MILLER: Race Control revolving door continues

We've had guys that drove Indy cars, lawyers, team managers, business types, guys who drove racecars but not Indy cars, mechanics and guys that never drove a racecar in competition. Today we can add former motorsports executive to that list.

IndyCar's revolving door in Race Control leaves me shaking my old gray head. It's arguably the most important job at the track, making split-second decisions that can decide races and championships as well as shaping the rules and enforcing them.

It's also the toughest job in the paddock.

"It's not easy," said Wally Dallenbach (RIGHT), who served as CART's chief steward from 1979-2000. "You don't sleep a whole lot and you eat a lot of meals alone."

Universally respected for his honesty, hard work and integrity, Dallenbach remains the gold standard for chief stewards. As a former Indy driver for two decades, and a damn good one, he knew from where he spoke. He wasn't a screamer or a profiler or a grudge holder – he simply sized up a situation and made the call.

"I grew up with a wrench in my hand, so I knew mechanics and I knew driving and, for the most part, it worked out," said the man who also spearheaded CART's world-class safety team. "I had to pull the trigger when something happened so I went to my memory bank. It was very rare I ever asked somebody: 'What did you think?' And, based on what I did and what I saw, it worked most of the time.

"I just turned out to be lucky."

But one of the main reasons it worked was because the drivers always knew where they stood with Wally and he ruled by his honest instincts. There wasn't a vote of a committee or a review on Monday or a 15-lap delay before there was a response.

"You can't walk around with a mouthful of marbles," he added with a laugh.

Because IndyCar needs one strong voice to rule the races – not a barbershop quartet. It baffles me why IndyCar feels the need to vote and how it can have people the past two years that aren't qualified to make these game-changing calls.

Davis is a nice guy who was Ford's director of racing technology for 14 years and has spent 40 years in motorsports. But what does he know about blocking or chopping or deftly drifting over on someone, or what's payback or what's a racing accident? I'm not picking on him but when I first heard his name a few days ago it was like, "WHAT?" He's never spent a minute in Race Control to my knowledge – ditto for Frye or Papis or Luyendyk. [Luyendyk served as a race steward under Beaux Barfield - ED]

I mean, if you are sold on Davis then at least make him spend a year or two in the Mazda Road to Indy series learning the ropes and nuances but don't make him the chief steward of the best, fastest, most competitive series in the country. Do you really think today's drivers are going to respect what he tells them?

Max is a good guy who spent six seasons in CART but he's also an emotional guy and that has to be tempered in Race Control. Arie is a laid-back, two-time Indy winner who doesn't seem to care what people think, which is a must in this role.

I'm still a big Derrick Walker fan but we argued about this concept for two years, just like we did about Beaux Barfield (LEFT). Some of the drivers didn't like Beaux because they said he wasn't consistent or because they thought he was too "Hollywood" but all I know is that he red-flagged Fontana to give the championship a green-flag finish in 2012 and did the same thing in the 2014 Indy 500 and both calls were big ones – and the right ones.

For my money, Al Unser Jr. would have been a good choice to be the new sheriff because he's been around Race Control, he knows every racing situation, he wanted the job and he'd bring instant respect to this thankless position.

But, four guys in Race Control with zero experience at running and calling a race? Can you spell OMG????

Of course I understand the IndyCar community, owners and drivers, favored keeping the three-heads-are-better-than-one mentality, so I imagine they'll all be very patient and understanding with these guys as they learn on the job.

Sure they will.