-
Home
- TV Shows
-
TV Schedule
-
SPEED Showcase
-
- NASCAR
-
Latest Headlines: NASCAR
-
-
Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Games
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
- Home
- TV Shows
-
TV Schedule
-
SPEED Showcase
-
- NASCAR
- Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
IndyCar
INDYCAR: Encouraging Start For New Race Control Team
The first race conducted by IndyCar's new Race Control wasn't perfect, but the team came away from St. Pete with mostly positive reviews.
Arie Luyendyk, Beaux Barfield, Johnny Unser and Gary Barnard (L to R), got a lot more right than wrong during their debut as the new Race Control team. (Photo: LAT)
With one round down and 15 more to go, IndyCar’s new Race Control staff has plenty of time to make headlines, but after a fairly quiet season opener at St. Pete, it’s looking like the Beaux Barfield-led team will could spend the majority of the season in the background where it belongs.
In a break from recent tradition, the 100-lap Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg wasn’t filled with on-track drama, which also helped Barfield, his Race Control constituents Johnny Unser, Gary Barnard and Arie Luyendyk, and the 26 drivers in the field to start the season in a positive manner.
Without drudging up too much of the past, drivers had grown accustomed to being addressed like malcontents and prisoners by IndyCar’s former warden, but that’s changed for 2012 and hopefully it will stay that way.
A different, more respectful tone—and the overall message from the Race Director—seemed to resonate throughout the driver ranks at St. Pete, with Barfield leaning towards optimism rather than pessimism.
Dale Coyne Racing’s Justin Wilson, who also serves as a leader of the driver’s association (along with Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan), came away feeling encouraged by the open dialogue found in St. Pete’s drivers meetings.
“I thought it was handled quite well,” he said. “There was just enough authority there so people respected and understood the point, rather than laboring on about things. Beaux was decisive enough to where everybody understood the answers. At least that was my take. There were some questions where there was left room open, and they were brought up again and answered and then moved on. I didn’t walk out of the room feeling like it was a waste of time, or that there was no reason to raise the question because it’d be like talking to the wall.
“He struck the right balance between listening and taking on what we were saying, and having the authority to say, ‘OK, go out there and make it happen.’ The more people understand how he interprets the rules, and the more they see the rules being applied consistently, it will keep getting better.”
Barfield’s decisive approach also struck the right chord with Team Penske’s Will Power.
“Very good, very direct, very clear, very professional,” he said. “We all knew where he stood.”
Compared to a crash-fest like Toronto last year, Barfield and Co. could have taken a nap during St. Pete, but from the Race Director's perspective, the brand-new Race Control team more than met his expectations during their first race together.
“It went great in my eyes,” said Barfield. “It was a relatively easy weekend in terms of drama to manage, but for the few curve balls we received, I think we handled them well. For the first time with the new team, I was very happy.”
For those accustomed to the kneejerk “throw the yellow and close the pits” reaction that was standard practice through the 2011 season, it was interesting to compare the difference on how the new Race Control regime handled conditions that didn't require hitting the panic button.
Rather than automatically bringing the race to a halt, Barfield read each situation and made the call he thought was best for the teams and the race as a whole.
“The biggest thing was the timing of a couple of yellows,” he explained. “For example, when Katherine Legge stopped for the first time on the front straight, Will [Power] was leading at the time and was right there when it happened and went for the pits. It was important with that happening to delay the call of the yellow to make sure everyone had an equal opportunity to pit because if we’d gone yellow right away it could have shuffled the field and penalized those who weren't right on the spot like Will. I was happy how that went. That’s one of those little things that could have turned the race upside down, and then you’re left after the race trying to explain how everything got so shuffled.
“There were a couple of situations like that where a stalled car or a car stuck in the tires happened and we had to be mindful of where the leader was before we threw the yellow. And the situations I’m referring to weren’t emergency situations, so throwing the yellow immediately wasn’t required and the repercussions of the timing of the yellow could have been big if we got it wrong.”
The first proper test of Barfield’s command came on Lap 45 when eventual race-winner Helio Castroneves began to grow impatient behind Ed Carpenter.
