Brian Barnhart is an institution in IndyCar racing. He has been part of it for almost three decades, and has worked his way up from tire-changer to crew chief to president of the sport.
Brian Barnhart is currently the president of competition and racing operations for IndyCar. He is now also possibly the most hated man in the sport.
With a series of (at best) questionable decision in the closing laps of Sunday’s IndyCar race in Loudon, New Hampshire, Barnhart has alienated just about everyone associated with IndyCar racing. Drivers were calling for his removal on TV; team owners were blaming him for a four-car pile-up; fans started a Facebook page calling for his ouster.
What did Brian Barnhart do to bring down the wrath of almost all of IndyCar upon him?
Rules Are What He Says They Are
One of the chief complaints is that Brian Barnhart makes up rules as it pleases them and enforces them if it pleases him. This weekend’s disaster at Loudon shows this.
Rain stopped the race at Loudon on lap 206. On lap 216, with every driver and team owner protesting, Barnhart decided to restart the race. His stated reason was that he wanted to give the fans a good show.
In order to make the final few laps more exciting, he arbitrarily moved the lapped cars to the back of the field. This is not in the rulebook; Barnhart decided it needed to be, so he made up the rule to improve the show.
Fans got a show, but not a good one. Several cars spun and collided on the restart. The race was immediately yellow-flagged, and five laps later, red-flagged. There was too much rain for racing.
Barnhart’s decision put every driver at risk. Luckily no one was injured; only hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cars were destroyed. But that was just the beginning.
Race leader Ryan Hunter-Reay got passed by two cars before the yellow flag waved. These two cars should have been placed first and second. The driver second in the championship points competition, Will Power, got caught up in the crash, dropping him two-thirds of the way down the field and practically ending his chances to win the championship.
Brian Barnhart realized he had made a huge mistake. So … he started fabricating new rules.
First he declared that the restart never happened, despite the green flag waving. Then he ruled that since there was no restart, Ryan Hunter-Reay was never passed, and thus won the race. Then he erased the five laps before the red flag, putting Will Power back into championship contention..
Quite possibly this was the best possible solution, once he had decided to restart the race in the rain (a decision he later admitted was very wrong.) But it calls into question exactly how much power Brian Barnhart actually wields, and how well he wields it.
One cannot turn to the rulebook for clarification; the rulebook apparently has not been updated to include several changes enacted this season, and several other rules invented by Brian Barnhart at random throughout his tenure.
Basically, the rules are what Brian Barnhart decides they are at any given moment.
It is not hard to see why team owners, spending millions of dollars field a team, and drivers, risking their lives, are not pleased to know that there are no hard-and-fast rules. It is not hard to see why fans think Barnhart’s shifting rules make the sport look amateurish.
Unnecessary Rules, Uneven Enforcement.
The most prominent part of Brian Barnhart’s job as president of competition has been creating and enforcing rules; it is for this that he has drawn the ire of fans, drivers, and team owners.
Barnhart regularly announces new rules at pre-race drivers’ meetings. He has been known to designate certain parts of certain tracks as “No Passing” zones, a concept drivers and fans alike find ludicrous. (Imagine a “no-tackling zone” in football.
He has resurrected the old Tony Cotman “No Defense” rule, which states that drivers cannot stop other drivers from trying to pass.
Every other racing series in the world has a “One Move” rule; a driver is allowed to move to one side of the track or the other to stop a chasing car from getting by. Even children racing Go-Karts are taught the “One Move” rule. But in IndyCar, the premier open-wheel series on the continent, drivers are not allowed to defend.
Imagine the NBA if you had to hand over the ball every time a defender got close? It doesn’t work in racing, either.
Worst of all is the gross inconsistency of enforcement. Barnhart has admitted that he assesses penalties based on how the race is going. For instance, if a driver hit another and should be penalized, but loses a couple laps getting repaired, that driver might not get a penalty because he (or she) already suffered.
The list of inexplicable calls and no-calls extends back seasons. Here are just a few:
At Long Beach, Barnhart declared the hairpin a ”no passing zone.” When Helio Castroneves wrecked Justin Wilson in the hairpin, no call was made. When Paul Tracy wrecked Simona De Silvestro at the same place later in the race, he was sent to the back of the pack. Helio went on to wreck Will Power; no penalty.
When championship leader Dario Franchitti hit a tire with a crewman standing on top of it in pit lane—no penalty. Hitting pit equipment is a cardinal sin, and endangering a crew member is another. But Brian Barnhart didn’t want to interfere in the championship battle, so—no penalty.
No Longer Good for the Sport?
The question which needs asking is, “If Brian Barnhart keeps his current position, can IndyCar be taken seriously?”
IndyCar has fought its way through a 15-year civil war and is precariously poised on the brink of success and disaster. Can IndyCar hope to survive when the most fundamental aspects—the fairness of competition and the safety of the competitors—cannot be ensured by the person entrusted to do just that?
On the other hand, can IndyCar survive the “no confidence” vote? If Barnhart is removed, it might look as if IndyCar chose incompetently in the first place. Better, perhaps, to ride out the storm?
IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard has a very important decision to make. He cannot seem to be giving in to the owners; he cannot seem to be governed by the opinion of the fans; yet he cannot allow IndyCar’s ability to run a safe, fair race to be questioned.
