INDYCAR: Q&A With IndyCar CEO Jeff Belskus

Marshall Pruett speaks with IMS and IndyCar CEO Jeff Belskus on a wide array of topics as the series prepares for 2013.

Marshall Pruett | Posted December 10, 2012

Jeff Belskus, left, poses with championship-winning team owner Michael Andretti at last week's IndyCar banquet. (Photo: IndyCar Series)

Based on feedback from a number of informal conversations I've recently held, IndyCar CEO Jeff Belskus has made a positive impact within the series in just a matter of weeks. The longtime Hulman & Company executive has been tasked with leading the IndyCar Series after Randy Bernard’s dismissal, and until recently, was expected to hold onto the IndyCar CEO role.

But with the recent promotion of Hulman & Co. board member Mark Miles to run the entire company, and his expressed desire to seek a brand-new CEO, Belskus heads into the upcoming 2013 season with plenty of work to do and an undetermined amount of time to make progress.

Much of the foundation for 2013 had been established by Bernard, making things somewhat easier for Belskus, but that doesn’t diminish the fact that he has been left with some major issues to resolve.

As you might find below, Belskus didn't limit himself to answering the questions he was asked, but did provide some direction in a few areas.

Pruett: Mark Miles said he intends to find a new, permanent IndyCar CEO—does that disappoint you?

Belskus: We’re going to continue to build great progress. I know I’m part of the organization, that I'm sure in my position and I want to contribute where I can contribute. So we’re getting after it here in 2012 into the beginning of 2013, and we’re going to work hard at it and we'll see where this goes.

Pruett: The costs to compete in the IndyCar Series have gone up noticeably from 2011 to 2012. Some of those costs have stabilized and will be amortized over many years, but for many teams, there’s still an imbalance in the sponsorship income vs. costs to compete at a competitive level. And this goes far beyond parts prices and the like. What can be done, on a grand scale, to either bring down the costs to participate in IndyCar or to increase the revenue at the team level in the next 3 to 5 years?

Belskus: We want to do both. We want to increase revenue and decrease cost and we know these teams are struggling in both areas and – many of them are – not all of them, I guess. But many are. And we understand that. And we need to find ways to increase revenue and to decrease costs.

Unfortunately, we’re saddled with existing agreements that limit our ability in the short term, our ability to modify or change are limited. So we’re going to do it where we can. We’re going to dive in and see where we can make changes and continue to search for ways to reduce costs, specifically, and at the same time continue to look for new opportunities.

Pruett: If there was one takeaway message from the recent IndyCar CEO change, it’s that the concerns of the car owners need to be the concerns of the person in charge of IndyCar. The actionable concerns. How can this be addressed going forward?

Belskus: They are an important stakeholder for us and we have many important stakeholders; the tracks are important, the sponsors are important, our fans are important, but the team owners certainly are up there. I hear them. And I know they've got a dilemma and I know they need help and we’re committed to doing what we can to help them. So what I really think the problem is, is that we need a better way to interact with them, a better process to interact with them. It doesn't exist within the sport today in a more organized forum, if you will, so we’re going to work here with coming up with good ideas with them in terms of how we interact on an ongoing basis so that they know that they're being heard and that we're responding hopefully as well.

Pruett: Does that include hiring a Derrick Walker type, a paddock liaison, or does this interaction process you’re seeking require more than one person to oversee?

Belskus: We need people on our team that understand this sport; we have people that understand the sport. You're right, this goes beyond, though, hiring one person and designating them to interact. It's a process, it's a forum, creating a forum and creating a process to put these important decisions in the right context and get important feedback and analysis and make decisions and move ahead.

Pruett: What can be done to increase the annual operating budget for IndyCar—the funds to run and staff the series and, specifically, market and promote itself?

Belskus: We want to be strategic about our expenditures and I do think we’ve seen value in adding to our promotional budget. And, again, we want to be strategic and smart about how we spend those dollars. But, yes, we feel like that's important.

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