Tony
George was removed as CEO of
Hulman & Company and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation by the
board which includes George, his mother Mari Hulman George, his three sisters
and long time family attorney Jack Snyder. Tony was offered, but declined
the position of CEO of the Indy Racing League. He will remain on the board of
directors for the Hulman George family business holdings and will continue to
manage his Vision Racing Indy car team.
The
following is the release posted on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway web site.
|
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The Board of Directors of Hulman & Company and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
announced June 30 that a new management team comprised of veteran IMS executives
W. Curtis Brighton and Jeffrey G. Belskus will head the Hulman-George companies
effective July 1.
Brighton, currently executive vice president and chief legal counsel, will
become president and CEO of Hulman & Company. Belskus, currently executive vice
president and chief financial officer for the companies, will become president
and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation.
They will replace Tony George, who will no longer serve as president and chief
executive officer of the Hulman-George companies but will remain a board member
of the Hulman-George companies.
"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," said Mari Hulman George, IMS chairman of the board.
"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 will remain on the Board of Directors of all of our companies, and he will
continue to work with the entire board to advance the interests of all of
companies.
"Our family and the entire racing community are grateful to Tony for the
leadership and direction he has provided since 1990. 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."
Mrs. George underscored the confidence in the leadership of Belskus and
Brighton, who both were originally hired by Tony George.
"Jeff and Curt have both been with the company for many years in positions of
top leadership," Mrs. George said. "Tony, as well as the entire Board of
Directors, has the utmost confidence in their capabilities.
"Both of these men have years of experience and leadership within our companies.
In addition, each of our companies has effective presidential leadership, and
that will remain in place."
Joie Chitwood is president and chief operating officer (COO) of the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway, LLC. Terry Angstadt is president of the commercial division of
the Indy Racing League. Brian Barnhart is president of the competition division
of the Indy Racing League. Charlie Morgan is president and COO of IMS
Productions. Gary Morris is president and COO of Clabber Girl.
"These changes underscore our family's commitment going forward to all of our
companies, especially our commitment to the growth of the Indy Racing League and
the sport of open-wheel racing," Mrs. George said. "We believe the Hulman-George
family's long stewardship of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, beginning in 1945,
and our significant investment in the Speedway and in the IRL demonstrates that
we have full confidence in all of our companies and that we intend to grow them
in the future."
|
|
Winner Helio Castroneves leads Dan Wheldon, Townsend Bell, Paul Tracy, Ed
Carpenter, Danica Patrick and Alex Tagliani through turn three during the 93rd
"Indianapolis 500" on May 24, 2009. Look at Tracy trying to pass on the outside. |
Tony
George's ouster
is a huge disappointment to me.
I did
not know about the division between Tony and his three sisters before Robin
Miller broke the story on the Speed TV website on May 26. Miller reported that
George had been voted out of power at a board of directors meeting. Technically
Robin was a bit more than a month ahead with his story, since George wasn't
officially voted out of power at the IMS board meeting until June 30. But the fix was in
two days following the 93rd "Indianapolis 500." So we will give Robin his due
for breaking one of the biggest stories in years.
Although
he wasn't as vindictive as I would have thought
(given Robin Miller's
usual dark soul and general state of unhappiness), Miller was probably in an
orgasmic state when he learned his enemy to the death had been overthrown
by his own family. I
don't know what Robin Miller's relationship is to any or all of Tony's sisters,
nor do I care. For any of them to go outside the family circle and feed the
story to Robin Miller, who has been their brother's harshest critic, indicates
there must have been strong emotions involved -- be they jealousy, greed,
desperation -- perhaps even hate.
Apparently the family feud had been going on between Tony and his sisters for
several years. The George sisters stay out of public view except when they come
to the "Indianapolis 500" victory banquet each May. They sit at a table, with
their mother Mari Hulman George and Tony George, and that's about all we see of
them.
