Tuesday, January 19 marked the end of the reign of the most destructive and controversial leader in American motorsports history. Tony George, the former President and CEO of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and founder of the Indy Racing League resigned from his remaining positions on the IMS Board of Directors after leading the Hulman & Co. family business for 20 years.
Tony will forever be known to most fans, including me, as the man that killed Indycar racing.
In the early 90's, IndyCar had become the most popular motorsport in America and was even threatening Formula 1 for audience's and driver's attention worldwide. With a diversity of tracks and a host of top drivers, sponsors, cars and engines manufacturers, the PPG Indycar World Series had become the series to watch. The series had been created in the late 70's by an upstart organization named CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) that was made up of Indycar racing team owners who were sick of USAC (United States Auto Club) - the sanctioning body for open wheel racing at the time. Under CART leadership, Indycar popularity grew in the 80's and early 90's like never before. A major part of the series success was the Greatest Spectacle in Racing - the Memorial Day Indianapolis 500.
The Indy Racing League started in 1996 made up of a few unhappy drivers, teams and tracks from CART that switched series to run what was billed as an all oval series with American drivers groomed on dirt short tracks from across the country - sound familiar?! The Indy 500 would be the superbowl of the IRL season - fielding the top 25 drivers from the new series leaving 8 spots in the 33 car field for non-IRL drivers (ie. CART Indycar drivers) to compete. CART boycotted the 1996 Indy 500 and escalated the open-wheel civil war by staging its own 500 mile event to run against the IRL in Michigan.
After hundreds of costly battles, the war came to a sudden end in March of 2008 when the IRL IndyCar Series, still owned by Tony George merged with the bankrupt Champ Car World Series (former CART Indycar Series) ending the 12 year split.
After hundreds of costly battles, the war came to a sudden end in March of 2008 when the IRL IndyCar Series, still owned by Tony George merged with the bankrupt Champ Car World Series (former CART Indycar Series) ending the 12 year split.
Between the start of the IRL (now the IZOD IndyCar Series) in 1996 and Tony George's forced resignation as President of IMS and IndyCar in 2009, his accomplishments as head of IMS have and always will be overshadowed by the split in American open wheel racing that he was chief proprietor of. While the owners and leaders of the PPG Indycar World Series and the subsequent Champ Car World Series are guilty of many bad moves and decisions themselves, Tony George's creation of the IRL and insistence on running a second series will always be the reason that Indycar racing lost its luster.
I became an instant Indycar fan around 1993 after stumbling across a few races on network television and watching my first Indy 500 in 1994. As a casual NASCAR observer raised in the south, I was instantly intrigued by the mix of short ovals, high speed ovals, road courses and street circuits that the PPG Indycar World Series raced on. As the split began in 1996, I watched both series and waffled back in forth over the years as to which I liked more. In my eyes, the split simply allowed me to have more races to watch and gave more drivers a chance at becoming stars. Little did I know that within a decade, Indycar would nearly die as both sides fought for fans and to remain significant in a newly strengthened NASCAR nation. If not for the strength of the Indy 500, the IRL Indycar Series would have lost the civil war it started and ended many years before 2008.
During his reign at IMS, Tony brought NASCAR, Formula 1 and later - MotoGP racing to the speedway for races that grew its calendar from the 1 to 3 annual events. While the F1 years (2000-2007) were controversial in themselves, Tony seemed to genuinely want success for the other series that came to race in Indiana. Perhaps his biggest accomplishment was funding and supporting the design of 'soft walls' or the SAFER barrier - an impact absorbing wall that was initially installed at IMS and now occupies all major speedways throughout the US protecting drivers from the deadly force created upon sudden impact of their car with the retaining walls.
I was fortunate enough to attend my first Indy 500 in 2000 when CART teams came to the speedway for the first time in 5 years and than CART driver - Juan Pablo Montoya walked away with a decisive win. I also attended my first Formula 1 race at the speedway in 2006 for the US Grand Prix won by 7 time World Driving Champion - Michael Schumacher. This was also Montoya's final race as a F1 driver before suddenly leaving the series and moving to NASCAR after winning in CART, IRL IndyCar and F1. In 2005, I attended the IndyCar race at Richmond International Raceway and met Tony George in the paddock after Saturday qualifying. We chatted for a few minutes but I kept the discussion on F1 at IMS as I knew Tony wouldn't care what I had to say about his Indycar leadership over the past 10 years. He was in a pretty depressed mood I recall because the 2005 US Grand Prix held the previous weekend at IMS had become one of the biggest jokes in modern F1 history as only 6 cars started the race following a disagreement over the safety of Michelin tires.
Over the years, I also attended IRL races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, St Petersburg, FL and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course along with CART races at Circuit Gilles Villenueve in Montreal, Quebec.
Over the years, I also attended IRL races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, St Petersburg, FL and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course along with CART races at Circuit Gilles Villenueve in Montreal, Quebec.
Never a fan of Tony George, I will always be a fan of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and American open-wheel racing. My hope is that eventually, the IZOD IndyCar Series will grow into a modern day version of what it once was; regardless of what future NASCAR experiences as the other major motorsport in America. The speedway celebrates its centennial anniversary in 2011 as it will be 100 years since the inaugural Indy 500. Only time will tell if IndyCar racing can recapture the excitement it once had before the reign of Anton Hulman "Tony" George.
