IndyCar’s Barnhart takes the heat

An IndyCar race official has plenty to consider and little time to make critical decisions. The fallout from those decisions lasts a lot longer.

That’s certainly the case for Brian Barnhart.

IndyCar’s director of competition and operations admitted he messed up when he restarted Sunday’s race at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on a wet track.

It’s just one of a number of tough calls he has made that have drawn criticism.

“He makes such bad calls all the time,” an incensed Will Power said after he crashed on the slippery surface. “This has got to be it. They cannot have this guy running the show.”

“This is the worst officiating I’ve ever seen,” said Michael Andretti, owner of Andretti Autosports. “Normally, Brian does a great job, but this time he really missed it.”

And that isn’t all.

Barnhart’s decision to revert to the order at Lap 215 when the yellow flag came out in the scheduled 225-lap race sparked a postrace controversy.

Ryan Hunter-Reay, who drives for Andretti, was declared the winner. But Oriol Servia and Scott Dixon said they both passed him in the few seconds between the restart and the crash that began when Danica Patrick slid sideways and Power hit her.

So the actual result may not be known until next week when the teams of Servia and Power will argue their protests at a hearing.

Power, trying to catch Dario Franchitti for the series points lead, was knocked out in the crash but was given fifth place. Before learning that, he flashed two middle fingers at race officials, a scene caught by a television camera. Power apologized and, so far, hasn’t been penalized.

Barnhart admitted he was wrong in restarting the race but defended his decision to revert to the order after Lap 215 before his mistake.

Barnhart was in the spotlight Sunday with so much to consider as the cars sped around the one-mile oval.

Ÿ He wanted a good race for fans and television viewers, not one that ended under a caution flag — especially with the New Hampshire track trying to rebuild interest as it returned to IndyCar racing for the first time since 1998.

“We could have tooled around behind the pace car and just thrown the checkered and the yellow at the same time at 225 (miles),” Barnhart said, “and we would have made a lot of fans angry in the race grandstands.”

ŸWith so few miles left after the yellow, he had to hurry his decision before the race reached its scheduled end.

ŸAnd the rain was just a light mist, not a downpour that would have made the decision not to restart easy.

“It did start raining on the last lap coming to green,” Dixon said. “It is a tough call. I wouldn’t want to be the one trying to decide.”