At Edmonton, was the IRL exposed and has hit rock bottom?

[Lousada]

Not a hockey fan.

MLB Umpires work their way up from the minors. Why can't the IRL do that. Their are some great marshals in the SCCA, NASA and other smaller series. Pick the best and have them work their way up....F2000, Indy lites, ICS.

Yes, why can't they do that? If you want to be an umpire/referee in any other sport they give you a clear path with transparent criteria for you to make a career. If you want to be an IRL official how do you that?

[SarahFan]

the IRL has been exposed from its inception.....

[Chris R]

I like the idea of the chief steward coming up through the ranks - the problem is that there really are few to no set "ranks" in racing - there is not a clear path through AOWR that is overseen by one (or multiple) sanctioning body that operates by the same basic principles and fundamental rule book....

The more I think about it, the real problem is that the IRL just happens to be at the top of a very disjointed and dis-organized pile of racing that is loosely known as AOWR.... In that sense one really has to applaud NASCAR, they have done a great job bringing all of American Stock Car racing under one roof (more or less) with one (more or less) unified and clear vision of how it is done and what is it means to be successful....

Personally, I do not care for the type of racing that NASCAR has become - but they have a vision, they have a plan and they have successfully implemented their plan..... The IRL and AOWR in general has no clear plan, no clear vision and has been far from successful....

[SarahFan]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maur%C3%ADcio_Gugelmin

[Mark in Oshawa]

This assertion that a Chief Steward must be a pro is nonsense just as having someone who drove truck and never raced be a chief steward. Oh right, BB proved kissing the right butt can get you a really nice gig....

The problem the IRL has right now with Brian is he has ZERO racing experience as a driver. Not that one has to be a rocket scientest to understand how a race car takes up the whole track to make a perfect corner, but it seems that theory has missed Brian as well.

There is no judgement in what he did Last Sunday. He didn't think about the implications of what he was ruling and he is delightfully inconsistent in how he makes these calls. Making a call on a block on a 200 foot runway when he doesn't make calls like this on ovals such as Texas on Danica or Helio just tells us all about how politically tone deaf he is.....

Taking a race away in the last 3 laps from a popular driver in this case is living proof that this man has no idea.

To replace him, I would look at a racer,but if there is an official out there in another form of racing that understands the pressures and political implications of decisions made, than by all means look at him. The point is, the old way of doing things in the IRL is now really been exposed. The safety team debacle at Texas and now this decision proves to me that this year, Randy Bernard is now understanding that Tony George was a firm believer in the "peter principle" and hired accordinginly...