INDIANAPOLIS – Fernando Alonso’s spotter speaks with experience and with plenty of authority.

It’s former driver Scott Goodyear, a two-time runner-up in the Indianapolis 500 including the closest finish in Indy 500 history in 1992 when he was just 0.043-of-a-second and another close finish to Arie Luyendyk in 1997.

For 11 years, Goodyear’s view of the 500 came from the cockpit of his race car, driving for the likes of team owners such as Doug Shierson, Derrick Walker, Kenny Bernstein, Steve Horne, Fred Treadway and John Barnes.

His final Indianapolis 500 was in 2001 when he was driving for team owner Eddie Cheever.

For the next 17 years, Goodyear’s view of the Indy 500 came from the ABC broadcast booth at the Speedway. His time as color analyst was one of the longest in Indy 500 TV history.

Now that NBC is the network of the Indianapolis 500, Goodyear has moved on to the SCCA. He is the race director for the Formula 4 United States Championship and the F3 Americas Championship. Neither of those series is in action during May and that allowed Goodyear to accept the role as Alonso’s spotter at the 103rd Indianapolis 500.

“It’s been fun for me because I have the month of May off and in SCCA Pro Racing, we don’t have any events this month so when they called, the opportunity was here so let’s go do it,” Goodyear told NTT INDYCAR Mobile. “I don’t know a whole lot about spotting, so for me getting up there and watching the cars go around has been a learning experience. I don’t know what to really expect.

“I know I can be up there for seven hours, but there are breaks to come in and put things on the car. From what I have experienced up there so far, you have to be spot on. Although it’s only a half-lap, you are paying attention for the whole lap.

“It’s been rewarding, fun and a learning curve at the same time.”

McLaren engineer Andy Brown contacted Goodyear about the role as spotter. Brown was Goodyear’s engineer at Panther Racing.

“I thought more about whether I could be an effective spotter more than if I should be on the team,” Goodyear said. “I thought about whether I could do it. I started listening to some radio chatter going on between spotters and I knew I could do this. I spent some time focusing on it.

“Being here for the month of May and being at McLaren, it’s interesting to see. It’s pretty cool.”

Goodyear’s spotter position is on the roof in Turn 1. Another spotters deck is above Turn 3.

Goodyear might have the best view of the entire Speedway.

“When I started television, I went down to Turn 1 and stood inside and watched the cars go by and, Holy Crap, the cars were so fast,” Goodyear recalled. “Now, I’m standing up in the spotters stand and seeing all that goes on at the track.

“There is a ton going on and a lot of opportunity for chaos and a lot of opportunity for something massive to happen. But it doesn’t. It’s been eyes-wide-open.”

Goodyear would one day like to watch the Indianapolis 500 as a spectator. His family has tickets in Turn 1. But for now, Goodyear will serve as the spotter for the two-time Formula 1 World Champion.

Goodyear is developing a dynamic with Alonso.

“It’s very good,” Goodyear said. “He is very low-key, very respectful of everybody around him. You don’t know what to expect when you get a driver that has won two Formula 1 World championships and has the status that he has.

“But he is a joy to sit with in debriefs and listen. His understanding of the car and what he wants, it’s almost like he has an extra chip in the processor. He is very descriptive and very brilliant. It’s interesting to sit there and listen to a two-time Formula 1 World Champion about his description of what is going on. It’s very impressive.”