The Controversial Call

by Tammy

I had another blog topic picked out and ready this weekend ... but then I watched the IndyCar race at Sonoma. The bump-fest, new-nose-festival, yellow-flag party that was the Go Pro Grand Prix.

And then there was THE CALL.

The two leading drivers, Will Power and Scott Dixon, were pitted one after another. Dixon, in the rear, pulled out first as a crew member crossed between the two cars carrying a tire. The tire in the crew member's hand and Dixon's side pod and left rear tire made contact. The tire spun out of the guy's hand and he went flying into another crew member, who also fell over and dropped the air gun in his hand, which flew over and banged into a third crew member's leg. They're all fine.

The question was, who gets a penalty. Did the crew member deserve some fault for not paying enough attention or for making himself as wide an obstacle as possible? Or did Dixon bear all of the blame because the rules say you get a penalty for hitting another team's equipment? (Here's Jalopnik's funny take on the incident, with a video.)

Cue the wailing and gnashing of Twitter teeth. And the wringing of hands by the television commentators.

In the end, Beaux Barfield up in Race Control penalized Dixon for hitting the other team's equipment. He was (to his credit) available immediately after the race to the media for an explanation, saying that the overhead camera showed Dixon to be in Power's space.

Cue more wailing and gnashing of teeth, because the only lines laid down in the pit lane are for the NASCAR race, and there aren't painted lines for the IndyCar pits. Plenty of calls for crappy officiating, etc.

My opinion is that there are hard decisions to make, ones that not everyone will agree with, and sometimes ones that don't have a right/wrong answer. And one guy has to make them. That's Beaux. He owns them and is willing to explain them. And he knows more than I do about how the pits and the cars and the rule books work. So I'm going with his call.

Also, I live in California where a pedestrian always has the right of way—ALWAYS. Even when they dart out in the middle of the block. The pedestrian is always right and the car driver is always wrong. So I get that even if the crew member was deliberately being an obstacle (which I don't think was the case, I think he just wasn't being as thoughtful as he could have been), the driver who hit him gets the penalty.

But plenty of other people disagree. What do you think? Did you see it? Do you have an opinion?

Ready With Popcorn

by Tammy

Much of the racing world is sitting back and watching IndyCar's new President of Competition and Race Director Beaux Barfield get ready for the 2012 season. He's done a little rewriting of the rule book and is trying to clarify exactly what his position will be. At least, he hasn't quite explained it yet, but he's made it clear that to the drivers (in the drivers meeting) he will make very clear what he consider's blocking. (See a good article on the details here.)

I say, get out the popcorn, because this is going to be interesting.

There were loud complaints from IndyCar drivers, teams, and fans last year about how the rules were enforced (inconsistently, at times), and Beaux has been brought in to make some changes. I firmly believe he's going to pull it off.

See, I've met Beaux and chatted with him a few times. I've seen him in action around the ALMS (where he was race director for the past four years), not only in the paddock, but also in race control. I can't say we're BFFs or anything, but he always has a smile and a friendly word for me (I will forever owe him one for being kind to me when he ran the session of racing school I attended back in 2006). The thing is, Beaux pretty much has a smile and a friendly word for everyone. He's that kind of guy: visible and friendly.

At the same time, he's direct and clear about his opinions. He's also clear that his role is to make the decisions, right or wrong, and to take the blame for bad ones. He does that. I can't speak for the drivers he's had control over, but from my perspective (and I think I've been the lurker-in-chief for the ALMS the last year or two!), he's been as fair as he can be and totally transparent about his decisions. He told me once that it's important to him to be present in the paddock, to talk with drivers and teams, so that no one is unclear on how he communicates, thinks, and interprets regulations.

So, yeah, I'm a Beaux fan. And I'm going to enjoy watching him take this step to a much larger and more visible stage and see what he can do. What about you all? Do you think he'll pull it off? Do you have your popcorn ready for the show?