IndyCar does the unimaginable….again

The infamous Brian Barnhart

Around 12:50 p.m. ET Wednesday, in the midst of one of those proverbial run around like a chicken-with-your-head-cut-off type of days, I received a message from a friend, someone very clued in to the latest happenings in the world of racing.

Brian's Friend: "IndyCar announcement at 3 (p.m.) today. Any idea what it's about?"

Me: "No clue. Been super-busy, will let you know if I hear anything."

A few minutes would pass before I would receive another message from the same person.

Brian's Friend: "(Brian) Barnhart returning as Race Director."

Me: "No way. Even they (INDYCAR/IMS) know better than that."

Well, about an hour-and-a-half later, INDYCAR would make it official, announcing that disgraced former Head of Race Control Brian Barnhart was returning the post he held from 1997-2011 this coming season. Yes, the same Barnhart who use to laughably (or not so laughably) tell drivers to "give me four good ones" before they qualified for the Indianapolis 500; the same Barnhart, who once restarted an oval race in the rain; the same Barnhart who orchestrated the embarrassing strung-out Indy 500 start for over a decade; the same Barnhart who was considered the architect of the lethal and archaic pack racing that defined the IRL-era oval racing; and the same Barnhart who apologized to a driver, who gave him was given the bird (err…double-bird) three-and-a-half years ago in broad daylight; the same Barnhart who started a race in Baltimore in 2011 with a safety truck on track that nearly ran over Graham Rahal at speed, would be returning to Race Control in 2015.

Yes, turns out, they don't know any better.

And I say they, because much of the attention on the ill-advised (to put it politely) re-appointment of Barnhart will (wrongly) focus on Barnhart himself. Whether it's jokes about a rainy 2015 Indy 500 being, "4 good ones" or the myriad of other Barnhartisms, there will be humor (or sadness) aplenty. After all, during fifteen previous seasons in the post, I feel safe in saying Barnhart didn't exactly cover himself in glory.

And yes, solely from the standpoint of INDYCAR Race Control, there is much to criticize with the Barnhart hire. Still, that is fundamentally a different discussion and before moving ahead I should be clear that what follows is not some rote "smash-Barnhart-to-pieces" exercise.

Because ultimately, the concern is not so much the fact Barnhart is in charge of Race Control. The concern is the fact someone within the Hulman/IndyCar/IMS enterprise actually thought it was a good idea to put Barnhart in charge of Race Control. Because by placing Barnhart back in charge of Race Control, INDYCAR has created a scenario in which failure is not merely a likely, rather inevitable.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Let me explain.

If you go back to when Barnhart was removed from Race Control after the 2011 season, the overwhelming issue that plagued his stewardship was not consistently making incorrect calls, although that was part of the problem. What plagued Barnhart by the time his tumultuous tenure was nearing its end was the fact he had become hamstrung by the perception he was incapable of ever being correct. Fair or unfair, public opinion of Barnhart had reached such a low ebb, that there was zero confidence in Barnhart's ability to get a call right. Inevitably, a time would arrive in which whatever call Barnhart did make, even if correct, would be viewed as wrong.

For example (and this is just one), at Long Beach in 2011, I defended Barnhart's decision to not call a penalty on Helio Castroneves after contact with Will Power. While this was a minority opinion at the time, I argued Castroneves' contact with Power, who was ahead of him on track, was a result of the Brazilian battling Oriol Servia for position, and not an egregious act by the Brazilian.

Barnhart, in this case, was roundly criticized for not assessing a penalty on Castroneves. And while I thought his non-call was correct, the point was not so much what call was made. The larger takeaway was any assertion Barnhart might actually be right was unfathomable to many. The default mode had become to presume favoritism for certain drivers (Castroneves being one), or incompetence. Fair or unfair, justified or not, an untenable scenario had emerged in which Barnhart wasn't just wrong often, rather he was incapable of ever being right. By the end of that season after the safety truck at Baltimore and the Loudon restart in the rain, that perception had been reinforced.

Fast forward four years, and in the absence of anything resembling compelling evidence to the contrary, that scenario hasn't changed one iota. The situation was then, is now, and will be going forward, untenable.

