Barnhardt insult Dario

[jimbo111]

Brian Barnhardt insults Dairo at the award ceremony for the championship.

The announcer introduced Brian Barnhardt to give Dario the championship trophy and someone yells out, "He's not here" and he wasn't. The TV announcer Jack Arute did the presentation. Dario wins the IRL championship and ABC assumes the role of the IRL and awards the prize.

Barnhardt showed no class. It was lower than low. I couldn't believe it.

Some on indycar.com are speculating that Barnhardt didn't show up because there is talk about Dario going to NASCAR next year.

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[call_me_andrew]

Maybe he was just detained. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

[jimbo111]

Could be. But, I doubt it. Something as important as the award ceremony? You make sure you are there. That simple. You don't let the TV network assume the role of the IRL. If anything else someone who works for IRL should have made the presentation. Al Sr or Lonestar JR.

No matter the reason, he was insulting Dario.

[nigelred5]

Wasn't TG the team owner there?? He surely should have stepped in as TG the series owner and presented the trophy. Wouldn't one think he would have stepped in? They know he and Harnish are both gone to NASCAR, though I do believe Dario has bee ndone with the IRL for some time as it was, title or not.

[cobre]

Congrats to Dario & AGR for a job well done!! I hope Dario stays in the IRL; cough up the cash Mikey.

[NickFalzone]

I read on another site that the elevator in race control was broken and Barnhart ended up having to use the stairs.

[jimbo111]

Then Tony George should have stepped in.

I do understand that because of TV they couldn't wait for someone stuck walking down flights of stairs, if in fact that is what happened.

I think it's really insulting and embarrassing for Dario when the announcer introduced Brian Barnhardt and some one in the crowd yells out, "He's not here." then he just ends up standing there while they are trying to figure out what to do. Then Jack Arute grabs the bull by the horns and does it himself.

The whole thing was wrong.

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[FerrrariF1]

I read on another site that the elevator in race control was broken and Barnhart ended up having to use the stairs.

Most likley the track was holding IRL officials hostage until the bill to pay for the track rental was paid so they shut off the power to the elevator until TG showed up with the check.

[Komahawk]

That's a shame! If Barnardt meant to insult Dario, he only really insulted the IRL and himself. NASCAR or not, Dario is the champ and therefor the highest representative of the series. It's just wrong. The IRL should treat all their drivers with respect, especially the champs, even if they more or less publicly announce to leave the series.

[indycool]

Oh, there isn't any drama to it. Barnhart had to get out of race control, down the grandstand, across the track, across the grass, across the pit road to Victory Lane and it was wanted on TV. He just plain couldn't get there in time.

[DRC]

I would have guessed Arute slipped somebody a hundred bucks to do the presentation rather than Barnhart dissing anybody...

[jimbo111]

I would have guessed Arute slipped somebody a hundred bucks to do the presentation rather than Barnhart dissing anybody...

Ya I'm sure these guys would do anything for a 100 bucks of pocket money.

[OWChicago79]

I was listening to my scanner and was sitting right behind the flag stand. ABC Producers asked Jack Arute to give the award out. I was tunned into one of the ABC Control Room channels. As far as the elevator status it seemed to be working fine when i went back up to the suites right after the race and they even have two elevators for that area of the grandstand. I'm upset that Dario may be leaving. But there is no call for Barnhart or TG for what they did.

[ChicagocrewIRL]

Dr. Jerry Punch emceed the awards presentation at the 2006 Chicagoland Race for the championship trophy, but Barnhart was there.

[EagleEye]

Oh, there isn't any drama to it. Barnhart had to get out of race control, down the grandstand, across the track, across the grass, across the pit road to Victory Lane and it was wanted on TV. He just plain couldn't get there in time.

Brian is an extremely loyal, long time IRL leader, who if anything, has been able to refrain from any politics over the years.

Brian is a great guy, who would not intentionally snub anyone, even if he had to give an award to someone from CCWS.

[jimbo111]

Brian is an extremely loyal, long time IRL leader, who if anything, has been able to refrain from any politics over the years.

Brian is a great guy, who would not intentionally snub anyone, even if he had to give an award to someone from CCWS.

I don't know one way or the other. The drivers seem to respect him and that is worth something.

From watching the video which I have, you can tell there was a lot of confusion where for a second Jack Arute didn't know what to do and Dario didn't know what was happening. They were trying to fill the time with jokes and the moment of silence.

Maybe some reason should have been given at the time. Or maybe ABC was to fast to introduce him when he wasn't there.

If he wasn't introduced I may not have noticed something wrong. When I was watching live and saw the confusion my first words out of my mouth was, "WOW!!! Barnhardt should have been there." I was surprised.

I am not trying to guess why he wasn't and there may be a very good reason why he wasn't. But, he should have been. Afterall he is IRL.

One of Dario's jokes he said trying to fill up the time of confusion, "Maybe he is having trouble changing the name on the check." You could barely hear it. You could read into what Dario was thinking.

But, we may never really know what happened.

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[indycool]

First item under Sept. 12........

http://blogs.indystar.com/racingexpert/

[jimbo111]

First item under Sept. 12........

http://blogs.indystar.com/racingexpert/

A firsthand account of what happened. Works for me.

TV was running overtime. So I am sure things were rushed. As I said in my last note. If ABC didn't announce his name as they did. This most likely wouldn't have been an issue.

Thank you for posting that.

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[Mark in Oshawa]

I think TV is the villian but in the future,they have to either give the job to Tony George ( who I think SHOULD be the man doing it) or just get a media spokesdude to do this stuff on behalf of the league. Barnhart has to do be the man in race control, talk to the press and do the gladhanding too? Too much work for one man on a race weekend, and as we saw, the logistics of the whole thing didn't work. As for ABC, they should have waited. You wouldn't see the TV guy handing the Super Bowl trophy off to a coach and team because the Commissioner of the league was still upstairs. TV waits until the NFL gets all their stuff out there and then does it, and TV WAITS For it. Only the IRL and Champ Car would get treated in such a shoddy manner on live TV. ABC should have waited. A good TV partner wouldn't do anything to make the sport look bad, and THAT is precisely what they did....