The Parks Tower has been an Indy landmark since 1984, and it's home to a variety of services, including the announcing deck, the media room, and corporate hospitality suites. Last night it again served as my viewing platform for the Pro qualifying session, but not from the second-floor media room. I was, as the Drifters used to sing, "Up on the roof."

It's an interesting perspective to view the action and not one available at many tracks. . Being five stories up, it provides a panoramic view of O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. From the front, you can see from staging lanes to top end, taking in the spectacle of the new eastside grandstands, the event and track logos painted on the grass, and the cars as they race down the track. Stepping to the back you can see the staging lanes and the Pro pit area. It's quite a few; unfortunately, it's not accessible to the average fan.

Being five stories up and behind the starting line provides a whole different perspective than a grandstand view or even a coveted spot in the photographers' area, and not just from a visual perspective.

In the pre-run silence, you can clearly hear the psssssssssssst of the team's arming their air system before firing the engine, the noise easily climbing the front of the tower which sits well behind the starting line and almost even with where the teams light their machines. Being behind the noise, allows you to clearly hear the tires chirp as they hook up at the end of a burnout, which is often lost in the cacophony of the starting line and even from the grandstands, where the roar of the echo of the car's exhaust pulsing from the headers can drown it out.

Also, being up high, the smell of nitro lingers high in the air, even 50 feet up, stinging the eyes and seeming to settle into an inversion layer on high.

And when the cars run? It's a magnificent view. You can see the drivers struggle to keep their machines in the groove, which is plainly visible. You can see both cars and, especially at night, see whose header banks are uneven or faltering. Overall (so to speak), it was an interesting audiovisual and olfactory experience that I wish you all could enjoy at least once.