BREAKING: Indy chief Tony George reportedly resigns
by Noah Joseph on Jun 30th 2009 at 6:28PM 
It's the end of an era for open-wheel racing in America as Indy chief Tony George has stepped down from his post. The long-time president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, George was widely seen as the impetus for the 1996 split in Indy racing that created the Indy Racing League (IRL) and the rival Champ Car series (formerly known as CART), but he was also instrumental in fostering the merger of the two championships into the new IndyCar Series over which he's presided.
During his nearly two-decade tenure as the head of the famous race track, George also brought NASCAR, Formula One and MotoGP to the speedway for the first time, vastly expanding the calendar of events at the iconic venue. However, elements within the Hulman-George company that controls the business were concerned with the amount of resources their chief executive put into the reintegrated IndyCar Series and recently asked him to reorganize the company, but Tony evidently decided to step down instead. He'll be focusing his energies on the Vision Racing team which he fields in the series, while the job he vacates will be split into two: CFO Jeffrey G Belskus will take the reins at the speedway, while chief legal counsel W Curtis Brighton will oversee the operation of the series.
[Source: Autosport | Image: Jonathan Ferrey/Getty]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
audi_arena 7:19PM (6/30/2009)
Now if we could only figure out how to make Max Mosley do the same....
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JRM 7:48PM (6/30/2009)
I think this has come too late. Not only is the damage done (by TG himself), but if the guy who put the Indianapolis Motor Speedway first and foremost is gone then it means no more money will go into the speedway. His successors will probably make sure of that.
In a series that is hemmoraging money, sponsors, fanbase, TV ratings, and "name drivers", this can only come as bad news. The last standing pillar in US open wheel racing will begin to crack, if not collapse altogether...
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Steven 10:04PM (6/30/2009)
What took so long? This idiot should have been made to walk the plank years ago, IMHO...
Ian 10:38PM (6/30/2009)
Indycar needs an immediate technical revamp. Their cars are old, slow and boring and underpowered on road courses. Maybe the new guys can switch to the available DP01s and the 2.65L turbo V8s to be made by Honda and Cossie (rebranded Mazda?). After all the "unifies" series hardly musters 20 cars per race and the DP01s are safer, more modern, better race cars and cheaper and those engines can be detuned for ovals and give 800HP+ on road courses. Action is needed for 2010.
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cdwrx 11:02PM (6/30/2009)
And then they can get rid of the ovals!
dwaltr 9:58PM (6/30/2009)
Hopefully the IRL will just be killed off and the Speedway bulldozed over and replaced with some nice houses arranged around the golf course. Both the IRL and the Indy 500 died long ago and their is no use keeping either on life support.
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DemaSRV 11:20PM (6/30/2009)
God how can you say that!? It's obvious you've never been to the race, or even the racetrack.
dwaltr 9:59PM (6/30/2009)
their is supposed to be there.
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darreni_au 10:52PM (6/30/2009)
Roll out the CART Reynards/Lolas and the 2.65L Turbos....
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JN 10:50PM (6/30/2009)
Here's the thing: The IRL is owned by the Hulman-George family, so Tony has gotten to stay in his undeserved place for the past 19 years because Mommy's money covered the losses.
Now that Mommy's tired of cleaning up Little Tony's messes, he gets to do things that "he and his family" (this from the HULMAN FAMILY'S OWN official PR release) want to do.
Can you say, "CUT OFF?"
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Xa 12:08AM (7/01/2009)
good. tony george single handedly destroyed US open wheel racing.
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slicecom 12:42AM (7/01/2009)
This guy is a bigger idiot than Max Mosley, and that says a lot. Both have done horrible damage to open wheel racing. Hopefully soon they will both be gone and recovery can begin.
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CHINO 5:52PM (7/02/2009)
I'm on the "don't let the door hit you..." side of this. He destroyed open wheel racing and deprived us from seeing the last full "class" of well known, talented drivers racing each other in the 500. Anyone else remember all of the horrible driving and cringe worthy accidents of the IRL's first years? That, coupled with the known drivers having to "defect" to run in the IRL for just the 500 sent all casual and 500 only fans packing.
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