Recently
it's been written the George sisters were strongly against the split with CART
and that at least one of them wants to sell the Indy Racing League. Of
course that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever -- because there is no
"Indianapolis 500" without Indy car racing and there is no Indianapolis Motor
Speedway without the "Indy 500."
The
NASCAR "Allstate 400 at the Brickyard" is not big enough to be the premier
event (at least in 2009) for the
most famous and important race course in the world and any notion the "500" could feature Cup
cars is naive. Sure it could happen but the "Indy 500" would take on a
completely different meaning if that were to occur. It would be like major
league baseball playing in the Super Bowl or NFL teams playing in the World
Series.
The
Speedway is expecting the smallest crowd in "Brickyard 400" history thi
Last year's "Brickyard" crowd was estimated at something like 220,000 --
although there did not look like that many people at IMS to me. Regardless, it
was the smallest crowd for NASCAR at the Speedway in the fifteen years of their
partnership. The attendance numbers I hear being anticipated for the 16th
running, on July 26, range between 150,000 - 175,000.
For the first six or seven runnings of the "Brickyard 400," the enthusiasm and
support for the NASCAR race was close to that for the "Indianapolis 500." I
doubt if the crowd for "Brickyard 400" ever matched attendance for the "Indy
500" -- possibly because IMS doesn't sell infield, general admission tickets for
the "Allstate 400 at the Brickyard." In recent years however, probably beginning
about 2001, the crowd began to drop off for NASCAR. Perhaps the novelty of the
event started to diminish and that contributed to the decline. The heat might
have had a bit to do with it too. I remember that in 2001 and 2002, the weather
was very hot for NASCAR and it was uncomfortable for the spectators in the open
grandstands without shade. I particularly recall at both the 2001 and 2002 races
that fans were spending as much time underneath the stands cooling off as they
did watching the race.
The past couple years, popularity for NASCAR has lessened across the board and
several NASCAR races have seen a decrease in ticket sales. I know I was
surprised there were so many empty seats at the recent July Sprint Cup race at
Daytona. I was astonished the backstretch grandstands were completely empty. tely empty.
A few years ago, the crowd for the prime time July race looked to be close to
the packed house each February for the "Daytona 500." It was well
publicized last February that half the seats were unsold for the "Daytona 500," a
week before the 51st running of the "Great American Race" on February
15. Only a huge
discount in ticket prices sold most of the 165,000 (or so) reserved seats
at Daytona International Speedway in time for the race.
The two Cup races, each summer, at Michigan International Speedway,
traditionally sell tickets in the 130,000 range. High employment in
Michigan has to be factored into the empty grandstands, at MIS, last month for the
"Lifelock 400." But what blows my mind is that tickets remain for what is
arguably the most popular race, on the Sprint Cup schedule, the night race, on
August 22, at Bristol Motor Speedway. I didn't think I would ever see that.
Obviously the Obama economy has hit NASCAR fans quite
hard.
At the same time, the "Indianapolis 500" became the undisputed most popular event
at the Speedway again. A prime component in this new found local enthusiasm was
the "500" began to catch the attention of younger fans and the size of the
infield crowds began increasing, although nowhere near what they were in the days of the
legendary turn one
infield "snake pit." This trend began in 2005 for two
reasons. One was Danica Patrick and another reason was that, except for 2007,
race days have enjoyed nice weather over four of the past five years. I think nice
weather has a lot to do with determining whether casual fans come to the track to
watch the races.
Perhaps if
I were in the George sisters' place, I might be concerned that my sibling spent
$700 million, of the family wealth, to launch and maintain the Indy Racing
League and -- at the same time -- renovate the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for
Formula One.
As I understand it, Tony's sisters became concerned about the financial
situation last October, when it became apparent the U.S. economy was in big trouble.
However to the best of my knowledge, none of the three have participated in
managing anything at IMS or any of the other Hulman family holdings. I don't know much about them but I am concerned they have positioned
themselves into power at a very uncertain time.
