Have a FaceBook, Twitter, or other social networking account?

Link them to your fanatic account!

Add An Account

TAKE ME TO...
IndyCar
MILLER: What’s Next For Tony George?
TGeorge was once the most powerful man in North American motorsports, but he's seen his world of limitless spending and influence crumble in just 9 months.
Robin Miller  |  Posted January 20, 2010   Indianapolis, IN
Where will Tony George land once he returns from his European ski trip? (LAT)
The non-stop phone calls, emails and texts all had the same theme: “What does this mean for IndyCar? Is the IRL dead? Why would Tony just walk away? Are he and Kalkhoven and Forsythe going to buy IndyCar? He knows his sisters are selling the Speedway so he wants out?

How can he afford to quit? What’s the inside story behind this?”

Tony George resigning his seats on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Hulman & Company board of directors created this latest tsunami of questions and speculation on Tuesday.

Nobody but the former IMS president/IRL founder knows the real reasons he cut the umbilical cord to his family and George is skiing in Austria with Kevin Kalkhoven, who reports they’re having a good time.

Even if he was here, TG isn’t likely to volunteer many details anyway so about all we can do is make some educated guesses.

The most pressing question is the easiest one to address:

George’s departure really has no affect on IndyCar or the Indianapolis 500 because since last May he hasn’t had any real power or influence in either the series he started or the track he inherited.

That’s not opinion, it’s a fact – all Tony had was one of six votes on the IMS board and his voice among the IndyCar owners. He couldn’t hire anybody, write a check or make any deals involving those two entities.

After being voted off the throne by his three sisters, attorney Jack Snyder and mother, Mari Hulman George, following the Indy 500, George couldn’t even get $800,000 from them to run Ryan Hunter-Reay the rest of 2009.

The bottom line is that right now IndyCar and the Speedway are likely being managed more efficiently than at any time in the past 20 years. Jeff Belskus, who as longtime chief financial officer for Hulman & Company wrote checks for TG’s teams, tracks, purses, planes and personnel, has been ordered to cut the fat and make sense of both budgets.

Since replacing George as IMS president and CEO, Belskus has tried to shore up the bottom line and a lot of people have been let go on West 16th Street the past few months – among them COO Joie Chitwood and IMS productions chief Charlie Morgan.

George said that the Speedway eats money every day but, of course, it was his IndyCar series that required a non-stop diet of cash. It’s estimated that it cost (depending on the year) $20-50 million annually to keep the IRL up and running since 1996.

The IMS board (aka Cathi George Conforti, Josie George and Nancy George) screamed long and loud about their brother’s spending habits and this new regime is more about saving and trying to regain those profitable days when people threw money at the Speedway.

Having said that, it appears the girls understand the Speedway needs IndyCar and vice versa. My sources say the IRL is owned by a Hulman & Company trust (76 percent), Mari Hulman George (20 percent) and one percent each for Tony, Kathi, Josie and Nancy.

The rumors that won’t go away (despite constant denial from Belskus) is that IMS and IRL are for sale, separately or as a package. Mari, the only person who can sell the Speedway because it’s in her name, has always said it’s not for sale because it’s for her grandkids (five of which are now working for either the IRL or IMS.)

As for selling IndyCar, after the USAC/CART and IRL/CART wars, one would imagine the Speedway wants to determine its own destiny rather than negotiating policies or being dictated to so, providing IndyCar can be maintained at a reasonable price, it doesn’t seem likely to be sold.

Trying to explain George’s decision is the toughest.

He’s no longer paid an estimated $1.2 million to be IMS king yet both board of director jobs were believed to carry a salary of some kind. His plane, helicopter and boat are gone and his house is for sale, plus he’s trying desperately to raise sponsorship to keep his Vision Racing team on the track. It would appear he needs income and owning an Indy car certainly can’t be profitable unless you’ve got a $10 million sponsor.

One of his friends, who requested anonymity, said that Tony couldn’t stand not being in charge and those board meetings pissed him off even worse.

The late Dave Cassidy, who was Tony Hulman’s righthand man and confidant for 30 years in addition to being Tony George’s godfather, surmised in the late ‘90s that if things didn’t turn out to TG’s liking, he was liable to just pick up and head for Colorado or Montana. Just walk away.

It’s impossible to predict what the future holds for the man who brought NASCAR to IMS and Indy-car racing to its knees, mangled the month of May, financed the safer walls, tore up the track to accommodate Formula One and then brokered the deal to put open wheel racing back together.

But there is one hard-to-fathom fact.

In only nine months, Tony George has gone from one of the most powerful men in all of motorsports to just another car owner trying to keep the doors open.

Robin Miller became an Indy-car junkie in late 1950s and stooged for his hero, Jim Hurtubise, at the 1968 Indy 500. He went on to work as a vent man and board man on Indy pit crews from 1971-77. Miller bought a Formula Ford from Andy Granatelli in 1972 and raced it in SCCA until 1974 when he purchased a midget from Gary Bettenhausen, competing in the USAC midget series from 1975-82.

Robin flunked out of Ball State College in 1968 and began working at The Indianapolis Star sports department in 1969, covered motorsports there from 1969-2000.

In addition to his broadcast work. Miller's also covered IndyCar racing for Autoweek, Autosport, Car & Driver and On Track magazines over the past 35 years.

Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale: Jan 19th-24th
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
robin_miller's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robin Miller

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2012

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.