IndyCar said today it will have an independent officiating system presiding over the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone seasons. The not-for-profit organization, IndyCar Officiating Inc., will be governed by a three-person Independent Officiating Board (IOB). This board will select a Managing Director of Officiating (MDO) and establish its annual budget.
“The board members were independently selected this week, with two members chosen via a vote from IndyCar team owners, who are charter members, and the other member appointed by the Federation Internationale de I’Automobile (FIA),” IndyCar said in a release.

“The managing director will report directly to the independent board with no oversight from INDYCAR or Penske Entertainment officials. This individual will be charged with full officiating oversight – including the hiring of personnel for race control and INDYCAR technical inspection – and responsible for enforcing the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT rulebooks as written by IndyCar,” IndyCar claimed.

The two IOB members selected via a vote from chartered team owners are:

• Ray Evernham: A motorsports veteran who served as the crew chief for three of Jeff Gordon’s NASCAR Cup Series championships. Evernham also pioneered Dodge’s return to NASCAR as owner of Evernham Motorsports before later becoming a television analyst, producer and consultant.
• Raj Nair: Nair has experience and technical compliance expertise as an executive at Singer Group, Inc., Multimatic, Inc. and the Ford Motor Company, where he also served as the North American president from 2017-18. As the chief technical officer and executive vice president of Ford’s global product development (2012-17), Nair was responsible for all Ford Motorsports programs, including in NASCAR, IMSA and FIA WEC.

The third member of the IOB appointed by the FIA is:

• Ronan Morgan: He has more than 50 years of global motorsport experience as a senior official, promoter, organizer and competitor. With the FIA, Morgan served as the chairman of stewards for more than 100 international race and rally events, was sporting manager of the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix from 2009 to 2021 and is president of the FIA Drivers Commission. Morgan is also a member of the FIA World Motor Sport Council and advisor to the FIA President. [The FIA’s role in INDYCAR’s independent officiating system will be limited to the appointment of its board member. – AutoCrat]