Randy Bernard Fired [Archive] - Motorsport Forums

SoCalPVguy

28th October 2012, 22:41

INDYCAR: CEO Randy Bernard Fired During Emergency Board Meeting

Link:

INDYCAR: CEO Randy Bernard Fired During Emergency Board Meeting (http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-ceo-randy-bernard-fired-during-emergency-board-meeting/)

Now before I bail out completely, need to see what the next steps the board takes.

Singing... Send in the clowns....

Lousada

28th October 2012, 23:11

Indycar must be the longest trainwreck ever. Every time I think it can't get any worse they sink a little deeper. I must be a little masochistic as I continue to be intrigued by every next step into the abyss.

So what are they going to do now? Bring back the biggest failure in the history of sports (TG)? I'd love to see the meltdown when that happens.

00steven

28th October 2012, 23:12

IMS doesn't deserve our support.

call_me_andrew

28th October 2012, 23:40

If this is some kind of joke, I am not laughing.

SoCalPVguy

28th October 2012, 23:44

If this is some kind of joke, I am not laughing.

There are two ways this could go:

1. They partner with the Boston consultants, make a great new marketing, media, and financial plan and hire a terrific new CEO.

2. They sell out to Efffff TG

#1 - I will stay with em...
#2 - see ya ....

#1 takes professional visionary business people, unfortunately the current Board has not show that in past experience.

#2 is the easy way out, but probably kills the goose along with the Indy eggs.

SoCalPVguy

28th October 2012, 23:49

There are two ways this could go:

1. They partner with the Boston consultants, make a great new marketing, media, and financial plan and hire a terrific new CEO.

2. They sell out to Efffff TG

#1 - I will stay with em...
#2 - see ya ....

#1 takes professional visionary business people, unfortunately the current Board has not show that in past experience.

#2 is the easy way out, but probably kills the goose along with the Indy eggs.

Furthermore, when it craters totally under Effffff Teee Geee I am sure Nascar will be there to scoop it up at a bottom feeder price and turn it into a generic spec open wheel series, steel frames, 5.0 stock block engines interchangeable with Sprint/nationwide/ Sports car series, run at Daytona, ISC tracks as warm up events, maybe a few road courses with Nationwide or the GransAmLemans.

libra65

28th October 2012, 23:53

The guy comes in and does a good job and they fire him for it? How have the Hulmans stayed in business this long? If TG is back in, I'm gone for good too!!! :(

Jag_Warrior

29th October 2012, 00:06

Everybody just keep your heads! Everything is going to be fine. We just need to band together and move these deck chairs around and it'll all be OK. Sit down, have a good bourbon and listen to the band play "Nearer My God to Thee" while we get this sorted out. Everything will be just fine. Trust me.

Signed,

Captain Edward Smith

http://img160.imagevenue.com/loc453/th_146878498_titanic_sinking_underwater_122_453lo. jpg (http://img160.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=146878498_titanic_sinking_underwater _122_453lo.jpg)

Jag_Warrior

29th October 2012, 00:06

Everybody just keep your heads! Everything is going to be fine. We just need to band together and move these deck chairs around and it'll all be OK. Sit down, have a good bourbon and listen to the band play "Nearer My God to Thee" while we get this sorted out. All will be well. Trust me.

Signed,

Captain Edward Smith

http://img160.imagevenue.com/loc453/th_146878498_titanic_sinking_underwater_122_453lo. jpg (http://img160.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=146878498_titanic_sinking_underwater _122_453lo.jpg)

bugeyedgomer

29th October 2012, 02:09

Hey Randy, if you had paid Jag_Warrior a relatively small consulting fee up front, you could have saved yourself 3 years of misery and the all too expected end of the line career assraping from the disfunctional first family of indycar racing

anthonyvop

29th October 2012, 03:38

He was brought in to turn the Indycar series around and improve TV ratings, Attendance and the bottom line.

He failed.

SoCalPVguy

29th October 2012, 05:14

He was brought in to turn the Indycar series around and improve TV ratings, Attendance and the bottom line.

He failed.

Given that, who else could have better steered this Ship of Fools the past three years?

Starter

29th October 2012, 11:00

He was brought in to turn the Indycar series around and improve TV ratings, Attendance and the bottom line.

