Beaux Barfield named new IndyCar race director

Barfield, who has served as race director of the American Le Mans Series since 2008, fills the role vacated by Brian Barnhart, who was removed in November 2011 after a series of controversial decisions during the season.

Barfield previously worked as a Champ Car race steward from 2003 to 2008, and was also chief steward for the USF2000 National Championship for the two previous years.

In his new role Barfield will oversee all on-track race decisions, and also enforce rules and procedural issues.

He said he already has his own ideas about where improvements can be made, and insisted that he would be wholly - and solely - responsible for decisions from the stewards office.

"I grew up around racing, so I've been involved in it all my life," Barfield said. "I'm truly honored to be a part of IndyCar, [which] represents the pinnacle of my aspirations as a race official.

"I'm a race fan: I happen to be fortunate to be a professional in the sport but I'm a race fan at heart," he added in a public press conference following the announcement. "I've watched the IndyCar series and when watching I form opinions, and I'm always analysing things in racing.

"Talking to people inside race control I think ultimately the steward structure might have got the lines blurred along the way - in fact they certainly got blurred.

"I sit in the drivers meeting and establish and manage expectations. If I have somebody influencing that final decision - someone with a different opinion or philosophy - then suddenly we have a problem because we have a decision that might have deviated from what the drivers expected.

"Stewards are there to assist when you get a difficult decision. I don't want to walk in wielding a big stick, but I think that the real decisions come down to the race director, period."

IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard said he was confident Barfield was the correct appointment for the series.

"Though Beaux's most recent experience is in sports car racing, his roots are in open-wheel racing," Bernard said.

"He has built a strong reputation as a race director with ALMS and bringing him on board ensures that IndyCar has a dedicated race director with the right level of expertise for the IZOD IndyCar Series."

The ALMS moved quickly to confirm that Paul Walter, an IMSA official since 2005, will be promoted to race director following Barfield's departure.