Of course, that's not what INDYCAR will say. We'll hear about the new "three-steward system," Barnhart's "experience" and whatever else. And to be fair, I would agree there is a better structure in place in INDYCAR's race operations, particularly the presence of Derrick Walker as INDYCAR president of competition and operations, now than when Barnhart last ran Race Control. In short, Barnhart will have better people and resources at his disposal than four years ago. It's also conceivable that three seasons away detached from the pressures of Race Control have been healthy for Barnhart, who will return with perspective and experience.

Still, none of that changes what we outlined earlier: the prevailing notion, again fair or unfair, that Barnhart is incapable of actually being right. Inevitably, over the course of a long season there will be an instance where Barnhart forced to make a difficult decision. And it's fair to ask, what according to INDYCAR has changed in the last four years that will make the perception he is capable any different?

Because of this, INDYCAR's judgment cannot go unquestioned here.

Whatever one so happens to think of Barnhart personally or professionally, any reasonable person had to have known reassigning Barnhart to lead race control would result in an avalanche of negative criticism and perpetuate the notion that INDYCAR, well, just can't get out of its own way. And if they weren't aware of that, that would likewise be a cause of concern, albeit for altogether for different reasons. However, presuming they did know, are we to conclude that INDYCAR is dismissive of its fan base, or that they plain just don't care?

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Worse, has INDYCAR's attitude towards its ever-dwindling fan base reached a level of apathy, in which the sanction has become blithely indifferent to a fan base it views as too minuscule to even matter? Some defenders of all things IndyCar actually suggested this ridiculous notion on social media and other outlets as if infuriating the fans the series does have is warranted because well, there are so few of them.

To be clear, such moronic assertions did not come from INDYCAR. However, if any element of that mindset exists at the corner of 16th and Georgetown Streets, the notion that the sport will achieve anything level of success beyond its current beleaguered state would be foolhardy.

Or is this another instance of "We're the Speedway, and you're not," antiquated arrogance. While that may seem harsh, the accusation of arrogance is not a flippant one given the level of incompetence, again fair or unfair, the level of incompetence, again fair or unfair, Barnhart symbolizes to many of the die-hard fan base. At minimum, re-promoting Barnhart represents an alarming lack of self-awareness on the part of INDYCAR.

That said, when it comes to drawing any firm conclusions, I'll allow others to provide insight into INDYCAR's motives. No explanation I've come across has yet to make an iota of sense and if this once-glorious sport has aspirations beyond its current diminished, niche following, such attitudes need to go the way of the Offy and the 25/8 rule.

Other fans reacted to the negative response asking why people were wasting time talking about Race Control. We should after all, be talking about racing. Baseball fans don't talk about umpires, they talk about the Yankees, Red Sox or their favorite players.

I sympathize with such sentiment, and concur with the logic that cries of the apocalypse coming over the Race Director are somewhat odd. Allow me to simply say that it was THIS Race Director who shone such a bright spotlight on all matters pertaining to INDYCAR Race Control in the first-place. The matter in dispute is not so much that fans are overly-concerned about who runs Race Control. The matter is that fans are incredulous this individual has been placed in charge of Race Control. Which is why, in the eyes of those who believe INDYCAR just can't get out of its own way, Barnhart's rehiring marks exhibit number 32,875 of INDYCAR rides the bucking bronco oblivious to its d*** being stuck in its zipper.

The notion that whatever progress the sport makes will always be undone by management's foibles, was given that little bit of extra credence. And with Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles entering his third year on the job, having enacted a less-than-popular condensed schedule, and now having okayed what many perceive to be a bazooka-to-the-foot measure with Barnhart, how long until the calls for his regime to come to a conclusion begin to intensify?

Cluelessness, apathy, indifference, plain incompetence or a combination of all the above, INDYCAR once again has egg all over its face with the few who happen to be paying attention, the few who's pleas they've chosen to treat with blithe indifference over and over again. And in this particular case, they've not simply concocted a recipe likely to end in failure, rather one in which failure is inevitable.

And anyone with a brain doesn't need to see Brian Barnhart, Director of Race Control The Sequel to know that.

Brian Carroccio is a columnist for AutoRacing1. He can be contacted at BrianC@AutoRacing1.com.

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