He failed.
For anyone to achieve those goals, they would have to fix some basic issues with the series. Randy made reasonable progress on that front. I am not sure ANYONE could get to those targets in three years, also not sure anyone will make it in the next three either.

anthonyvop

29th October 2012, 13:52

Given that, who else could have better steered this Ship of Fools the past three years?

Before he was appointed nobody in the racing world had hear of Mr. Rodeo. What makes you think that there is nobody out there you never heard of that could of done a better job?

Chris R

29th October 2012, 14:15

Before he was appointed nobody in the racing world had hear of Mr. Rodeo. What makes you think that there is nobody out there you never heard of that could of done a better job?

Anthony, I hear your point - but the reality of the situation is that they didn't (couldn't?) find anyone else. Yes, Randy did not meet all (any?) goals - but if the board did not allow him to make the bold moves to achieve those goals (the only way to improve the TV was to buyout the cruddy contract, to improve the bottom line was to sign on with China - or similar volatile yet lucrative contract, as far as attendance, you've got me there, no clue why some of his ideas didn't work better...)

I do not have inside info - but it sounds like he was not allowed to totally clean house (BB etc.), he was not allowed to fix the TV contract, he was handed a long overdue and fundamentally mis-guided new cars situation that he had little choice but to follow through with given that the prior management had waited soooo long... He has a bunch of fans and team owners who couldn't all row in the same direction if they were in a row boat being chased by Jaws himself...

I agree that he failed but I do not agree that someone else might have done better - the parameters given made the job fundamentally insurmountable and now it is even worse... Indycar has shot itself in the foot so many times, I do not think they have anything left to stand on - in this particular case the devil they knew was the better choice (unless there is someone with more money and better ideas waiting in the wings - which I doubt...)

bugeyedgomer

29th October 2012, 15:19

He was brought in to turn the Indycar series around and improve TV ratings, Attendance and the bottom line.

He failed.

They still haven't raised the Titanic , have they
If you are tasked with the impossible job, there is no failure
His real failure was not knowing what he was getting himself into

Starter

29th October 2012, 16:15

Before he was appointed nobody in the racing world had hear of Mr. Rodeo. What makes you think that there is nobody out there you never heard of that could of done a better job?
Pretty simple answer. He had a proven track record in rodeo. Who in the racing community has a proven track record in racing and whom we've never heard of...and who wouldn't laugh their ass off if asked to take the job?

Nem14

29th October 2012, 16:53

Before he was appointed nobody in the racing world had hear of Mr. Rodeo. What makes you think that there is nobody out there you never heard of that could of done a better job?The IMS video unit had been producing the PBR TV shows for some time, so IMS management was likely well aware of Randy and the outstanding job he had done for the PBR series.

Back about 1995, the CART medical team offered physical therapy to injured driver and other series participants through an organization of athletic trainers sponsored by the Justin Boot company.
Don Andrews directed the trainers and Don had been providing therapy to pro rodeo cowboys for years.

So Indy car racing and the pro rodeo industry have had some ties for many years.

anthonyvop

29th October 2012, 17:36

They still haven't raised the Titanic , have they
If you are tasked with the impossible job, there is no failure
His real failure was not knowing what he was getting himself into

So by your logic Randy Bernard has had no success in the series. If you take it further then why is anyone wasting their time with IndyCar?

BTW Nobody has raised the Titanic because nobody has paid anyone to do so.

dataman1

29th October 2012, 18:49

Anthony, I believe you have struck the main reason why they will never find a suitable replacement. "......why is anyone wasting their time with IndyCar?" Any business wise person would have to have a golden parachute of major dollars to want anything to do with IndyCar. The odds of failure are so great why would anyone want that on their resume?

bugeyedgomer

29th October 2012, 19:05

So by your logic Randy Bernard has had no success in the series. If you take it further then why is anyone wasting their time with IndyCar?

