellow shirts<\/a>\u201d \u2013 members of the track\u2019s Safety Patrol who oversee traffic and parking for visitors to track events. (Guess what the yellow shirts wear while working?)<\/p>\n

Although there\u2019s plenty of parking outside<\/em> the speedway, Fowler\u2019s crew directs vehicles that park inside<\/em> the 2.5-mile track, called inside the oval. And there\u2019s a trick to that.<\/p>\n

To get inside the oval, vehicles must pass through one of six tunnels that go underneath<\/em> the track \u2013 where bottlenecks and hotheads sometimes merge. And that\u2019s where the fun begins.<\/p>\n

Every which way<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Inside and outside those tunnels, Fowler and crew stand in the middle of intersections, signaling and motioning motorists safely through \u2013 with nothing but air between them and moving vehicles.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur job is to protect our visitors, help them get where they\u2019re going and answer their questions,\u201d says Fowler, a seasonal field systems technician for H&R Block based in Fishers, Indiana. \u201cIt\u2019s part of the whole guest experience at the speedway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, things don\u2019t always roll along smoothly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf traffic isn\u2019t moving fast enough, things can heat up, especially when people are partying and having a good time,\u201d says Fowler.<\/p>\n

And, while Fowler has never been seriously injured, he\u2019s had some close calls.<\/p>\n

In the line of duty<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been hit by a tram full of people, when a car wouldn\u2019t stop and the tram couldn\u2019t swerve,\u201d says Fowler. \u201cIt didn\u2019t hurt.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I almost got hit by A.J. Foyt,\u201d a professional driver who won the Indy 500 four times.<\/p>\n

Apparently, Foyt and his wife were driving in a personal vehicle, inside the oval \u2013 and having a lively discussion.<\/p>\n

\u201cA.J. kept changing his turn signal, this way and then that, and almost clipped me in the middle of an intersection,\u201d says Fowler. \u201cWhen he stopped his car, A.J. said, \u2018Oh, man, I\u2019m sorry. My wife has me so confused.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Transferable skills<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While confusion may surface in parking lots, it has no place in the tax office. That\u2019s why Fowler travels around the region, keeping computers, printers and related devices in top form \u2013 and plying the same interpersonal skills that serve him well at the race track.<\/p>\n

It not only makes for a well-oiled working environment, it\u2019s good for the client experience.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen clients come to our tax offices, we want to make their visit enjoyable and memorable,\u201d says Fowler. \u201cI\u2019m here to fix any IT problems and reassure people that everything will be OK.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Rick Fowler was a kid, his mom told him not to play in traffic. He didn\u2019t listen. All grown up now, he\u2019s surrounded by traffic, spring through fall, at one of the world\u2019s busiest racetracks: the Indianapolis Motor Speedway \u2013 home of the storied Indy 500. When not in the tax office during tax […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":30866,"menu_order":0,"template":"","tags":[],"news-categories":[23376,23377],"class_list":["post-30834","newsroom","type-newsroom","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-categories-around-block","news-categories-about-us"],"acf":{"post_rest_thumbnail_alt_id":null},"yoast_head":"Meet Rick Fowler: Traffic manager for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and tax office IT fixer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Meet Rick Fowler: Traffic manager for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and tax office IT and computer fixer for H&R Block.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/around-block\/about-us\/meet-rick-fowler-traffic-manager-indianapolis-motor-speedway-tax-office-fixer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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