INDIANAPOLIS — Randy Bernard knows there are people who blame him for Dan Wheldon’s death, who say the IndyCar CEO pushed the series over the edge.
In the 24 hours after the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner was killed in a fiery 15-car accident in the season finale, Bernard wondered if perhaps all the hate mail accusing him of sacrificing safety for the show was right.
“The last week was probably the most horrific week of my life,” Bernard said.
Now, nine days later, Bernard is able to publicly talk about Wheldon and the day all his work toward building a spectacular finale went terribly wrong minutes into the race. Bernard is focused on moving forward and helping IndyCar through this dark period.
“I know this is a time I have to make sure I am going to be very decisive, very articulate and be a leader,” Bernard said. “In tough times is where you build your character; it’s not in good times.”
The second-year CEO was hired to revitalize the series despite no auto racing experience, and that’s contributing to blaming Bernard for creating the circumstances that led to Wheldon’s death.
He allowed a season-high 34 cars on a high-banked oval, where a field of mixed experience levels had enough room to race three-wide at over 220 mph around Las Vegas Motor Speedway. And he offered a jobless Wheldon the chance to earn a $5 million bonus if he could drive from the back of the field to Victory Lane. Bernard insists he did not sensationalize the inherent danger in auto racing.
“I think anytime we are on any track it’s always dangerous — we do as much as we can to make it safe — (and) our storylines were never, ‘Come watch this dangerous event!’ ” he said.
Bernard called a three-hour driver meeting Monday, and Dario Franchitti, a four-time champion, said there was no sense of anger toward Bernard as the drivers all had a chance to speak. Franchitti also said the CEO earned an immeasurable amount of respect by canceling the race after Wheldon’s death when grief-stricken drivers were unable to decide if the show — per tradition — should go on.
Bernard, with such limited auto racing experience, wasn’t tied to that etiquette.
Instead, he went with his gut.
“I felt that I didn’t really care about tradition on this,” he said. “I felt like no driver in their right mind could have a clear head knowing that one of their friends had just died, and I felt this is where I needed to make a stand and say ‘No.’ “
Bernard called instead for a five-lap tribute.
