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INDYCAR: Tony George Ousted ... Then Is Retained By IMS Board
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by Edmund Jenks | May 27, 2009 at 07:33 am
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Probably one of the most compelling figures in all of Motorsports ... certainly, in the annuals of North America open-wheel racing, Tony George has been ousted from the management of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
At least that was the story at the beginning of the day in an exclusive item that appeared on the wb pages of SPEED TV. This is how the story developed throughout the day ...
Robin Miller writing for SPEED TV cites that a source close to the situation confirmed that the 49-year-old grandson of Tony Hulman would no longer be CEO of the Speedway after a vote of the IMS board of directors which includes mother Mari, sisters Josie, Nancy and Kathy, attorney Jack Snyder and George.
The controversial, ground-breaking, tumultuous 20-year reign of Tony George at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is over. SPEEDtv.com has learned George was voted out of power in a Tuesday night board meeting in Indianapolis.Calls to Snyder and Fred Nation, IMS vice president of communications, were not returned and George did not respond to an email.
George, who started the Indy Racing League in 1996, will continue as CEO of the IndyCar series and is expected to take more of a hands-on role after Tuesday's developments at the Speedway.
It had been rumored for several years that his sisters were concerned with the amount of money George had spent on keeping the IRL afloat and changing the look of the Speedway.
It's estimated that between paying purses, supplying cars, engines and parts for other teams, hiring high powered public relations firms and starting his own IRL team, plus remaking Indy to accomodate Formula One, the IRL founder has spent more than $600 million during the past 13 years.
And his siblings were reportedly concerned about running out of money.
Many who lived through the split ... then the merger of open-wheel racing in North America were willing to bury the hatchet, but we had no idea this was where we would find the hatchet buried ... in the end.
UPDATE:
Both Tony George & Mari Hulman-George Deny Reports ... after earlier reports that Tony George had been ousted by the board of directors of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway -
Tony George denies the reports saying:
"I am still CEO and still president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation, Hulman and Company and CEO of the Indy Racing League" -Tony George
Mari Hulman-George denies the reports saying:
"There haven't been any changes. We just discussed things like we usually do and how to make things better." -Mari Hulman-George
Quotes courtesy of WTHR
(ht: 16thAndGeorgetown)
Watch News Video Update Here>>
I guess the buried hatchet has been pulled out, wound patched, and the hatchet will be placed in an undisclosed and secure location ... stay tuned.
IMS comments on Tony George's statusUpdated: Wednesday, 27 May 2009, 3:41 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 27 May 2009, 3:32 PM EDTINDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - The Indianapolis Motor Speedway released a statement Wednesday afternoon in which IMS CEO Tony George and IMS Board Chairman Mari Hulman George, Tony George's mother, reaffirmed Tony George's statements Wednesday that he will remain CEO of IMS.
George refuted a report Wednesday that a board meeting took place Tuesday night wherein the board ousted him as CEO. George acknowledged a Tuesday meeting but called it typical.
... notes from The EDJE
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Edmund Jenks
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at 11:42 on May 27th, 2009
They should have canned him a long time ago, before they decided to try and have two separate open wheel racing series at the same time.
at 11:52 on May 27th, 2009
That may be true ... but hold on, he is not necessarily out as CEO of IMS just yet - see UPDATE at end of post.
Even if he were "ousted", he would still retain the CEO position of the IRL and be a team owner (along with his wife) of Vision Racing.
To be honest, if he had been ousted, not much would change unless he gets caught playing around inapproiately with farm animals ... and the like. The only thing that would suffer would be the size of his stature - his family still would own "The World's Greatest Race Course".
at 11:51 on May 27th, 2009
It seems that I was right all along. The IRL , which Tony alleged was all about promoting American short track specialists, (Hellio Castro-Neves, Gil De Feran,, etc..) and keeping the races within the United Sates (Twin Ring Motegi) was never going to make it. In 1996, I predicted that he eventually would adapt street and road courses into the IRL schedule (all oval series) and eventually move race locations abroad, and ultimately, steal away all the tracks and teams and drivers from CART.
Look, this split/war has all but left open-wheel racing mortally wounded. I am not sure that it can recover. What would happen if Honda pulled out today? You know what, maybe that's what we need to have happen. No one can financially compete w/them, especially now, in THIS econemy. Honestly, what is going to happen? GM isn't going to invest, Ford/Cosworth could do it, and when they allegedly "merged" why didn't we see Panoz Fords going at it w/the Honda Dallaras? THAT would have made it somewhat interesting.
One thing Tony and the IRL never realized is that some of us fans actually come for not only the drivers, but for the CARS! I have been going to the IMS for nearly 40 years, and I remember 250,000 at pole day every year. That's about a 1 million payday right there, multiplied by 13 years (length of the split) equals over 16million, JUST in pole day losses.
I suppose he (TG) figured that the Brickyard 400, and F1 could make up for all of this.
Okay: solution? How about an entire NEW formula, based on stock block motors, cheap, cheap, cheap to get going. Stimulate some interest from at least several engine suppliers, allow more constructors, ie: Lola, Panoz, Reynard, heck, whoever? This is what's been lacking. Eventually, once interest is on the grow, you up the formula and lift the restrictions.
I'd personally like to see a "new track record" again. What's it been, since '96? What was wrong w/turbos? Was it all because Emerson Fittapaldi drank freaking orange juice?
Where are the Greg Rays, the Billy Boats? the Jimmy Kites? and look at the what if's: What if Greg Moore hadn't been killed @ Calf. in '99? You may never even have seen Hellio at Indy. Maybe Moore's the 3-time winner And what IF Alex Zanardi had had a crack at this place? It just isn't fair. Where have I heard THOSE words before? I'll tell you this, Buddy Lazier, Eddie Cheever, they never won this race as far as I'm concerned. They eliminated the competition, that's the only reason any of those scrubs won diddly!
It saddens me to think about how great it once was. Hell, it was as good as it could get in 1995. Thanks Tony, for the memories.
Greg Schramm
at 16:19 on May 27th, 2009
I feel bad for him
at 16:36 on May 27th, 2009
Final UPDATE on the Tony George "Ouster" story first broke by famed and revered Motor Press reporter Robin Miller.
Tony George is still the CEO of Indianapolis Motor Speedway! Further, he still retains ownership of the IRL team, Vision Racing, and he is still the President and CEO of the Indy Racing League (the last two positions were never in doubt).
Most everyone in this community respect Robin Miller but it appears that he was sucked into a family feud over the management of the famed racing venue, Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
at 15:24 on May 28th, 2009
The Scab 500 is no longer allowed to be called "The world's biggest sporting event," not even "The world's biggest race," according to "Versus" (who?!).
F1 boss Sir Bernie officially banned all Indycar drivers and teams from F1 FOREVER. So it was blasphemy to bring F1 to Indy, then F1 only raced 6 cars... Nitwit Tony George is such a sucker.
What's the cash prize for first place at all the other races, $10,000?
Eddie Rickenbacker is spitting bullets in his grave.
Bilderberg Group and Bohemian Grove probably have Little Tony in their MKULTRA lobotomy program, doing his part to kill USA.