Ex-IMSA race steward Novak named IndyCar race director

Former IMSA race steward Kyle Novak has been named the new IndyCar race direction from 2018 by IndyCar President Jay Frye.

Novak, an attorney by profession, has worked his way up the United States racing ranks within a number of race controls teams having most recently acted as a race in IMSA overseeing the WeatherTech Sports Car Championship.

Novak will take the reins in IndyCar from the start of this season, which begins at St Petersburg on the 11th March, working under President Frye who is thrilled to announce his new race director ahead of the 2018 campaign.

“Throughout our extensive search for a race director, one name was mentioned repeatedly - and that was Kyle Novak,” Frye said. “We have been aware of Kyle's work for the past couple of years. He's clearly impressed those he's worked with and, after meeting with him, we knew he would be a great fit for our Race Control team. Kyle has a great future and we couldn't be more excited to have him as part of IndyCar.”

Novak is already familiar with the current race control set-up in IndyCar, consider to be a key point behind his selection, and is relishing the role despite having to say goodbye to IMSA.

“Always been a gearhead,” Novak said. “Always working on cars; muscle cars, mostly. That's how I got my feet wet, and then one thing led to another. And here I am. Jay and I hit it off immediately - it's the fresh outlook he brings that is a huge part of it.

“Ironically enough, three people who work in IndyCar Race Control are some of the first people I met in the industry, and that goes all the way back to 2004. Those are among the key people I'll be working with on a day-to-day basis. There's a great deal of familiarity with them.

“Motorsports is such a small industry that many of the people who have helped me over the years have stayed with me as industry colleagues. But IndyCar has always been at the forefront of professional motorsports in North America, and I had the opportunity on several occasions to witness that first hand, since many IMSA races are run in conjunction with IndyCar events. I can't thank the people at IMSA enough for the opportunities I was given and for their assistance in making this a smooth transition to IndyCar. I can't wait to get started.”