Former Exec Derrick Walker Interested In Return To IndyCar

Former IndyCar executive Derrick Walker is interested in a return to the sport after resigning as SCCA Pro Racing President on Wednesday.

Derrick Walker quit as president of the Sports Car Club of America’s Pro Racing arm on Wednesday and talk has immediately begun that Walker, who was previously IndyCar’s President of Competition and Operations, wants back into the league.

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Racer‘s Robin Miller wasted no time asking Walker about a return to IndyCar and the idea does seem to be at the forefront of his mind:

"Walker Racing has been around for 25 years and it would be great to get back into the IndyCar wars. IndyCar will always be my main passion.It’s the best racing on the planet and I’d like to be part of it again, especially with those aero kits."

The aero kits are purportedly on their way out, but Walker sounds like he wants back into the league he resigned from just last fall. He announced he was leaving in July “to pursue other professional opportunities” and wrapped his IndyCar tenure on Aug. 31.

At the time, Mark Miles suggested that Walker was taking the hit for the technical and competition foibles of the 2015 season – which were mostly about those same aero kits:

"I think he feels like on the one hand there have been competition/technical things that didn’t go as planned. He’s the kind of guy that wants to take personal responsibility for those things."

Whether or not Walker fell on his sword, with two resignations announced in less than a year he’s obviously come to the realization that IndyCar is the only place he really wants to be.

But the real talking point isn’t so much that Walker wants to come back – it’s where would he land?

His former position as President of Competition and Operations has been filled by Jay Frye, who had been the league’s Chief Revenue Officer since 2013. Frye certainly isn’t going anywhere nor should he.

And as Walker concedes in the Racer interview, bringing Walker Racing back onto the grid will be a challenge. When the IndyCar teams that are already here are concerned about funding, that would not seem to be the best time to try and add another.

So as he says, his best course of action would probably be to attach himself to an existing team in an advisory capacity.

That would obviously be any team outside of the Big Three. Walker was previously team manager for Ed Carpenter Racing, and ECR could be in need of some help particularly if Josef Newgarden leaves after the season, which seems likely.

Walker doesn’t have that same connection with any of the other small squads but there certainly would be interest in utilizing his decades of experience, provided that these teams would have the budget to hire an advisor.

And perhaps that would also be best for Walker – no longer part of the IndyCar executive scheme, he could simply be part of the sport he so clearly loves without having to face the flak of making league decisions that people may not like.

It will probably be in the offseason that we’ll find out whether or not Walker is able to find a job opening in IndyCar, but it will be interesting to see where he ultimately winds up next.

Would you like to see Derrick Walker back in IndyCar?