SPEEDWAY, Ind. (WTHR) - People can be complex. Sometimes you might look at someone and think you have them all figured out.
But there is one man at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway who just might fool you.
The Indianapolis 500 has built a reputation on speed and always pushing the envelope. It's not unusual to see sparks flying on the track or inside of it.
"I love what I do. I have been a welder for 40 years, been doing this since I was 18," said Forrest "Bud" Tucker.
For the last 15 years, Tucker has been welding at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He's part of the team that not only conducts routine maintenance at the speedway, but also repairs the SAFER barrier around the track after a crash.
But the welder who takes a theology class from Notre Dame is an artist.
His work is so highly regarded, he was selected to make the very first commemorative bronze brick recognizing the four-time winners of the Indianapolis 500. Last month, he unveiled the first one honoring A.J. Foyt, which he helped set into the famed "Yard of Bricks."
"It was the honor of a lifetime to be asked to do that," he said.
It's pretty heady stuff and yet it's what he does over his lunch that is garnering attention.
"One friend of mine calls the weld shop a sanctuary, a chapel. He nicknamed it 'The Chapel'," Tucker said with a smile.
"Something like this is who I am. Bronze sculpting is who I am," he explained.
He said the artwork that occasionally takes over his work bench during his one-hour lunch break at the track is "not an escape." In fact, he said the creations help him decompress.
A year after he married his wife, Dawn, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. They have been married for 41 years now.
"I do laundry, cook meals and take care of my wife. It's a labor of love. She would do it for me if the tables were turned, so," his words just trail off into his work.
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So one hour a day, his demanding, fast-paced world slows down.
"Can't be fast paced...there is a time for that. Don't have to be all the time, right?" he said.
No, these creations can take years to sculpt.
"A sculpture can take on a life of its own," Tucker said.
It's a funny thing to say to a sculptor, but Bud Tucker literally does not fit the mold.
"I've been told that. I've been told that," he answered with a smile that emphasized the point. "It's such a shame if a person is working at a job they don't like, doing things they don't enjoy. They hate what they do all day long. How sad is that, right? l love what I do."
And it shows.