Regardless of whether you agreed with the way Tony
George was managing the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, "Indy 500" and Indy car
racing, you cannot deny that he is a racer and his passion is deep for the "500"
and IMS. Again I don't know the George sisters or much about them. But I'm sure
they are not dedicated to racing like their brother. I don't know if they go to
the races at the Speedway or anywhere else. Therefore, I worry about their
intentions for the future of Indy car racing and for that matter IMS.
I have been going to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since May 1956, when I
attended the "Indianapolis 500" for the first of 53
consecutive in person trips to watch the "greatest spectacle in racing." I have always
found the IMS management to be generous, courteous, wonderful
hosts. It pleases me that despite its status in the motorsports world,
prices, customer amenities and public access at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
has always been without equal. Therefore my attitudes about Tony Hulman's family through three
generations is very positive and even though they are a somewhat
guarded family, they have earned my sincere affection
for providing me with the number one most important component in my world. But
with Tony George no longer running the show at 16th and Georgetown will that
continue?
I
loved
what Tony George did -- the whole thing! From making a deal with Bill France Jr. to bring
NASCAR to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in spring 1993, which resulted in the
inaugural "Brickyard 400" in August 1994 -- to announcing the Indy Racing League
in March 1994 and then putting his new series on track in 1996 -- to rebuilding
IMS to enable Formula One racing in 2000, I am thankful Tony George came on the
scene to make all this happen -- because without him, none of it would have
taken place.
Tony
George was
barely in his thirties, but he wasn't afraid to shake up the establishment and
put his personal stamp on the traditions and history of the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway and the "Indianapolis 500." Perhaps this is what ultimately led to
his downfall within the family. George shook up the racing establishment
like few before or since in the hundred years of the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway.
Tony and
his associates put everything in place to launch the IRL in January 1996 and
nurtured the series through the formative years, all the while doing so under
intense criticism. During the same period, George persuaded Formula One to race
at IMS -- and rebuilt the Speedway to accommodate F1. He
increased the size and scope of the entire Speedway organization to host three
major, worldwide racing events within a few months of each other every summer
for eight years. When F1 became too expensive for IMS, the more affordable and
more profitable MotoGP was brought to the Speedway as a replacement.
Unfortunately I did not make it to the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP
last September. The hurricane like weather kept me away. Even though I will be
up most of the night, driving home from the Indy car race, at Chicagoland
Speedway, on Saturday August 29, and even though I know next to nothing about
MotoGP, I plan to be at the Speedway, on Sunday August 30, to see this year's
event.
The
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, under Tony George's leadership, financed the
development of the safer barrier and it was installed in time for the 2002
"Indianapolis 500;" the first racing course to have the revolutionary safety
enhancement.
Think of
where we would be today without the safer barrier. The safer barrier was Tony
George's baby. He paid for it. He pioneered its use.
I loved
the earliest seasons of the Indy Racing League. It was a refreshing change from
the version of Indy car racing presented by CART.
I loved that USAC drivers Tony Stewart, Billy Boat, Jimmy Kite, Donnie
Beechler, Tyce Carlson, J.J. Yeley, Jack Hewitt and Jason Leffler had an opportunity to race in the
"Indianapolis 500." I only wish other "USACers" like Dan Drinan,
Mike Bliss, Doug Kalitta, Kenny Irwin, Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne could have received that opportunity
.
I loved
that Steve Kinser, the all time king of the World of Outlaws, raced in the 1997
"500."
I loved
that in contrast to an ever increasing number of boring street races being added
to the CART schedule, the IRL was racing on the new 1.5 mile high banked ovals
that were popping up in the late 1990s -- and the racing was a thrill to watch.
The IRL presented 220 mph side by side, wheel to wheel action where often the
margin of victory was only a matter of inches.
It was
glorious! It was like a temporary return to the era of Bill Vukovich, Jimmy
Bryan, Rodger
Ward, Jim Rathmann, Eddie Sachs, A.J. Foyt, Jim Hurtibise, Parnelli Jones, Mario
Andretti, Bobby Unser, Al Unser, Gordon Johncock, Johnny Rutherford and Tom
Sneva because the new Indy Racing League drivers were more reminiscent of those
greats than the majority of their more well known counterparts racing in CART.
