Mark Miles says that before accepting the position as CEO of Hulman & Co. “there wasn’t a day that I remember waking up and thinking I’m going to be almost totally consumed” with motorsports.

INDYCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are the most visible assets of the Hulman-George family, whose portfolio also includes consumer products, real estate and media holdings, and have initially required Miles’ focus in an effort to realize potential.

Approaching his first anniversary as CEO, Miles engaged in a candid “INDYCAR In-depth” interview during the 14th NASCAR Motorsports Marketing Forum in Las Vegas.

Miles spoke with passion about his short- and long-term visions for INDYCAR and the Speedway and addressed internal investment and external modifications to reach those goals during the wide-ranging conversation.

“Every day has been an adventure and I feel very bullish about where we’re headed and I think there’s a fair amount of clarity inside our organization about the things we need to do. I think it is our greatest growth opportunity. I think it is an undervalued asset that we can do a lot with and I’m very excited about playing the role I can,” he said on the day the 2014 INDYCAR TV schedule was unveiled in conjunction with broadcast partners ABC and NBC Sports Network.

A highlight is ABC televising all three weekends of Month of May activities at the Speedway, including the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis on May 10. On May 17 and 18, it will televise time trials leading up to the 98th Running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 25.

“We think that is a really great platform for the continued growth of the ‘500’ and for the IndyCar Series,” Miles said. “The more continuity for our fans the better. It will be easier to communicate and build to the ‘500.’ ’’

ABC will televise the season opener March 30 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., and the 18-race schedule concludes Aug. 30 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

“For ’14, we’ll end the championship on Labor Day weekend,” Miles noted. “There are folks who don’t think that’s such a good idea. There are folks who think we need to be out there in front of people; the more we cover up the calendar the better for the sport. I just don’t agree with that.  (It’s) difficult to grow a television audience after Labor Day in this country. Recognizing that, we did not reduce our racing but we compressed the North American circuit, so it starts in late March and culminates on Labor Day weekend.

“We think that gives us the opportunity in ’15 to stick our toe in the international water. Our objective for 2015 is to add maybe three international races in February and the beginning of March as part of our championship. So there will be work for our teams and plenty of racing, and we think that is a way to grow part of our sport.

“We had a couple of meetings with all the team owners and just laid out the strategy and supported it with data. Larry Foyt leaves the room, goes back to A.J. (Foyt) and says ‘I think he has his head on straight. ‘This is something that wouldn’t have occurred to us necessarily, but I get it and we’ll see if it works.’

“Our paddock wants leadership and clarity, and there are some risks associated with these changes but that comes with the territory. I think this gives us the chance to engage more fans because fans will be less distracted by other options and will have a better sense of how to find our racing.”

The international flavor of the IndyCar Series, which this past season featured drivers representing 15 countries, will assist in developing international races, Miles said.

“Some people think an issue for us is not enough American drivers. I don’t think there’s a magic number in terms of the balance, but I like the balance,” he said. “Having these international drivers that are charismatic is related to the thinking, in part, to our international expansion plans. I think there is enormous opportunity and in about a year’s time will tell if I’m right.”

Miles said proposals by the Boston Consulting Group, which in 2012 conducted an intensive study into the business and on-track operations of INDYCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, were taken under advisement. Some proposals have been or will be adopted, some were modified and some were deemed not suitable.

But the process was important, according to the CEO.

“I think it’s easy for an organization like ours that’s been around a long time, that is family-driven to become kind of insulated, so we wanted outside perspectives and we happened to choose the Boston Consulting Group to create a motorsports strategy for us,” Miles said. “I don’t think any of it is rocket science; not much of it was technical from a racing perspective. It was about how can improve our own organization, how we can better engage fans and how we can build better alignment with our key stakeholders.

“A lot of it for us is being clear internally and externally and executing, which is what management is all about. We made a lot of progress over the year. For us, much of it made a lot of sense. There are some things that they suggested that we’re not going to pursue; it just didn’t feel right to us. But it was really helpful for me, subsequent to coming on as the CEO, jump-starting our vision.

“They suggested we need to have a more compelling end of year to our championship and essentially they suggested some version of the chase. We didn’t think that felt right to us, but we did like the idea that we look at the schedule and how the end of year is more a culmination of the championship. Their suggestion specifically was that we end the year in Indianapolis with a road course race, and we just didn’t think that was the right prescription though some people know we did like the idea of a road course race and have announced that we’ll have a race to kick off the Month of May.

“In part, it was less risky from my perspective. We looked at the first two weekends in May as great assets and opportunities. So we felt like we just needed to provide more content, and if we could do that and could provide lift and real quick momentum in Indianapolis that’s good for the series.

“The road course race will open things up the first weekend. The middle weekend, we haven’t announced the specifics, but we’ll make some changes that some will think are heresy and some will think are tweaking to our format for qualifying.  Happily, there has been some early acknowledgement. The first two weeks that we put tickets on sale for the road course race, we brought in revenue, cash in hand, of a third of our overall objective economically. It provided a lift to Indy 500 ticket sales to some extent.”

Other subjects addressed:

IndyCar Series entitlement

 “We are engaged in three very promising conversations, and I hope we have some good news on that front certainly before the next season actually starts,” Miles said. “(But) there are no expiration dates. It is entirely possible that companies that already are involved in the sport step up to higher levels.”

Improving TV ratings

“One is the schedule. There’s more rhythm to it (in 2014),” Miles said. “I think ending on Labor Day and not trying to compete with football is important to us. Most of the rest of it we have to be better marketers and invest in our communication assets internally. I like this sport and what it offers to fans, and if we can be smarter about the way we put it in the public I think the future is bright.”