BTW Nobody has raised the Titanic because nobody has paid anyone to do so.

you are the CART Strret race supporter who called him a failure

this all becoming too comical to take seriously

Nikki Katz

29th October 2012, 20:15

This whole thing is a joke. Ok, the last couple of years have not been controversy-free and there are certainly things that in hindsight should have been done differently (Vegas, Loudon, engines etc). But overall he's done a pretty good job at trying to stabilise the series and reduce the losses, and while things are still very difficult and uncertain, I don't blame Bernard for that. Really, every time something goes slightly wrong there's just been the constant whispering that he'd be replaced as a result of it, which really defeats the object of a series trying to find stable ground. I don't even think that this is fuelled by the media or comments on forums such as this - Hulman Co had all year to defend Bernard but just kept quiet or released press comments along the lines of "no, he's not been fired, yet." I also think that this year's had some great races, though shame about the coverage.

So, now what? George back in charge by April? Return to moronic pack racing? Or is the series just going to fold?

djparky

29th October 2012, 20:55

FormerFF

29th October 2012, 23:59

Wilbur Shaw and Tony Hulman saved IMS, it seems like Mr. Hulman's descendents are doing their best to make it irrelevant. How very sad.

Moto-Guzzi

30th October 2012, 00:03

I have nothing to add except my frustration, what f*&King douchbags!!

Nem14

30th October 2012, 03:23

OMG! I can't stop laughing at the idiots -

i just fucking shot myself - YouTube (http://youtu.be/paxk_LPmdMI)

bugeyedgomer

30th October 2012, 07:06

just seen the news at Autosport- these people are idiots- getting rid of the one person that's been able to do something to improve IndyCar's position....well I've watched CART destroy itself through incompetence, seen the creation of the Irrelevant Racing League, since TG's "visiion" fail completely, seen a partial re-birth in 2012 and now this... so how long before the Idiot is back in charge again and it finally gets flushed down the toilet once and for all- epic fail on behalf of the "brain trust" at Indy speedway

loved Robin Miller's rant over at Speed.

George's IndyCar offer was attempt to remove board

Tony George was not trying to regain control of IndyCar for himself in his recent attempt to purchase the series he founded.
His motives were apparently to separate the series from Indianapolis Motor Speedway and bring in a new board of directors.
The Associated Press on Monday obtained a copy of George's five-page proposal to the Hulman & Co. board of directors. In it, the group ICS Acquisition proposes a management team take over IndyCar's operations and create a sanctioning agreement with IMS to run the Indianapolis 500.

George would only have been a board member in the proposal that expired Oct. 15.
No other IndyCar team owners were part of the proposal, which offered $5 million cash and proof of $25 million in reserves for stabilization of the series.

Don Capps

30th October 2012, 17:49

I had thought that IndyCar had maybe three to five years before it faded into oblivion, but I now think that its lifespan is more akin to one -- or maybe, with luck -- two years.

As for the Memorial Day Weekend race at the IMS, it could run -- at least for a time -- as pretty much a stand-alone event, not very much different than how it operated many decades ago.

As for IndyCar, it could disappear tomorrow and few outside the teeny-tiny group that are still aware of its existence would even notice.

Since the war started in 1994 with the formation of the IRL, this sort of racing has been headed for oblivion. The only surprise is that it has taken longer than most may have anticipated.

That it has come to this should not be a surprise. I do not think that history will be kind to Tony George...

Starter

30th October 2012, 18:16

As for the Memorial Day Weekend race at the IMS, it could run -- at least for a time -- as pretty much a stand-alone event, not very much different than how it operated many decades ago.
One year maybe. The second year, if any, would be a ghost of an Indy 500. No third year.

Blancvino

31st October 2012, 17:06

The fizz in the bottle is gone. I'll go out on a limb, Indy Car does not last beyond 2013 Indy 500.

Lousada

1st November 2012, 12:13

The reasons for Randy Bernard getting fired:
PRUETT: The Firing Of IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard, Part 1 (http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/pruett-the-firing-of-indycar-ceo-randy-bernard-part-1/)

SoCalPVguy

1st November 2012, 17:01

The reasons for Randy Bernard getting fired:
PRUETT: The Firing Of IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard, Part 1 (http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/pruett-the-firing-of-indycar-ceo-randy-bernard-part-1/)

Interesting ...

TG was loved in the paddock but hated by the fans.

RB was hated in the paddock but loved by the fans.

