IZOD IndyCar Series CEO Randy Bernard on 2013 Schedule

Randy Bernard

IZOD IndyCar Series CEO Randy Bernard revealed the 2013 schedule on SPEED’s Wind Tunnel. Here are some of the highlighted quotes from Bernard during his appearance.

Schedule priorities for 2013…

“The most important thing we can do is build exposure to show that we’re the fastest, most versatile race cars and race car drivers in the world. I think we can do that by adding races – it is very important to us."

Philosophy on doubleheader races (Detroit, Toronto and Houston)…

“The difference is (between IndyCar & USAC doubleheaders) that they had them on the same day, we have them on different days. We have a race on Saturday and a race on Sunday; they have the same value in points and the same value in prize money. Our whole goal in this is to help our team owners, help our sponsors, our television partners; and building our exposure is so important to us right now. We think a fan is really going to be the one to benefit from this as you get to see double excitement during the weekend. If they are traveling from a far distance, they get to see twice as much action on the weekend."

Promoters needing to build Saturday crowds through doubleheaders…

“I think it was real important because all of them (promoters) had the same philosophy. In Toronto, what makes it so important is that it will give us two races up there, and that we are going to be announcing a brand new television partner with Rogers (Sportsnet), which is a very big deal for us as well."

On moving the IndyCar race at California Speedway from September to October…

“It was a little warm there this year. I think all the fans, after the race was over, loved the fact that IndyCar ended their series at an oval, and we think that it’s important for us to continue it. The IndyCar Series Championship will be there for another 500-mile race, and we felt that moving behind the Houston race and putting a little more emphasis on ovals was important to us."

On the return of the ‘Triple Crown…’

“The Triple Crown is something we think has been such a big part of IndyCar. Now we want to bring it to the IZOD IndyCar Series with the Indy 500, Pocono (Pa.) and ending it at Fontana (Calif.). If a driver wins all three of those, they win a million dollars. If they win two out of the three, they win $250,000."

On the Saturday/Sunday doubleheader start formats…

“It’s so important to show the versatility of how great our drivers are. We want to make sure we give them (the fans) a little bit extra, (especially those) who fly in and watch these events, so we’re going to decide to have a standing start on one day, and a rolling start on the other day. We think this is just another way to show that versatility."

Bernard on his future…

“This job will give you thick skin and that’s all that you can say about it. I’m going to keep my eyes on the future, and I think we have a lot of great things going on right now. I’m really excited about our future."

IndyCar’s future in Canada…

“You have a lot of fans up there. You have ‘Tags’ (Alex Tagliani) and (James) Hinchcliff… I just think you better figure how to have more races up there, to keep all of those fans happy, and I think you’ll see another race up there in 2014. We need to have really strong races that make the IZOD/IndyCar Series successful; this was in the best interests of everybody."

Your thoughts on Pocono’s return to the schedule…

“My hats off to (Pocono Raceway President Brandon Igdalsky) and his whole team up there; they’ve really worked hard on that. They’ve done the research to make sure there’s a fan following up there, and actually surprised how big the response was for it. We’re expecting big things in Pocono, and it’s definitely a commitment from them. We’re going to be up there at least three years."