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.

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photo by Bob Jennings

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 this time. 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. 

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.

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photo by Bob Jennings

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, Rick Mears and Danny Ongais.

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.

photo by Bob Jennings

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.

This slant by CART to road races and second level foreign drivers had a negative result on the viewership for Indy car races on TV. 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 NASCAR. Earnhardt 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 watched a September 1990 telecast of the Winston Cup race, at Richmond, 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 and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway no less.

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. At nearly the same time, 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 and that was with an entry which included the most famous racing personality in the world. 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 stronger, 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.

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photo by Bob Jennings

What's ironic about Tone George's dismissal was 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.  I bet I am pretty close.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway - May 24, 2009

photos by Bob Jennings

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.