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IndyCar
MILLER: Chip The Cheerleader
It’s like Chip helped set fire to Randy Bernard’s house and then criticized the media for reporting an arsonist is on the loose.
Chip Ganassi's actions of late have drawn the ire of Robin Miller. (Photo: LAT)
Ten days after the witch hunt and subsequent firing of Randy Bernard, we have a new catch phrase in IndyCar racing circles: it’s time to be more positive.
Let me quote Chip Ganassi to Gordon Kirby on his Motorsport blog: “I think too many people are focusing on the negatives and not the positives. We had great racing all year and all anyone wants to talk about is Randy Bernard,” said Ganassi.
Yeah, a couple writers and a fans who thought Bernard did a good job and got railroaded are dragging down the paddock atmosphere. How dare they? How could anybody criticize the professional behavior of the IndyCar series and Hulman & Company board of directors these past few weeks?
Shouldn’t we all be proud of how Chip, John Barnes, Kevin Kalkhoven, Tony George, Al Speyer, Jeff Belskus and a few faceless board members ran that cowboy out of town?
Hell yes, we should be bullish on the new regime and the new direction of the IZOD IndyCar series and quit all this hand wringing over Bernard.
As usual, Ganassi is right, all this bitching and moaning isn’t good.
Not unless he’s the one that's doing it.
You know, like all during 2011 when he ranted on and on about how Bernard had better get rid of Brian Barnhart and Les MacTaggart because they were running the series down with their ineptness.
Almost every time we talked the conversation immediately turned to how embarrassing and unprofessional IndyCar was because of these two. “When is your buddy Randy going to do something?” was Chip’s catchphrase.
To be fair, a lot of people were hammering on Bernard to get rid of Barnhart and MacTaggart and he finally pulled the plug last winter.
He inserted Beaux Barfield and Will Phillips into those jobs and they helped deliver one of the best seasons ever in 2012.
But, until recently, it seemed like the ‘ol Chipster hadn’t noticed how competitive, racy and good things had been this year because he was too busy bitching about the cost of the new Dallara and its parts or the schedule.
And when Bernard suggested that doubleheaders were on the horizon for 2013, Ganassi couldn’t wait to belittle that idea.
He didn’t have too many supportive comments on racing at Milwaukee or Fontana, either.
About the only thing Chip seemed to applaud in Bernard’s three years was going to double-file restarts but maybe that was because it was his idea.
The idea that Ganassi is complaining about people being negative is almost as laughable as his comment that Bernard’s blood was on my hands.
It’s like he helped set fire to Randy’s house and then criticized the media for reporting an arsonist is on the loose.
Before Black Sunday there was plenty to be positive about and it didn’t go unnoticed. A mailbag reader wrote: “There must be something wrong with Miller, he’s been way too positive the last couple years.”
So I did some research and found that since 2010 I’ve written 346 positive stories about IndyCar and 16 that could be construed as negative (a dozen on the subject of Barnhart).
Of course with Bernard’s leadership (the 20th CEO in the past 30 years in open wheel racing) there was a renewed hope that maybe it was finally headed in the right direction.
Not so much the past couple weeks.
But we always move on in racing. I’m guessing Belskus will likely remain the CEO of IndyCar, Doug Boles will probably become the COO of IndyCar and somebody like Mark Miles will take over as the big dog at Hulman & Company. The owners will throw their support behind the new guard and we’ll all be one happy family again.
Let me quote Chip Ganassi to Gordon Kirby on his Motorsport blog: “I think too many people are focusing on the negatives and not the positives. We had great racing all year and all anyone wants to talk about is Randy Bernard,” said Ganassi.
Yeah, a couple writers and a fans who thought Bernard did a good job and got railroaded are dragging down the paddock atmosphere. How dare they? How could anybody criticize the professional behavior of the IndyCar series and Hulman & Company board of directors these past few weeks?
Shouldn’t we all be proud of how Chip, John Barnes, Kevin Kalkhoven, Tony George, Al Speyer, Jeff Belskus and a few faceless board members ran that cowboy out of town?
Hell yes, we should be bullish on the new regime and the new direction of the IZOD IndyCar series and quit all this hand wringing over Bernard.
As usual, Ganassi is right, all this bitching and moaning isn’t good.
Not unless he’s the one that's doing it.
You know, like all during 2011 when he ranted on and on about how Bernard had better get rid of Brian Barnhart and Les MacTaggart because they were running the series down with their ineptness.
Almost every time we talked the conversation immediately turned to how embarrassing and unprofessional IndyCar was because of these two. “When is your buddy Randy going to do something?” was Chip’s catchphrase.
To be fair, a lot of people were hammering on Bernard to get rid of Barnhart and MacTaggart and he finally pulled the plug last winter.
He inserted Beaux Barfield and Will Phillips into those jobs and they helped deliver one of the best seasons ever in 2012.
But, until recently, it seemed like the ‘ol Chipster hadn’t noticed how competitive, racy and good things had been this year because he was too busy bitching about the cost of the new Dallara and its parts or the schedule.
And when Bernard suggested that doubleheaders were on the horizon for 2013, Ganassi couldn’t wait to belittle that idea.
He didn’t have too many supportive comments on racing at Milwaukee or Fontana, either.
About the only thing Chip seemed to applaud in Bernard’s three years was going to double-file restarts but maybe that was because it was his idea.
The idea that Ganassi is complaining about people being negative is almost as laughable as his comment that Bernard’s blood was on my hands.
It’s like he helped set fire to Randy’s house and then criticized the media for reporting an arsonist is on the loose.
Before Black Sunday there was plenty to be positive about and it didn’t go unnoticed. A mailbag reader wrote: “There must be something wrong with Miller, he’s been way too positive the last couple years.”
So I did some research and found that since 2010 I’ve written 346 positive stories about IndyCar and 16 that could be construed as negative (a dozen on the subject of Barnhart).
Of course with Bernard’s leadership (the 20th CEO in the past 30 years in open wheel racing) there was a renewed hope that maybe it was finally headed in the right direction.
Not so much the past couple weeks.
But we always move on in racing. I’m guessing Belskus will likely remain the CEO of IndyCar, Doug Boles will probably become the COO of IndyCar and somebody like Mark Miles will take over as the big dog at Hulman & Company. The owners will throw their support behind the new guard and we’ll all be one happy family again.
2013 INDY 500 Practice
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