Auto Racing
Tony George resigns at IMS
INDIANAPOLIS — Tony George has been asked to step down as president and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and his family’s business. And it’s not clear how closely he’ll remain tied to the day-to-day operations of the Indy Racing League.
The board of directors of the speedway and Hulman & Company announced Tuesday that a new management team will take over the Hulman-George companies effective July 1.
The Hulman-George family has run the speedway, home of the Indianapolis 500, for six decades and also owns the IRL and Clabber Girl, a baking-powder company based in Terre Haute.
Speedway board chairman Mary Hulman George, Tony George’s mother, said it is in the best interests of everyone that her son concentrate his efforts on the IRL — primarily, she said, as a team owner.
“We are pleased that he will continue to be an important part of the Indy Racing League as a team owner and as a member of our Board of Directors, and we wish him every success,” she said in a statement.
Hulman George did not directly address whether George would continue to run the IRL’s day-to-day operations. No other IRL executives were available for comment.
In an e-mail to The Associated Press, George refused to comment, saying he would release a statement next week.
Longtime IMS executives W. Curtis Brighton and Jeffrey G. Belskus will take over the leadership roles, with Bright, currently executive vice president and chief legal counsel, becoming president and CEO of Hulman & Company. Belskus, currently executive vice president and chief financial officer for the companies, becomes president and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corp.
“Our board had asked Tony to structure our executive staff to create efficiencies in our business structure and to concentrate his leadership efforts in the Indy Racing League,” Hulman George said in a statement. “He has decided that with the recent unification of open-wheel racing and the experienced management team IMS has cultivated over the years, now would be the time for him to concentrate on his team ownership of Vision Racing with his family and other personal business interests he and his family share.”
Tony George reportedly was asked by the family-dominated board of directors to step down in May, the week after the 500. But he said at the time, “Contrary to published reports, I continue to serve as CEO of IMS.”
The reprieve was short-lived.
George has spent hundreds of millions or dollars in the past 13 years to make track renovations and keep the IRL afloat.
The statement indicated the family businesses are not in trouble, but the speedway and IndyCar series have been cutting back. Over the past six months, about 60 staff jobs were eliminated, and George’s wife, Laura, who co-owns Vision Racing with her husband and actor Patrick Dempsey, lost her job as an adviser.
Construction for a road course, new press tower and new Pagoda cost about $100 million. Those facilities were built for a Formula One race that is no longer held in Indy.
He also broke with tradition by bringing NASCAR and Grand Prix motorcycle to a track that had only hosted one race each year, the Indianapolis 500, until 1994.
But the cost to keep the track in good condition can be astronomical.
“This place wakes up every morning and eats money,” George said in May. “We spend a lot of money keeping it in the condition we do. Certainly the Indy Racing League has in the past required a lot of capital to keep it going when there was two competing series — and a lot of money was spent last year trying to unify.”
- Auto Racing
-
-
Motorsports and art: ISU accepting entries for Artomobilia exhibition
Indiana is known worldwide for motorsports events, specifically those staged at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Events such as the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400 evoke images that are indelibly embedded in the American psyche.
-
Metro Rounup: USAC schedule for 2010 about ready to roll
U.S. Auto Club schedules are pretty well set for 2010 and several events are scheduled for The Action Track in Terre Haute, Bloomington Speedway and Lincoln Park Speedway at Putnamville.
-
IndyCar trims down 500 schedule
The schedule for the Indianapolis 500 will be shorter in 2010 with all of the action in a two-week, three-weekend schedule at Indianapolis Motor Speedway capped by the running of the race May 30.
-
Exhale IndyCar, Danica will be racing in 2010
Danica Patrick is set for another season in the IZOD IndyCar Series. And possibly more. The popular driver has inked a two-year contract with Andretti Autosport with a joint option for a third year. She will drive the No. 7 Go Daddy green car which was unveiled this week on national television.
-
Izod gives IndyCar first ‘legitimate’ title sponsor
Izod and the IndyCar Series became synonymous Thursday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as officials made the announcement that the fashion company would be the series’ title sponsor for at least the next six years.
-
Jimmie Johnson close to racing into NASCAR history
Jimmie Johnson is on the verge of making history in NASCAR Sprint Cup racing and doesn’t plan to get conservative in the last three races of the season.
-
Gordon moving up Chase standings, but his teammates are in his way
Jeff Gordon is off to a slow start in the NASCAR Chase for the championship but the four-time series champ thinks he still could take top honors. To do it, he would have to win a race or two and pass Hendrick Motorsports teammates Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson to do it. Martin and Johnson rank one-two in the Chase point totals and have won the first two races in the championship series.
-
Next IRL race has deep meaning for two drivers
The Indy Japan 300 has special meaning for IndyCar Series drivers Ryan Briscoe and Danica Patrick.
-
Trackside: TH racing greats return to reminisce, look to future of the sport
It was as if the clock had been turned back 30 to 40 years. There they were the true legends of USAC racing assembled once again in Terre Haute. Although they were a short distance from where many enjoyed their finest times behind the wheel of a sprint, midget or Silver Crown car it was as if they had just exited the cockpit of their machines at the Action Track.
-
Jorge Lorenzo cruises to MotoGP victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Two-thirds of the front row for MotoGP’s Indianapolis Grand Prix tasted pavement. Jorge Lorenzo savored victory … becoming the first Indianapolis Motor Speedway champion to victoriously cross the bricks on one wheel.
- More Auto Racing Headlines
-
Motorsports and art: ISU accepting entries for Artomobilia exhibition
