Personnel changes minimal as IndyCar’s IOB progresses
- Archie O’Reilly
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
IndyCar’s all-new Independent Officiating Board (IOB) will feature many of the same figures that made up the existing officiating setup as it prepares to debut in 2026.
Kyle Novak will continue in the race director role in which he has served since the 2018 season, as well as remaining vice president of IndyCar Officiating. In these roles, he leads race control and circuit safety development, while he holds responsibility for developing and enforcing the competition regulations for IndyCar and Indy NXT.
Technical director Kevin “Rocket” Blanch also remains in his post, overseeing the technical inspection process, including compliance of aerodynamic and chassis regulations, which notably failed Team Penske ahead of last year’s Fast 12 qualifying at the Indianapolis 500. This will be Blanch’s 24th season since joining IndyCar in 2003.
Former IndyCar race winners Arie Luyendyk and Max Papis will continue to lead the stewarding department, having first been appointed as stewards in 2016. As chief stewards, they are tasked with reviewing incidents and enforcing penalties from race control.
“The officiating in IndyCar is not broken; in fact, racing series around the world could learn from its procedures and operation,” said Ronan Morgan, an appointee from the FIA to the IOB. “At this point, our opinion is that independent IndyCar Officiating should be framed as a sensible evolution when it comes to general process.
“By providing and overseeing additional support, transparency and added separation between officials and series management, we firmly believe that IndyCar Officiating is primed to be successfully implemented for the 2026 season.”
With the IOB having reviewed IndyCar’s existing processes and personnel, it was deemed there was “a need for additional experienced personnel” within the tech team. Therefore, an addition to the officiating team for 2026 is 20-year IndyCar race team mechanic and chief mechanic Nick Allen, who will support Blanch as a technical inspection manager for IndyCar.
The same role is yet to be filled for Indy NXT, which will also receive a to-be-confirmed dedicated race director to work with Novak amid the IOB’s discovery that a separate race director would be beneficial for IndyCar’s premier junior category.
There is also yet to be a managing director of officiating named as the series continues to interview candidates. In the meantime, Morgan and his two fellow IOB members, chairman Raj Nair and secretary and treasurer Ray Evernham, intend to fill the role and oversee the general officiating operations from the new independent board.
“One of the clear takeaways as we analysed IndyCar officiating and operations has been that IndyCar already greatly benefits from the knowledgeable and professional personnel in race control and technical inspection,” Evernham said.
“With that, combined with the expertise that the board brings, we are going to work with the current team members of each but will add additional resources and support.”
The IOB has continued to make progress since was launched in December “to clearly define operational and governance separation and transparency” amid concerns over a conflict of interest between Roger Penske’s owning the series and competitor Team Penske.
As well as reviewing the existing officiating processes and determining any flaws, the board has established the not-for-profit IndyCar Officiating Inc. and finalised its 2026 budget. But there will be yet more evolution as the season progresses.
“The board has been meticulous and thorough in our review of IndyCar’s officiating process and procedures,” Nair said. “While we are pleased with the early achievements, there is plenty of work still to do.
“Among our major goals is to implement a more detailed transparency reporting structure to teams - related to technical and race infractions - as well as establishing consistency of rule implementation and enforcement.
“As a collective, we are confident in the results our team will achieve over the season.”
Nair, Evernham and Morgan will all be present at IndyCar’s opening round on the streets of St. Petersburg this coming weekend as they share responsibilities across the opening rounds while the appointment of a managing director is formalised.