In a break from recent tradition, the 100-lap Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg wasn’t filled with on-track drama, which also helped Barfield, his Race Control constituents Johnny Unser, Gary Barnard and Arie Luyendyk, and the 26 drivers in the field to start the season in a positive manner.
Without drudging up too much of the past, drivers had grown accustomed to being addressed like malcontents and prisoners by IndyCar’s former warden, but that’s changed for 2012 and hopefully it will stay that way.
A different, more respectful tone—and the overall message from the Race Director—seemed to resonate throughout the driver ranks at St. Pete, with Barfield leaning towards optimism rather than pessimism.
Dale Coyne Racing’s Justin Wilson, who also serves as a leader of the driver’s association (along with Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan), came away feeling encouraged by the open dialogue found in St. Pete’s drivers meetings.
“I thought it was handled quite well,” he said. “There was just enough authority there so people respected and understood the point, rather than laboring on about things. Beaux was decisive enough to where everybody understood the answers. At least that was my take. There were some questions where there was left room open, and they were brought up again and answered and then moved on. I didn’t walk out of the room feeling like it was a waste of time, or that there was no reason to raise the question because it’d be like talking to the wall.
“He struck the right balance between listening and taking on what we were saying, and having the authority to say, ‘OK, go out there and make it happen.’ The more people understand how he interprets the rules, and the more they see the rules being applied consistently, it will keep getting better.”
Barfield’s decisive approach also struck the right chord with Team Penske’s Will Power.
“Very good, very direct, very clear, very professional,” he said. “We all knew where he stood.”
Compared to a crash-fest like Toronto last year, Barfield and Co. could have taken a nap during St. Pete, but from the Race Director's perspective, the brand-new Race Control team more than met his expectations during their first race together.
“It went great in my eyes,” said Barfield. “It was a relatively easy weekend in terms of drama to manage, but for the few curve balls we received, I think we handled them well. For the first time with the new team, I was very happy.”
For those accustomed to the kneejerk “throw the yellow and close the pits” reaction that was standard practice through the 2011 season, it was interesting to compare the difference on how the new Race Control regime handled conditions that didn't require hitting the panic button.
Rather than automatically bringing the race to a halt, Barfield read each situation and made the call he thought was best for the teams and the race as a whole.
“The biggest thing was the timing of a couple of yellows,” he explained. “For example, when Katherine Legge stopped for the first time on the front straight, Will [Power] was leading at the time and was right there when it happened and went for the pits. It was important with that happening to delay the call of the yellow to make sure everyone had an equal opportunity to pit because if we’d gone yellow right away it could have shuffled the field and penalized those who weren't right on the spot like Will. I was happy how that went. That’s one of those little things that could have turned the race upside down, and then you’re left after the race trying to explain how everything got so shuffled.
“There were a couple of situations like that where a stalled car or a car stuck in the tires happened and we had to be mindful of where the leader was before we threw the yellow. And the situations I’m referring to weren’t emergency situations, so throwing the yellow immediately wasn’t required and the repercussions of the timing of the yellow could have been big if we got it wrong.”
The first proper test of Barfield’s command came on Lap 45 when eventual race-winner Helio Castroneves began to grow impatient behind Ed Carpenter.
2013 INDY 500 Practice
LATEST HEADLINES: AUTO-RACING
-
VIDEO: Amazing 4-Wide Finish To Indy Lights Freedom 100
Ireland's Peter Dempsey came from fourth at Turn 3 on the last lap… -
INDYCAR: Pagenaud Leads Indy 500 Carb Day Practice
After getting whooped in qualifying, Honda turns up the wick for… -
GRAND-AM: Valiante Joins 8Star For Mid-Ohio
Daytona Prototype ace to sub for Stephane Sarrazin in next month's… -
MILLER: My Annual Indy 500 Quiz
It’s time for Robin Miller's annual Indy 500 quiz. -
INDYCAR: Miller's Mailbag, 5.23
It's time for SPEED.com's weekly IndyCar Q&A with Robin Miller's… -
INDYCAR: HIPPINO.com To Sponsor Kanaan At Detroit
Just a few weeks after announcing the KV Racing-SH Racing entry of… -
PHOTOS: Indy 500 Practice & Qualifying 2013
Enjoy a huge collection of photos from practice and qualifying while… - More News