Jag_Warrior

1st November 2012, 19:08

The reasons for Randy Bernard getting fired:
PRUETT: The Firing Of IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard, Part 1 (http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/pruett-the-firing-of-indycar-ceo-randy-bernard-part-1/)

Randy Bernard was, by many accounts, the most popular CEO in modern Indy car history, and that’s CART, Champ Car and IndyCar combined.

Unfortunately, that popularity rested almost exclusively with IndyCar’s fans.

So he was only popular among the people who matter the least to IMS/Hulman & Co. It will no longer bother me one bit as I watch this sad, pathetic series slip into oblivion.

Blancvino

1st November 2012, 20:26

Randy Bernard was, by many accounts, the most popular CEO in modern Indy car history, and that’s CART, Champ Car and IndyCar combined.

Unfortunately, that popularity rested almost exclusively with IndyCar’s fans.

So he was only popular among the people who matter the least to IMS/Hulman & Co. It will no longer bother me one bit as I watch this sad, pathetic series slip into oblivion.

Does anyone think there is a snow ball's chance in hell this has anything close to a good outcome?

Chris R

2nd November 2012, 13:37

Does anyone think there is a snow ball's chance in hell this has anything close to a good outcome?

based on historical evidence, I would say the snowball faces much better odds of survival...... seriously, I think if the people who run Indycar (and I am including almost everyone since 1990 - if not 1970) had gone in on an "office pool" lottery ticket that won the big jackpot they would either find a way to "lose" the ticket to prevent someone else in the pool from benefitting or they would collectively hire enough lawyers and consultants to fritter the whole jackpot away BEFORE finally admitting they had REALLY lost the ticket (and that they would blame on someone else).....

bugeyedgomer

3rd November 2012, 16:45

Randy to the airport a little while ago (his company car was taken away yesterday) and he's headed for Texas to play golf and hunt with George Strait and some cowboys buddies

Randy said a few weeks ago he'd noticed Belskus had suddenly become kinda cold and distant towards him and when he mentioned he was likely going to cut TGBB loose, Belskus told him that would be a mistake.

Randy has had FOUR major job offers this week alone

FIAT1

3rd November 2012, 21:49

bugeyedgomer

6th November 2012, 18:03

Here we go

Tyce Carlson: Could He Be The Next IndyCar CEO?

Open-Wheels » Blog Archive » Tyce Carlson Interview: Could He Be The Next IndyCar CEO? (http://open-wheels.com/httpopen-wheels-comp2006/)

An excerpt from a lengthy interview:
Tyce: I firmly believe that I will be able to garner the support of the team owners, the drivers, and the fans, as I have been in all of their shoes. No other CEO of IndyCar has been able to say that. We all have to work together to return IndyCar to where it has been, and to take it beyond that to the place that we all know it needs to be. To do that, there must be unity in purpose amongst the team owners, the drivers, and the fans. I truly feel like I am in a position to provide a bridge to all three groups.

F1boat

7th November 2012, 18:17

I want to ask something and please correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't Randy the guy who defended the Vegas race even after drivers warned him that it is dangerous? If so, he has unwittingly caused the death of a great driver and should have been fires immediately. Safety is paramount.
If not, I apologize for my mistake.

Starter

7th November 2012, 19:39

bugeyedgomer

8th November 2012, 01:00

It was Randy's final gimmick in a gimmick filled season - win 5 million dollars or die trying

garyshell

8th November 2012, 01:47

That was crass and tasteless.

Gary

ShiftingGears

8th November 2012, 02:48

That was crass and tasteless.

Gary

Indeed.

Starter

8th November 2012, 02:51

That was crass and tasteless.

Gary
Double indeed!!!

F1boat

8th November 2012, 11:03

If safety were paramount, there would be no auto racing.

Yes, but you should try to make it as safe as possible, as in Formula One, so you shouldn't proceed with a race if the drivers warn you that heavy crashes are unavoidable. No sympathy for Randy from my side, then.

Mark in Oshawa

10th November 2012, 21:09

Boy...everyone wants to stick a fork in Randy repeatedly and kick him when he is down...and while Vegas was a huge mess, the pluses of the man's thinking outside the box is something the series will miss. I know...shoot me now over that inlight of Vegas, but that was last year. Firing him this year for something that happened last year in the manner just makes the whole series look like amateur time and actually gives people ammunition to point out the actual owners of the series are clueless.