Former IMS CEO Tony George; according to reports from Speed's Robin Miller, George is now on the IMS Board of Directors
Tony George is out effective Wednesday, but it appears the Indy Racing League’s immediate future is safe. As first reported a month ago on SPEEDtv.com and made official Tuesday, George is no longer president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or CEO of the Hulman-George companies.
Quoting from the Speed article...................
(Mod's note......how hard was George affected earlier in the year? Vision Racing had to "farm" out Ryan Hunter-Reay over to Foyt Racing for the remainder of 2008)The 49-year-old grandson of IMS savior Tony Hulman, who took control of the Speedway in 1990, brought NASCAR to Indy in 1994 and started the IRL/CART war in 1996 before uniting open wheel racing last year, was expected to remain CEO of the IRL but has resigned that position. Because George controlled the Hulman-George fund and used it to operate the IRL, the IndyCar community has been concerned about continuing this arrangement since SPEED broke the story that he was voted out of power on May 26. The owners even issued a statement of support for TG at Milwaukee last month.
Mari Hulman-George, Chairman of the Board, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Tony Kanaan, 2004 IndyCar Series ChampionThese changes underscore our family’s commitment going forward to all of our companies, especially our commitment to the growth of the Indy Racing League and the sport of open wheel racing. We believe the Hulman-George family’s long stewardship of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, beginning in 1945, and our significant investment in the Speedway and the IRL demonstrates that we have full confidence in all of our companies and that we intend to grow them in the future.
Chip Ganassi, Owner, Target/Ganassi RacingWhen I first heard about this last month, I’ll admit it was a big worry because I knew Tony put out all the money and gave his life to the IRL. So I’m glad to hear the direction the Hulman-George family is taking for the league. The good news is that Tony is still on the board of directors and now he can concentrate on his team.
Kevin Kalkhoven, Co-Owner, KV Racing TechnologyAnytime there’s uncertainty you are concerned but I think the Hulman-George family has shown a stewardship for Indy-car racing for many, many years and I hope it continues. It sounds like that’s their plan and that’s excellent.
We’ll have to wait and see. I don’t know where we go from here but it sounds like the family wants to keep things going and maintain tradition. My immediate concern is the racing and our budgets. Clearly, we have a problem right now with boring races and old technology so we need new cars and engines as soon as possible. And we must reduce the costs of this series.
note............IMS press release on IMS' new CEO is located on the next post in this thread