Scot Elkins is set to become one of the most closely watched voices in Indianapolis, as he steps in as INDYCAR Officiating’s managing director of officiating starting May 11, just as the series rolls into Indianapolis 500 month. The hire hands operational control of race control and technical inspection to a veteran who already knows his way around open wheel and sports car paddocks, and it lands while the series is still working through a software glitch at Long Beach that officials say they will review.
As reported by INDYCAR and the Indianapolis Star, Elkins, a 56-year-old Indiana native, will begin onboarding the week of May 11 and is scheduled to oversee Indianapolis 500 qualifying on May 16–17 and the race on May 24. The series has announced that the managing director will report to the Independent Officiating Board and will hold authority over race control and INDYCAR technical inspection.
Elkins brings decades of competition management experience, including a stint leading technical operations for the Champ Car World Series from 2005 to 2008, followed by senior roles in IMSA before he founded The Elkins Group in 2014. He said that “INDYCAR Officiating already has something truly special,” in a statement to INDYCAR ahead of his May 11 start.
Push-to-Pass Glitch Puts New Boss In The Spotlight
The timing follows the Grand Prix of Long Beach, where officials identified a Push-to-Pass software failure that made the overtaking aid available on the Lap 61 restart when it should have been disabled. Post-race analysis showed that 12 cars used the system and that only one position change could be directly tied to the error, and stewards elected not to adjust the race results. The findings were detailed by Motorsport and RACER.
What He'll Oversee
In his new role, Elkins will be responsible for enforcing the rulebook, staffing race control and technical inspection, and maintaining operational independence from series management under the three-person Independent Officiating Board. That board, which includes Raj Nair, Ray Evernham and FIA appointee Ronan Morgan, was created in December 2025 to separate officiating from INDYCAR operations, according to Autosport. With the Indianapolis 500 less than six weeks away, teams and fans will be watching how quickly Elkins and his staff can steady systems and reinforce confidence, as the series now has a single senior official to answer for race control in its biggest month.
