INDIANAPOLIS — IndyCar has announced extensions for Independent Officiating Board members Ray Evernham, Raj Nair and Ronan Morgan for the 2027 NTT IndyCar Series and Indy NXT by Firestone seasons.
This month, IndyCar’s charter team owners unanimously agreed to retain Evernham and Nair, and the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile reappointed Morgan as the series looks to the second year of IndyCar Officiating.
Nair is a 30-year veteran of the automotive and auto racing industries with vast experience and technical compliance expertise as an executive at Singer Group, Inc., Multimatic, Inc. and Ford Motor Company. He served as the IOB’s chair during the 2026 IndyCar season.
Evernham is a longtime motorsports veteran who most notably served as the crew chief for three of Jeff Gordon’s NASCAR Cup Series championships before he pioneered Dodge’s return to NASCAR. He served as the IOB’s secretary and treasurer last season.
Morgan has over five decades of global motorsport experience as a senior official, promoter, organizer and competitor. Morgan also is a member of the FIA World Motor Sport Council and advisor to the FIA president.
Both Nair and Evernham will continue with their specific leadership roles within the IOB in 2027. Nair has served as the IOB chairman and Evernham as its secretary and treasurer.
With the framework finalized in December 2025, INDYCAR established INDYCAR Officiating as an independent, not-for-profit organization to govern North America’s premier open-wheel racing series. As designed, the IOB is comprised of two members chosen via a vote from IndyCar charter team owners, and the other member is appointed by the FIA. The IOB is charged with enforcement of IndyCar and Indy NXT rules and establishing officiating and governance separation and process transparency for IndyCar Officiating.
The IOB also has confirmed that veteran motorsports officiating and competition executive Scot Elkins will continue as IndyCar Officiating’s managing director of officiating (MDO). Elkins was selected in April 2026 and began in May to oversee race control, race stewards and technical inspection. He will continue to report directly to the IOB – with no oversight from IndyCar or Penske Entertainment Corp. officials – to provide officiating governance and management.
In June, Elkins instituted a formal three-steward model that will continue in 2027 and launched official post-event reports for both the NTT IndyCar Series and Indy NXT by Firestone. The reports summarize race control activity, penalties, incident reviews and technical inspection findings, including matters reviewed and closed with no penalty. They are supported by published technical penalty guidelines carrying a three-level infraction framework, a central stewarding log and a precedent library, so that decisions can be measured against one another and provide a framework toward consistency across IndyCar events.
“It was gratifying to see how well IndyCar Officiating was integrated into the 2026 IndyCar season, and I believe continuity of the IOB is important as it builds on the success from its first season,” said IndyCar President Doug Boles. “IndyCar remains committed to clear independence in the application of our rulebook and the IOB is instrumental in that effort. Additionally, creating consistency in the rule enforcement and penalty guidelines is important to our teams, drivers and our fans, and I appreciate the IOB board’s leadership and Scot’s work in this area. ”