The early seasons of the
IRL were like a return to earlier eras, but also a big change from what CART
style Indy car racing had become by 1995 and I loved the fresh approach the Indy
Racing League brought!
After
three or four years, Chip Ganassi followed by Roger Penske came back to the
"Indy 500" and then both moved full time to the IRL -- providing a business model which
persuaded Toyota and Honda to come to Indy car at the expense of CART. Roger
Penske's switch from CART to the IRL in 2002 stands out as the most important
event in series history (other than the creation of the series) and it is the
circumstance which tilted the scales in favor of the IRL over CART in open wheel racing's civil war.
Roger Penske was the founding father of CART. When he left the racing series he
gave life to, it was for all intents and purposes, the beginning of the end for
Championship Auto Racing Teams.
Unfortunately the inclusion of Roger Penske, Toyota, Honda and Chip Ganassi
changed the personality of the Indy Racing League. Gone were the original
production based "stock block" V8 engines to be replaced by sophisticated,
exotic, high tech,
expensive power plants specially built for racing and distributed via CART style
engine lease programs, from Toyota, Honda and General Motors. Racing in the
IRL all of the sudden became exponentially more expensive and as a result, most
of the early team owners who supported the series, like Fred Treadway, John
Menard, Ron Hemelgarn, Rick Galles, Eddie Cheever, Tom Kelley and Mo Nunn all
but disappeared from the scene over a couple seasons.
The
charm of the original IRL disappeared in favor of a milder version of CART --
but it was still managed by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway -- thank God.
When the Indy Racing League
operation, owned by Tom Kelley, went on the block,
George purchased the inventory and launched his own Vision racing team. Perhaps
Tony George's love for running his Indy car team came at the expense of his
larger responsibilities -- and maybe this was one of the developments which
his sisters found most objectionable.
Early in
2008, George persuaded Kevin Kalkhoven to shut the Champ Car World Series down
and broker a peace with the Indy Racing League, unifying both Indy car racing
organizations under one banner. The unification is said to have cost IMS
$22 million.
Tony
George had ambitious plans for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and he left his
mark as deeply as his grandfather Tony Hulman, who rescued the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway from destruction after World War II. Mr. Hulman preserved the
Speedway and grew it over his thirty years at the helm. His grandson took IMS to
another dimension; NASCAR, Formula One, MotoGP and direct ownership of Indy car
racing by the race track where its primary event is run.
Helio Castroneves leads Ryan Briscoe through turn three during the 93rd
"Indianapolis 500" on May 24, 2009.
The 93rd "Indy 500" was strictly a two team, four car showdown between Team
Penske and Target Chip Ganassi Racing.
Since the end 2008, throughout May 2009, I thought Ryan Briscoe was going
to win the "500" in 2009. Although his Team Penske mate Castroneves barely beat
him out for the pole position, Briscoe had the top practice lap for the month,
at 225.981 mph, on May 9.
At the start of the "500," Briscoe settled into third place behind Castroneves
and Dario Franchitti. Briscoe took the lead on lap 53, with a slick pass on
Franchitti, and held it until Scott
Dixon went by him on a restart, after a yellow flag for Graham Rahal's crash in
turn four, on lap 64. On the restart, Ryan fell back in the field and pitted for tires
under green two laps later. That put the Australian out of sequence with the
leaders and near the back of the field. He charged through the pack and worked
his way into second place in the closing laps. Unfortunately Briscoe needed to
stop for fuel, on lap 180, which was
seventeen laps after most of the leading cars, and he fell back to finish
fifteenth.
In some ways, it seems as if Helio Castroneves was destined to win the
93rd "Indy 500." After Dario Franchitti passed Castroneves for the lead on lap
eight, Helio settled in to a steady pace, running somewhere in the top five or
six cars until he passed Dixon for the lead on lap 142 -- almost exactly the way
his Team Penske "forefather" Rick Mears would have done twenty years ago.
