“But we were able to persevere through some difficult times. Indianapolis Motor Speedway held on to what we were doing and allowed us to grow the quality of the teams, drivers and participants to the point where inevitably the merger came along and got everybody under one roof.”
It was short-lived harmony.
A few days after the 2009 Indianapolis 500, George was ousted from his position at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Loyal Hulman George Co. employee Jeffrey Belskus led the management team until Randy Bernard was hired as CEO.
Bernard took over in 2010 and, along with IZOD as its series sponsor, infused IndyCar with some much-needed excitement and fresh thinking.
It proved to be a wild ride.
“Yeah, it certainly was,” Barnhart remembered. “There were a lot of challenges. While there was a certain level of creativity there, the inexperience and understanding of our sport created some enormous obstacles of what I was trying to do.
“It led to some of the most frustrating times and periods of my involvement in there, for sure.”
Bernard was booted by the board of directors in October 2012. He was replaced by Mark Miles. Barnhart remained as race director before he decided in 2017 that he wanted to go back to team side of Indy car racing.
During his tenure, IndyCar took on one of the sport’s most important projects – the creation of the SAFER barrier.
“To be associated with the small group of people who were part of that project and watch it develop and be implemented, you take a great deal of pride in that,” said Barnhart, who calls the SAFER barrier the “greatest safety innovation in the history of our sport.”
Barnhart left IndyCar on Nov. 29, 2017, to become president of Harding Racing. Under his stewardship, Harding Racing formed a technical alliance with Andretti Technologies and became part of Colton Herta’s early IndyCar career.
“Being a part of helping an 18-year-old kid win two races and three pole positions in his first year in the sport is something you take a great deal of pride in,” Barnhart said of Herta. “It’s been great to be back on the team side and we look for more successes ahead.”
Harding Racing became Steinbrenner Racing and was folded into Andretti Autosport. Barnhart was in charge of the No. 29 entry and called race strategy.
Some drivers who worked with Barnhart say he was the best race strategist they have ever had.
“I appreciate hearing that and I’ve been fortunate to work with some really great guys, Colton Herta, James Hinchcliffe and now Alexander Rossi,” Barnhart said. “I’m honored to be part of that group and those race teams they are on. I think a lot of it has to do with the perspective of seeing the whole picture of a race and the understanding of what is about to develop.
“That is one of the things in race control you tried to anticipate as best you could what was going to happen.
“It’s a lot easier for people to say what is going to happen after it happens, but the ability to anticipate it before it happens can be really beneficial.”
When Rossi moved to Arrow McLaren, Brown saw value in Barnhart’s decades of experience and named him general manager of the team.
“The opportunity to be part of something that is growing,” Barnhart said. “The whole Arrow McLaren group expanding from a two- to a three-car team created an opportunity and a demand for additional people coming on board. It’s something I feel like I have a lot of experience and can help them with.
“It was a great opportunity to continue to work with Alex and take on a management role with that group. This team has a lot of upward trajectory, work environment and culture. I looked at it as a great opportunity and I’m excited for what is ahead of us because I think we are moving in the right direction.”
Barnhart believes youthful inexperience and missed opportunities have hampered the results for Arrow McLaren this year, but he believes racing involves a lot of missed opportunities.
“Until you get to the last race of the year, you have the next race to try to make yourself better,” he said. “We’ve had too many missed opportunities, but we can turn that thing around in the next race.”
And that could create one more chapter in the “Life of Brian.”
This story appeared in the August 16, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
