By JOHN MARSHALL
AP Sports Writer
LONG BEACH, California −Randy Bernard hasn't seen the Indianapolis 500 in person, but he knows the impact it has on promoting the IndyCar Series and he wants more of it.
Hinting at possible "major'' changes in the open-wheel circuit, the new Indy Racing League CEO said on Friday an announcement will be made in the next two weeks to create excitement outside of the IRL's premier event.
"You have the Indianapolis 500, then you have a bunch of vanilla events,'' Bernard said at the Grand Prix of Long Beach. "Not to take away from this great event here, but it's not a national event, which we need to have two or three majors that stand apart and make them big, big events. I think what we're working on might help with that.''
IndyCar once had majors of sorts, the 500-mile races at Indy, Pocono and Ontario considered the circuit's triple crown. Only the Indianapolis 500 endured as an iconic event.
The IRL could take two or three events outside of Indy, make them 500 miles and dub them majors, but the more likely scenario would be to create a playoff-type system similar to NASCAR.
NASCAR changed its format in 2004 by calling the final 10 races of the season the "Chase for the Championship,'' with only the top 12 drivers initially top 10 and anyone within 400 points of the lead getting a chance to win the season title.
"It's not the end of all means,'' Bernard said of the changes. "I don't want to create too much excitement in something that's going to change the series. I think we want to set ourselves up for the future on how we can determine and build stars as well as major events.''
Building stars is the other front-burner issue for Bernard.
The circuit has done well with Danica Patrick and Helio Castroneves making names for themselves off the track, but Bernard wants more IRL drivers to have that kind of drawing power.
IndyCar once had stars like Rick Mears, Al Unser and A.J. Foyt known beyond the ovals. Now, many of the top open-wheel drivers are bolting for the bigger dollars of NASCAR, including Juan Pablo Montoya, Tony Stewart and Sam Hornish Jr.
Bernard wants it to change.
For race introductions, Bernard said he'd like to have a video that shows the legends of the series and the stars to show where the series has been and where it's going. He'd also like to see the drivers appear larger than life, rather than simply walking down a staircase to the track.
More big off-track events, like Thursday's show and autograph session on Hollywood Boulevard, wouldn't hurt, either.
"If you look at the legends of this sport, look how long they competed,'' he said. "They all retired within a 16-month period almost and that was a huge negativity and a big loss in for the sport in general. We need to make sure we can maintain these stars once we have them.''
TECHNICAL REVIEW: The IRL announced a new technical review committee that will meet each week to discuss all technical proposals submitted by teams.
The committee will make recommendations that will be sent to Brian Barnhart, IRL president of competition and racing operations. He will have final approval of all proposals.
The committee is the second set up under the leadership of new CEO Randy Bernard. In March, the ICONIC committee was created to advise the IndyCar Series for its 2012 chassis package.
The final rulings by Barnhart will be posted on a participant-only website, giving teams equal access to rule interpretation information.
FRANCHITTI DEFENDS: Last year's Grand Prix of Long Beach was a springboard to Dario Franchitti's second IRL season championship.
After an aborted try at NASCAR in 2008, the Scottish driver returned to IndyCar last season, opening with a fourth at St. Petersburg. A week later, Franchitti drove to the win in Long Beach and won four more times, edging New Zealand teammate Scott Dixon by 11 points for the season title.
"The first race in St. Pete we ran well, but this is where it all came together for us,'' Franchitti said. "That kind of continued for the rest of the season.''
Franchitti never had a lapse in confidence returning to IndyCar, where he won a series title in 2007 and has 13 career wins. But it was nice to get back into the winner's circle, especially for his new team, Target Chip Ganassi Racing.
"It was definitely good for my confidence, the team's confidence as well,'' he said. ``We knew we were quick and we had been quick in testing, but to know that we could execute, the guys on the pit stops, the strategy, the car was fast, I didn't make any mistakes we all did our job.''
PIT STOPS: Ryan Hunter-Reay had the fastest time in Friday's two practice sessions, clocking 1 minute, 10.6346 seconds and 100.302 mph during a second-run lap. Ryan Briscoe had the second-best time at 1:10.6980. ... Hunter-Reay will be busy this weekend. He's also driving an American Le Mans Series race Saturday after qualifying for Sunday's IndyCar race. ... Michael Andretti and 1985 Indianapolis 500 winner Danny Sullivan received stars on the Motorsports Walk of Fame in Long Beach on Thursday.
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