From there on, there was no denying Castroneves and he took the checkered
flag nearly two seconds in front of second place Dan Wheldon. |
I hear the old, stale CART party line that Tony George ruined Indy car racing when he
founded the Indy Racing League. That's a bunch of crap. The IRL was created
because CART was trying to control IMS and George thought he was protecting his
family business. It's as simple as that.
Once it
became apparent he was going to pull it off, then I am sure
(and why not?),
it became a struggle
with CART for control of Indy car racing -- and Tony George and the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway Corporation won.
This
might be a good time for a history lesson.
In 1991,
CART was in trouble. Money was tight and the CART teams publicly asked IMS to
intervene on their behalf. You might not remember it, but I do. Near the end of summer, The
Indianapolis Star ran a series of front page articles detailing the problems
with Indy car racing. Forget them -- go to the new Indianapolis Library and view
microfiche copies of The Star from September 1991.
In those
features The Star interviewed various CART notables and they as much begged the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway to distribute the purse for the "Indy 500" over the
entire schedule of CART races. So Tony George, who served on the board, went to
a CART meeting in Houston, in November 1991, and offered to purchase the
organization for one million dollars. CART resoundingly rejected George's
proposal almost scornfully and there was an uneasy peace the following two years.
At the
end of 1993, CART fired CEO Bill Stokkan. Tony George put forth Cary Agajanian
as Stokkan's replacement and he was derided by many of the CART owners for his
choice. When Andrew Craig was hired, Tony resigned from the CART board.
With his
newly acquired power, Craig tried to bully the Speedway and the "Indy 500" early
in 1994. He threatened IMS with a boycott of the 1995 "Indy 500" if the
inaugural "Brickyard 400" went on as scheduled in August 1994.
CART tried to overpower IMS and the future of the Hulman George enterprise -- the "Indianapolis
500." Tony George was trying to protect his family's interests.
Robin
Miller never stops telling us how great Indy car racing was in 1995, before the
Indy car split. It wasn't great. The
sport was well into the exodus of long time fans that tired quickly of races
held in parking lots and narrow city streets where a majority of the drivers
were Formula One rejects and lesser foreign drivers, with deeper pockets than
their U.S. counterparts.
CART had
a climate where a promising talent like Jeff Gordon could not find a car to
race. Can you imagine that? Jeff Gordon -- probably the number one American
racing driver of the past fifteen years -- could not get a ride in CART in 1990.
The late ESPN racing commentator Larry Nuber shopped Gordon around the Indy car
community but nobody in the CART was interested.
I
offered the same theory (below) years
ago on the legacy version of
Bob Jennings' World O' Racing and it is still
relevant today.
When
ESPN began televising racing in 1979, Indy car racing and NASCAR were almost
equal in terms of popularity.
NASCAR
was riding high after the 1979 "Daytona 500" was telecast live, from flag to
flag for the first time, to a national audience on CBS. The race featured the
famous last lap on and off track battle between Cale Yarborough and Donnie
Allison. I believe the ratings for that telecast and share of the audience is
still the highest of all time for a racing event on U.S. television.
At the
same time, despite a power struggle for control of Indy car racing between USAC
and the fledgling CART, the "Indy 500" still had the great names Foyt, Unser,
Andretti, Rutherford, Johncock and newer stars Tom Sneva and Rick Mears.
But as
the 1980s progressed, the popularity of the Indy car racing and NASCAR began to
tilt towards Daytona Beach, Florida and Charlotte, North Carolina, and away from
Indianapolis and suburban Detroit, where CART's headquarters were located.
Why?
CART
began running street circuits, at Long Beach and the New Jersey Meadowlands, in
1984.These were boring processions -- like running 200 plus mph race cars inside
a house. At the same time, Richard Petty won his 200th NASCAR Cup victory,
in Daytona, July 4th weekend and President Reagan showed up to help Petty
celebrate.
