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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Embattled Bernard Discusses Team Owner Issues
After SPEED's Robin Miller broke the news of a team owner revolt, Randy Bernard opens up about a tough week at America's most dysfunctional racing series.
Randy Bernard, middle, survived the media scrum on Sunday at Detroit after answering multiple questions about the paddock strife he's attempted to quell. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)
Days after SPEED's Robin Miller broke the news of a revolt led by team owners who wanted IndyCar's CEO ousted, Randy Bernard opened up about his trying week at the helm of America's most dysfunctional racing series.
Bernard was swarmed at Detroit during his regular bullpen Q&A session with reporters, and the topics rarely strayed from his relationship with the men and women who own and enter cars in the series.
"I have addressed issues this week, and I’m moving on," Bernard answered in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to curtail more team owner-related questions. "I am here because of the board of directors, because that’s who I answer to, and I am confident that they support me."
Bernard's choice to confirm the issue he was having with his paddock via Twitter was the next item that was posed, and he immediately took issue with the phrasing of the question.
"I didn’t say ‘attempted coup," he clarified. "If you read my tweet, I said ‘team OWNER’. Singular. And I said, ‘disappointing.’ I didn’t want to be negative. I wanted to be factual. And I wanted to get out in front of the problem. My mentality is, if you back a kitten into a corner, you come out fighting like a tiger. That’s how I operate. If I see an issue, I want to head it off."
He also admitted to holding off on publicly admitting the power play that was going on behind the scenes--something that had been taking place since April--until after the Indy 500 had concluded.
"I felt like a dead man walking for seven days," he said of the fervor demonstrated by the most emboldened owners. "I had seven days to think about how I wanted to put it out. I didn’t want to take anything away from the Indy 500. I wanted to make sure that we were positioned for the best Indy 500 we could [have]."
Despite the semi-unified efforts that existed to remove Bernard, he reminded everyone that he does not indeed work for the team owners.
"I don’t answer to the team owners," he said. "I answer to the [Indianapolis Motor Speedway] board of directors. My job is, I want to work with the team owners, I want to work with the promoters, I want to work with the drivers, our sponsors, our television partners, and you’re going to make people mad along the way. But you have to do what is in the best interest of the sport. I think we’ve got some great team owners, and I’m excited. They’ve been very supportive."
The need for Bernard to hire an IndyCar veteran to manage paddock affairs on his behalf was also brought up.
"We have Will Phillips and Beaux Barfield put in place as race director and technical director, and I think they have done an outstanding job," he said, citing two of the new managers he's put in place in the last year.
"Will is very articulate and very even-mannered, and I think he does a very good job for us. Like I told the team owners yesterday, my expertise was never in the technical or racing side. It’s in the marketing side. I would like to see our experts follow through more and continue to take those strong roles, and allow me to do the things I was brought in to do and build the season."
Bernard was swarmed at Detroit during his regular bullpen Q&A session with reporters, and the topics rarely strayed from his relationship with the men and women who own and enter cars in the series.
"I have addressed issues this week, and I’m moving on," Bernard answered in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to curtail more team owner-related questions. "I am here because of the board of directors, because that’s who I answer to, and I am confident that they support me."
Bernard's choice to confirm the issue he was having with his paddock via Twitter was the next item that was posed, and he immediately took issue with the phrasing of the question.
"I didn’t say ‘attempted coup," he clarified. "If you read my tweet, I said ‘team OWNER’. Singular. And I said, ‘disappointing.’ I didn’t want to be negative. I wanted to be factual. And I wanted to get out in front of the problem. My mentality is, if you back a kitten into a corner, you come out fighting like a tiger. That’s how I operate. If I see an issue, I want to head it off."
He also admitted to holding off on publicly admitting the power play that was going on behind the scenes--something that had been taking place since April--until after the Indy 500 had concluded.
"I felt like a dead man walking for seven days," he said of the fervor demonstrated by the most emboldened owners. "I had seven days to think about how I wanted to put it out. I didn’t want to take anything away from the Indy 500. I wanted to make sure that we were positioned for the best Indy 500 we could [have]."
Despite the semi-unified efforts that existed to remove Bernard, he reminded everyone that he does not indeed work for the team owners.
"I don’t answer to the team owners," he said. "I answer to the [Indianapolis Motor Speedway] board of directors. My job is, I want to work with the team owners, I want to work with the promoters, I want to work with the drivers, our sponsors, our television partners, and you’re going to make people mad along the way. But you have to do what is in the best interest of the sport. I think we’ve got some great team owners, and I’m excited. They’ve been very supportive."
The need for Bernard to hire an IndyCar veteran to manage paddock affairs on his behalf was also brought up.
"We have Will Phillips and Beaux Barfield put in place as race director and technical director, and I think they have done an outstanding job," he said, citing two of the new managers he's put in place in the last year.
"Will is very articulate and very even-mannered, and I think he does a very good job for us. Like I told the team owners yesterday, my expertise was never in the technical or racing side. It’s in the marketing side. I would like to see our experts follow through more and continue to take those strong roles, and allow me to do the things I was brought in to do and build the season."
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