Brian Barnhart is currently the president of competition and racing operations for IndyCar. He is now also possibly the most hated man in the sport.
With a series of (at best) questionable decision in the closing laps of Sunday’s IndyCar race in Loudon, New Hampshire, Barnhart has alienated just about everyone associated with IndyCar racing. Drivers were calling for his removal on TV; team owners were blaming him for a four-car pile-up; fans started a Facebook page calling for his ouster.
What did Brian Barnhart do to bring down the wrath of almost all of IndyCar upon him?
Rules Are What He Says They Are
One of the chief complaints is that Brian Barnhart makes up rules as it pleases them and enforces them if it pleases him. This weekend’s disaster at Loudon shows this.
Rain stopped the race at Loudon on lap 206. On lap 216, with every driver and team owner protesting, Barnhart decided to restart the race. His stated reason was that he wanted to give the fans a good show.
In order to make the final few laps more exciting, he arbitrarily moved the lapped cars to the back of the field. This is not in the rulebook; Barnhart decided it needed to be, so he made up the rule to improve the show.
Fans got a show, but not a good one. Several cars spun and collided on the restart. The race was immediately yellow-flagged, and five laps later, red-flagged. There was too much rain for racing.
Barnhart’s decision put every driver at risk. Luckily no one was injured; only hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cars were destroyed. But that was just the beginning.
Race leader Ryan Hunter-Reay got passed by two cars before the yellow flag waved. These two cars should have been placed first and second. The driver second in the championship points competition, Will Power, got caught up in the crash, dropping him two-thirds of the way down the field and practically ending his chances to win the championship.
Brian Barnhart realized he had made a huge mistake. So … he started fabricating new rules.
First he declared that the restart never happened, despite the green flag waving. Then he ruled that since there was no restart, Ryan Hunter-Reay was never passed, and thus won the race. Then he erased the five laps before the red flag, putting Will Power back into championship contention..
Quite possibly this was the best possible solution, once he had decided to restart the race in the rain (a decision he later admitted was very wrong.) But it calls into question exactly how much power Brian Barnhart actually wields, and how well he wields it.
One cannot turn to the rulebook for clarification; the rulebook apparently has not been updated to include several changes enacted this season, and several other rules invented by Brian Barnhart at random throughout his tenure.
Basically, the rules are what Brian Barnhart decides they are at any given moment.
It is not hard to see why team owners, spending millions of dollars field a team, and drivers, risking their lives, are not pleased to know that there are no hard-and-fast rules. It is not hard to see why fans think Barnhart’s shifting rules make the sport look amateurish.
Unnecessary Rules, Uneven Enforcement.
The most prominent part of Brian Barnhart’s job as president of competition has been creating and enforcing rules; it is for this that he has drawn the ire of fans, drivers, and team owners.
Barnhart regularly announces new rules at pre-race drivers’ meetings. He has been known to designate certain parts of certain tracks as “No Passing” zones, a concept drivers and fans alike find ludicrous. (Imagine a “no-tackling zone” in football.
He has resurrected the old Tony Cotman “No Defense” rule, which states that drivers cannot stop other drivers from trying to pass.
Every other racing series in the world has a “One Move” rule; a driver is allowed to move to one side of the track or the other to stop a chasing car from getting by. Even children racing Go-Karts are taught the “One Move” rule. But in IndyCar, the premier open-wheel series on the continent, drivers are not allowed to defend.
Imagine the NBA if you had to hand over the ball every time a defender got close? It doesn’t work in racing, either.
Worst of all is the gross inconsistency of enforcement. Barnhart has admitted that he assesses penalties based on how the race is going. For instance, if a driver hit another and should be penalized, but loses a couple laps getting repaired, that driver might not get a penalty because he (or she) already suffered.
The list of inexplicable calls and no-calls extends back seasons. Here are just a few:
At Long Beach, Barnhart declared the hairpin a ”no passing zone.” When Helio Castroneves wrecked Justin Wilson in the hairpin, no call was made. When Paul Tracy wrecked Simona De Silvestro at the same place later in the race, he was sent to the back of the pack. Helio went on to wreck Will Power; no penalty.
When championship leader Dario Franchitti hit a tire with a crewman standing on top of it in pit lane—no penalty. Hitting pit equipment is a cardinal sin, and endangering a crew member is another. But Brian Barnhart didn’t want to interfere in the championship battle, so—no penalty.
No Longer Good for the Sport?
The question which needs asking is, “If Brian Barnhart keeps his current position, can IndyCar be taken seriously?”
IndyCar has fought its way through a 15-year civil war and is precariously poised on the brink of success and disaster. Can IndyCar hope to survive when the most fundamental aspects—the fairness of competition and the safety of the competitors—cannot be ensured by the person entrusted to do just that?
On the other hand, can IndyCar survive the “no confidence” vote? If Barnhart is removed, it might look as if IndyCar chose incompetently in the first place. Better, perhaps, to ride out the storm?
IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard has a very important decision to make. He cannot seem to be giving in to the owners; he cannot seem to be governed by the opinion of the fans; yet he cannot allow IndyCar’s ability to run a safe, fair race to be questioned.
