The Independent Officiating Board (IOB) remains focused on establishing and launching INDYCAR Officiating to clearly define operational and governance separation and transparency as preparations continue for the upcoming 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone seasons.<\/p>\n
In the last few months, the IOB, with chairman Raj Nair, secretary and treasurer Ray Evernham and FIA appointee Ronan Morgan, has been diligent in the work needed to arrive to this point of the year, which has included the following:<\/p>\n
Establishment of the not-for-profit INDYCAR Officiating Inc. corporation
\n Finalizing the 2026 INDYCAR Officiating budget
\n Reviewed INDYCAR\u2019s established processes and personnel
\n Determined a need for additional experienced personnel for the tech team
\n Determined the need for a separate INDY NXT race director
\n Reviewed the steward positions and determined to make no changes<\/p>\n
\u201cThe board has been meticulous and thorough in our review of INDYCAR\u2019s officiating process and procedures,\u201d board chairman Nair said. \u201cWhile we are pleased with the early achievements, there is plenty of work still to do. Among our major goals is to implement a more detailed transparency reporting structure to teams \u2013 related to technical and race infractions \u2013 as well as establishing consistency of rule implementation and enforcement. As a collective, we are confident in the results our team will achieve over the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
The IOB also continues to interview candidates to find the perfect fit for the roles and responsibilities of the managing director of officiating (MDO). As the process of identifying the ideal person continues and until that hire is announced, the board plans to oversee general independent officiating operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the clear takeaways as we analyzed INDYCAR officiating and operations has been that INDYCAR already greatly benefits from the knowledgeable and professional personnel in race control and technical inspection,\u201d said board member Evernham. \u201cWith that, combined with the expertise that the board brings, we are going to work with the current team members of each but will add additional resources and support.\u201d<\/p>\n
The three members of the IOB will attend and provide oversight for INDYCAR Officiating at the season opener on the Streets of St. Petersburg and will then share responsibilities over the initial races until the MDO can be secured.<\/p>\n
Kyle Novak will continue as the race director and vice president of INDYCAR Officiating. Novak has served as the sport\u2019s race director since the 2018 season and leads race control and circuit safety development. He is responsible for developing and enforcing NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone competition regulations.<\/p>\n
Also an attorney, Novak serves as one of 36 judges on the FIA Courts and hears cases as a member of the FIA International Tribunal and International Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n
On the technical side, the IOB has determined that Kevin \u201cRocket\u201d Blanch will continue as the INDYCAR Officiating\u2019s technical director. Blanch will oversee the technical inspection process and will provide technical oversight and ensure compliance of aerodynamic and chassis regulations.<\/p>\n
Blanch joined INDYCAR in 2003 after serving six-plus seasons with Panther Racing, where he served as the team\u2019s crew chief. During his tenure there, the team won two INDYCAR SERIES championships and earned 11 victories and five pole positions.<\/p>\n
Arie Luyendyk and Max Papis will continue to lend their expertise as chief stewards for INDYCAR Officiating. Luyendyk, who has seven INDYCAR SERIES race wins \u2013 including two Indianapolis 500 victories, and Papis, a three-time INDYCAR SERIES race winner, have served as series stewards since their original appointment in 2016. Both officials are stationed in race control and monitor on-track sessions, review incidents for rule violations and enforce penalties.<\/p>\n
Working with Blanch, the IOB has added Nick Allen as a technical inspection manager for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Allen brings over 20 years of experience as an INDYCAR race team mechanic and chief mechanic. In the coming weeks, INDYCAR Officiating will add a tech inspection manager for INDY NXT and, working with Novak, a dedicated INDY NXT race director.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe officiating in INDYCAR is not broken; in fact, racing series around the world could learn from its procedures and operation,\u201d said board member Morgan. \u201cAt this point, our opinion is that independent INDYCAR Officiating should be framed as a sensible evolution when it comes to general process. By providing and overseeing additional support, transparency and added separation between officials and series management, we firmly believe that INDYCAR Officiating is primed to be successfully implemented for the 2026 season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coverage of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, round one of the 18-race 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship, begins at noon ET Sunday, March 1 on FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX One and the FOX Sports app. Coverage will also be provided by the INDYCAR Radio Network via SiriusXM Channel 2018 and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Independent Officiating Board (IOB) remains focused on establishing and launching INDYCAR Officiating to clearly define operational and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-166887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}