Bill
Elliott, his brothers and father, came out of the Georgia backwoods to dominate
the 1985 "Daytona 500" and in doing so, they captured the imagination of the
nation and proceeded to win ten more NASCAR Winston Cup events on the season.
ESPN was televising both Indy car and NASCAR. The NASCAR telecasts had larger
audiences and took scheduling precedence over the Indy car races.
|
Bill Elliott practices for the fifteenth "Allstate at the Brickyard 400" on July
25, 2008.
|
CART
answered with an eighteen race 1986 schedule where only eight of 17 events were
held on ovals -- and featuring an increasing number of unfamiliar foreign
drivers. The Ilmor V8 turbo engine, carrying a Chevrolet nameplate was
introduced by Roger Penske in 1986 and for the next five seasons, until Ford
Motor Company returned to Indy car racing in 1992, the "Captain" got to pick and
choose who received his engine and therefore controlled which cars got to race
for victory.
In 1987,
the most highly rated racing telecast on ESPN was the night time Winston Cup
race held at Bristol in August. None of the ESPN Indy car telecasts were even
close in TV ratings.
By 1990,
despite the emergence of new stars Al Unser Jr. and Michael Andretti; possibly
the most successful driver in "Indianapolis 500" history, Rick Mears; a still
competitive Mario Andretti; recent Indy winners Bobby Rahal, Danny Sullivan and
two time Formula One champion and defending "Indy 500" winner Emerson
Fittipaldi, it was becomming clear to any racing fan the NASCAR fan base was
growing faster and larger than those favoring the Indy cars.
Dale
Earnhardt had climbed to the top of the hill in NASCAR and he had Bill Elliott,
Davey Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, Geoff Bodine and Ernie Irvan
clawing at his heels and those guys stuck with the American racing public. Not
only that, but seven time "Daytona 500" winner and NASCAR champion Richard Petty
was still racing -- not competitively, but the "king" was still in a race car
and remained on the scene.
I can
recall watching a September 1990 telecast of the Winston Cup race, at the old
Richmond half mile, on WTBS, where the track was packed with fans. Mark Martin
won that race in a maroon Folgers Ford T-bird entered by Jack Roush. Ken Squier
called the race and at the end of the telecast, Squier made a comment that
NASCAR was the racing series of choice for U.S. racing fans. I shuddered when I
heard Squier's comment, but I realized it was true statement.
That was five years before the first IRL event, at Walt Disney World Speedway,
in January 1996.
How many
of you can recall the excited reaction by fans when the NASCAR contingent showed
up at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in June, 1992, for the initial test by
NASCAR Winston Cup drivers and teams? If that enthusiasm and clamor by local
NASCAR fans did not alarm the CART guys, that their series was being replaced in
the hearts of the racing public, they had to be blind.
In 1992,
aside from the "Indianapolis 500," my focus in racing was Formula One and Nigel
Mansell's successful quest for the World Championship which eluded the Brit
since he became a title contender in 1986. Mansell won nine of the season's
sixteen events, in 1992, and for the most part, Nigel's Canon Williams FW14B -
Renault V10 was invincible and the long awaited championship was clinched by the
eleventh race, in Hungary.
Then contract negotiations between Mansell and Williams - Renault broke down and
the specter of Nigel's arch - enemy and former teammate, at Ferrari, Alain
Prost, joining the team, terribly upset the Brit.
So "old
Nige" accepted the offer from Carl Haas and Paul Newman to come to the U.S. and
race Indy cars. It was glorious and I loved it. It brought a lot of notoriety to
the CART championship, which Mansell won in 1993.
The two
seasons that Nigel Mansell competed in CART were likely the highlight of that
era of Indy car racing. But even with the most glamorous racing personality in
the world headlining CART, all you had to do to measure how much more popular
NASCAR had become was to compare the CART crowds for one race at Michigan
International Speedway and New Hampshire International Speedway against the two
NASCAR races held each summer at those two tracks.
NASCAR drew 130,000 plus for
both races at MIS, while CART drew (maybe)
60,000.
