Cavin: IndyCar's officiating plan started last year

Brian Barnhart's return to the position of IndyCar Series race director shouldn't have been a surprise. It was more than a year in the making.

IndyCar president Derrick Walker didn't necessarily frame it that way Wednesday in announcing it first to the league's drivers, but he essentially did last year in establishing a three-man steward system to determine in-race infractions.

Walker is a smart man who spent most of his career as a competitor, and he knows it's far more difficult to complain about a jury's decision than that of a single judge.

From 1997 until Walker's system was implemented last year, IndyCar operated with a single person holding the whistle -- Barnhart for 17 years, Beaux Barfield for two. Both had the power of judge and jury, and there were unhappy competitors aplenty, especially when they ruled with a firm gavel and a strong sense of self.

But with three jurors deciding last year whether one driver blocked another, it became more difficult to argue with race control, especially when the group was largely comprised of former drivers who could see through the team politics. It wasn't a coincidence that clamoring over officiating cooled significantly after Walker went to the three-man system.

Though relieved of the intense scrutiny, Barfield wasn't a fan of shared control, and that's part of the reason he left IndyCar to become chief steward of the Tutor United SportsCar Championship. Several names were mentioned as replacements but two factors worked against them: Most hadn't officiated IndyCar races, and unlike Barnhart, few if any were already on the IndyCar payroll.

Despite slipping behind the scenes since being demoted after the 2011 season, Barnhart continued to lead race-day operations, oversee the review of regulations, coordinate event security and assist with the safety and medical groups. He even spent last year working as a regular race-day steward. His critics just didn't know it.

Now Barnhart is back as the race director and with that comes the negativity from the sport's core fan base. But here's why times have changed: Walker has a jury rather than a judge.

With Barnhart running the mechanics of race control, stewards will watch the competition and any one of them can call for a review of an incident. After there's been an examination of the video and all the additional data now available, a vote will be taken. If guilt is found, the lead steward, whom Walker will select prior to the event, will open the penalty book to decide what level is warranted.

"That system hasn't changed from last year," Walker said.

If there's one person to yell at, Walker says it's not the race director.

"It's me," he said.

Follow Curt Cavin on Twitter at @curtcavin