Luyendyk, Papis continuing as IndyCar race stewards

The NTT IndyCar Series will move forward with two-time Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk (pictured above) and Max Papis, the veteran of IndyCar, Formula 1, NASCAR, and sports car competition, as its returning race stewards to support race director Kyle Novak.

“Max and Arie will be back,” IndyCar president Jay Frye told RACER. “I think they've both done a really good job.”

Asked if IndyCar was considering any changes to the structure of its two-person race steward system, Frye said there are no plans on the immediate horizon in that regard. While discussing Formula 1’s approach to race control -- where, to ensure fresh and potentially differing perspectives are added to calls made by the tenured stewards at each round, it draws from a rotating cast of former drivers and senior officials with stewarding experience in other series each weekend -- Frye seemed open to the idea.

“There's more than just two people in there to make decisions -- probably three or four people, and I’m always in there -- if other opinions are needed,” he said. “When the two stewards are in agreement, obviously, it's pretty cut and dry.

“If they're not, then that's when you go to get more input on the situation, but the concept of having some extra stewards to bring in as a different take, I don't think it's a bad approach.”

For Luyendyk and Papis, 2022 will mark their seventh year as IndyCar race stewards, having joined race control together at St. Petersburg in 2016.