Exclusive: Jay Frye named IndyCar president

As it turns out, IndyCar’s new president was already on its staff.

Jay Frye, who since November 2013 has been the chief revenue officer of the Indianapolis-based sanctioning body, was confirmed Thursday to The Indianapolis Star as Derrick Walker’s replacement.

Walker stepped down in August.

Frye, 50, arrives in the position as a known quantity in the motor sports industry. Before joining IndyCar, he was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owner, having built MB2 Motorsports from the ground up — expanding from 10 employees to more than 200 — and revamping Red Bull Racing, which earned a spot in the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup. His teams won four races.

At IndyCar, Frye helped sign Verizon as series sponsor, among other sponsorship deals. In the new role, he will oversee competition and operations, including race control.

“He’s not been a race engineer or a mechanic, but he has led people and directed them, and he is experienced saying ‘yes’ and ‘no' when he needs to," said IndyCar CEO Mark Miles, who whittled a list of 20 potential candidates to seven and then three before selecting Frye. “As a competitor, he’s been the victim of race control, so he knows what that’s like, too.”

A former University of Missouri tight end and offensive tackle, Frye will report directly to Miles, who has assumed a larger role within the organization since Walker stepped down. Brian Barnhart (competition), Will Phillips (technology) and Vince Kremer (operations) will report to Frye.

Frye said he would continue to sell IndyCar because “that’s good for all of us.”

Miles said Barnhart would continue to be the race director, although IndyCar will stick with the steward system for officiating that Walker instituted. The goal of that, Miles said, is to have three former racers in race control for each event, plus another two or three such people on reserve for scheduling conflicts. The group will be trained on the rulebook, then gather by conference call after each race to review decisions.

With Frye’s promotion, longtime Indianapolis executive Rod Davis will become the chief revenue officer for Hulman Motorsports, which includes IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Davis formerly served senior roles with the Indiana Sports Corp., USA Gymnastics, the RCA Championships and USA Swimming.

Davis’ biography said he has executed nearly $100 million in revenue through sponsorships, broadcast deals and event fees while working with Panasonic, Coca-Cola, John Hancock, VISA and Adidas.

Davis Sports Marketing, which he founded a decade ago, has represented the NCAA, the University of Notre Dame, Dale Earnhardt Inc., and USA Track and Field.

"We've known him for a very long time and obviously think very highly of him," said Miles, who traces working with Davis to the late 1980s.

Follow Curt Cavin on Facebook and Twitter: @curtcavin

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