At New
Hampshire International Speedway, in August 1993, Mansell drove perhaps the
finest Indy car race of his two year stint, to beat the Penske duo of Paul Tracy
and Emerson Fittipaldi. There were only 41,000 fans on hand to see Nigel's
classic. There were twice as many fans at NHIS for NASCAR that same summer.
To take that point further, CART drew a nice crowd, at Phoenix, in the high
50,000 range. But the crowd for the Winston Cup race in the fall was huge.
Now to
make my point even better, let's compare the crowds for the inaugural "Brickyard
400" in August 1994. The crowd was very close to the crowd in May for the
"Indianapolis 500." Perhaps the only reason the "500" had a larger crowd was
because general admission tickets weren't sold for NASCAR.
I am laying out the facts here folks. In 1995, the year prior to the Indy car
split, Indy car racing and NASCAR were not equal in popularity among U.S. racing
fans. Sorry Robin Miller but you are full of shit about this one.
Scott Dixon (73) and Dario Franchitti (50) combined to lead 123
laps in the 93rd "Indianapolis 500."
With the exception of Ryan Briscoe's eleven laps in front, the two most recent
"Indy 500" winners essentially dominated the race from lap eight, when Dario
passed Helio Castroneves through lap 142, when Castroneves went past Dixon. So
for nearly two thirds of the "500" it appeared one of Chip Ganassi's Target cars
was going to win and the other would finish second.
It wasn't to be however, as both Dixon and Franchitti and their crews screwed up
pit stops at crucial times. But then I'm not completely convinced either Scott
or Dario could have kept Helio Castroneves from climbing the fence on May 24,
2009 anyway. |
What's ironic is the feelings surrounding the 93rd "Indianapolis 500" were so
positive on May 24. The crowd for the race was surely the largest since 2002.
Traffic was heavier than I have seen in years. I had to park two miles south of
the Speedway at 11:30 am, more than ninety minutes before the start of the
"500."
The grandstands at the north end of the Speedway were not completely full, but there
weren't many empty seats and the third turn infield was packed with young
fans.
What was the size of the crowd? I don't know. Curt Cavin, of The Indianapolis Star, counted 257,000 seats at
the Indianapolis Motor Speedway a few years ago. Tony George said that was close
but less than the actual number. Since there were still some empty seats here
and there, but the infield spectating areas were jammed, we'll compromise and
say 300,000 just for the hell of it -- but I bet I am pretty close.
|
Indianapolis Motor Speedway - May 24, 2009 |
Even
though the 93rd "Indianapolis 500" was no classic as far as the racing goes, I
felt good about things and I felt as one with the crowd I saw leaving the
Speedway. There was a positive energy in force and the thought that kept
traveling around in my head was "the 500 is back" as I made the three mile trek
from the north end of the Speedway to my car.
There
was good karma everywhere. It was a terrific feeling.
Curt Cavin commented on the local radio program,
which he shares with Kevin Lee, the "Indy 500" far surpassed the revenue
expectations of Speedway management. That support for the 93rd "500" increased
so noticeably in the face of current economic conditions had to be happy news for
Tony George and his family.
But the warm fuzziness was short lived. On May 27, the TV ratings reported the
93rd "500" had only drawn a 3.9 percent. This was the worst ratings number since
ABC first telecast the race to a live network audience in 1986. The same day
Robin Miller's original story that Tony George had been turned out in a coup,
led by his sisters, appeared on the Internet.
Is Indy
car racing and the "Indianapolis 500" (as
we know it) in jeopardy? Who would have imagined that General Motors
would go bankrupt or that we would elect a president of the United States who
would try to cram a national health program down our throats which would allow
government bureaucrats to decide whether people were entitled to live or die in
the name of quality of life?
Time
will tell I guess.
Anyway
I'm a Tony George guy. For me, he was the face of the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway and the "Indianapolis 500." Nobody loves the "Indy 500" and IMS
more than me. I think Tony George did well. He spent a lot of money -- but he
spent it for the love of racing. He made changes but he carried on traditions at
the same time.
Thanks Tony.