One of the biggest complaints about Brian Barnhart from the competitors is the Indy Car president, competition division, is usually “all bark and no bite” when it comes to enforcing penalties. Barnhart often warns drivers against the sins of blocking, but rarely makes the call to penalize the offending driver.

It’s fairly obvious that Castroneves was making some moves to prevent Wilson from passing his car and taking the lead; it’s just the timing and the involvement of a championship contender that many found curious.

In Sunday’s Detroit Indy Grand Prix presented by Firestone, Barnhart’s fangs finally came out and he took a big bite out of Helio Castroneves’ bid for a second-straight victory.
“The Call,” as it has become known, came after Castroneves was caught blocking Justin Wilson on lap 69. The two were engaged in quite a battle, but when it became obvious that Castroneves was blocking Wilson from passing him, Barnhart ordered Castroneves behind Wilson on the 72nd lap.
It’s fairly obvious that Castroneves was making some moves to prevent Wilson from passing his car and taking the lead; it’s just the timing and the involvement of a championship contender that many found curious.
There is a term in basketball when, late in the game, the officials let the outcome be “determined on the court” and often “swallow the whistle,” overlooking some physical contact rather than calling a foul.
But in Barnhart’s case, he had no choice but to make “The Call.”
“You can’t officiate based on points or who’s involved or what position they hold,” Barnhart said. “You have to do it out of fairness and competition.”
Ultimately, it was the right call, but Castroneves had a hard time accepting the penalty when he climbed out of his car with his temper flaring.
Tim Cindric is president of Team Penske and calls the shots for Castroneves while team owner Roger Penske calls the pit strategy for Ryan Briscoe. Cindric is a master at understanding the rule book and objecting when he feels his team is right, but he was dumbfounded by the decision that helped Wilson win the race while Castroneves finished second.
“Hey, I just want to know what the situation is before we start,” Cindric said. “We haven’t seen that before. They are the officials; they make the calls. I’m sure the expectation wasn’t they would do that because it hasn’t happened before, but that is Brian’s decision.
“We’re disappointed with second place when you are running for a championship.”
Cindric said there is no reason to appeal the call; they have to accept it and move on to the final race of the season at Chicagoland Speedway, trailing Scott Dixon by 30 points.
Penske has been on both ends of “The Call” throughout his career as the most successful team owner in IndyCar history. In 1981, Bobby Unser drove Penske’s car to victory in the Indianapolis 500 only to have it taken away and given to Mario Andretti when officials ruled Unser passed cars during a caution period.
Penske appealed that penalty and the victory was given back to Unser five months later.
In the 2002 Indy 500, Castroneves was declared the winner when Barnhart ruled that Paul Tracy had passed after the yellow light came on because of a crash with two laps left in the race. Tracy’s team appealed that call, but Indy Racing League founder and CEO Tony George made the ultimate decision, backing up Barnhart’s call and Castroneves kept his second-straight Indy 500 win.
After Sunday’s ruling, Penske appeared to feel it wasn’t worth the fight it would take when the outcome would probably remain the same.
“There is not much I can say now,” Penske said. “They made the call. Someone (Barnhart) has to live with that call long-term, but that’s the way it is. It’s a moving violation and you can’t take it back after the race is over. There was no warning before the penalty and that is too bad. I wasn’t in the driver’s meeting so it is hard for me to comment on that.
“We will have a discussion with Brian when cooler heads prevail, but right now there is nothing we can do. It’s tough.”