| 03 January 2012
Clearly, the holidays are over and it's time to go back to work, right? Right.
Word has come out this morning that INDYCAR has found a new race director in Beaux Barfield, who has served in the same role in the American Le Mans Series for the last four seasons. The official announcement will come in a press conference tomorrow at Indianapolis Motor Speedway according to multiple outlets. Many are hoping that Barfield can do a better job in Race Control and avoid the embarrassing situations that his predecessor, Brian Barnhart, found himself in last season; Barnhart still remains with the series as its president of operations...
Baltimore City has cut ties with the Baltimore Grand Prix's former promoter and are now looking for a new promoter to help save the race from one-and-done status. The race has taken a financial beating and it was determined that Baltimore Racing Development (the former promoter) didn't have a plan to pay their outstanding debts. The City will have to work fast if it wants a second season on the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule, but it doesn't just need to find a promoter that's competent financially -- it needs to find one that can reshape the image of this race, which has gone downhill since its inaugural running...
INDYCAR's cable partner, the NBC Sports Network, is up and running, taking the place of VERSUS -- which is remembered in this "eulogy" from Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo Sports' Puck Daddy blog. Most of this comes from a hockey perspective, but it does remember the Comcast-DirecTV standoff that forced Versus off the air in 2009 -- and forced INDYCAR fans to find other ways to catch the end of that year's title war between Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe. Also included are NFL linebacker Junior Seau's "Sports Jobs" show (which featured him serving as a member of Dixon's pit crew for a 2009 race) and something called "Show Me Your V." We'll leave it at that...
Finally, current free agent driver James Hinchcliffe has apparently moved his "City Hall" to the beach, and just in time for his big speech to the citizens of "Hinchtown." In it, he reviews the past year and also gives updates on his tanning level, which has now improved from, in his words, "opaque to the same color as the pretty guy from Twilight." Click here for his address and keep hoping he lands a good ride (that goes for his former teammate Oriol Servia, too)...
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