IRL Names New CEO

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IRL Names New CEO

Post by mlittle » Wed Feb 03, 2010 5:33 am

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By Dave Lewandowski - Indycar.com
Tuesday, February 2, 2010



~~~A page from Randy Bernard's basic management philosophy: It takes a lot of hard work, which means you have to have a great team backing you.

For the past 15 years, Bernard experienced the former and was the beneficiary of the latter as he helped expand the Professional Bull Riders, Inc. brand, events, sponsorship and worldwide popularity as its Chief Executive Officer. Now he'll lead the Indy Racing League -- the sanctioning body of the IZOD IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights -- that shares a similar starting date and rich heritage with the PBR.

Bernard was introduced as CEO by Jeffrey Belskus, president and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation.

"Randy is the right person at the right time to head the Indy Racing League," Belskus said. "He brings a superb sports marketing and promotion background, proven CEO skills, energy and enthusiasm at a time when the IZOD IndyCar Series is positioned for growth."

Bernard, who observed his 43rd birthday Jan. 31 while at a PBR event in Tampa, Fla., and will start with the league March 1, said he initially wants "to fade into the background, roll up my sleeves and be part of the team."

"There are so many exciting things with the IRL this year," Bernard said. "I want to create a positive environment. I want everybody working together - from the team owners to the staff and management to the sponsors. We must share that same vision of growing the Indy Racing League."

Professional Bull Riders, the governing body for the stand-alone rodeo event of bull riding, was formed in 1992 by 20 bull riders who each invested $1,000 to launch an athlete-owned and -operated bull riding tour apart from the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.

Bernard produced one of the eight PBR events in its inaugural 1994 season while with the marketing and entertainment department of the California Mid-State Fair and "fell in love with the sport." He was named CEO in 1995 and worked with the PBR founders in the succeeding years to develop and expand the brand, events across North America and the popularity of the sport worldwide.

Under Bernard's leadership, PBR's Built Ford Tough Series regular-season attendance increased 12 percent in 2009, and ratings with television partner VERSUS increased nearly 30 percent last year. The PBR has been quick out of the chutes in 2010 with attendance up 23 percent in its first five weeks of competition. In April 2007, Bernard successfully executed a merger between Professional Bull Riders, Inc. and Spire Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity firm, and remained CEO under the new ownership structure.

"I was content with the job I had as CEO of Professional Bull Riders, but then I started doing some research on the IRL and saw tremendous potential," he said. "I felt like I could really make a difference. I had turned down several opportunities in the past couple years, but when this came along I just thought the opportunities were just huge.

"It's is a complete different genre in the sporting world that I came from, but that's what excites me about it. I started with nothing at the PBR. I was the only employee in 1995 and to see it grow I had to learn television, merchandising, marketing, promotion. The IRL is so big already and has so much opportunity. I really see this as a chance just to have to reignite America of why the Indy Racing League is so exciting and the deep traditions of this great sport as well."

The announcement at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was attended by members of the IMS Board of Directors including Nancy George, Josie George and Jack Snyder. IMS chairman Mari Hulman George, who was traveling, and board member Kathi George Conforti, who lives in California, were not in attendance.

Bernard thanked the Hulman-George family "for allowing me the opportunity to be a part of this great tradition. I have had the opportunity to meet with Ms. George, Josie, Nancy, Kathi, Jack Snyder and Jeff Belskus several times and really look forward to sharing their vision." Belskus assumed the duties of president and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in June 2009. He subsequently succeeded Tony George as CEO of the Indy Racing League, which is a subsidiary of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The 17-race IZOD IndyCar Series season - the most varied and challenging in motorsports with nine street/road circuits and eight oval events -- begins March 14 with the inaugural São Paulo Indy 300 on a temporary street circuit in São Paulo, Brazil - the first Indy Racing League-sanctioned race in South America and one of four countries the IZOD IndyCar Series will visit in 2010. Firestone Indy Lights kicks off its season March 28 in St. Petersburg, Fla., on the same weekend of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (IZOD IndyCar Series domestic opener).

"The most exciting thing for 2010 to me is IZOD being the title sponsor," Bernard said. "I met with them as part of my due diligence and I was blown away with how they are going to promote this sport. It's such a young, fresh look and that excited me.

"I also look forward to working with (commercial division president) Terry Angstadt and (competition and racing operations president) Brian Barnhart. I am confident we will make a great team. I want to learn the sport and the staff, and I need to take their direction on a lot of this right now. I don't have a motorsports background so Brian is going to be the most important person in my life."
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