Tony George resigned

I agree there are huge question marks with the official announcement of his departure from IMS management and with it, what amounted to his imbezzlement of family funds to support his quest for dominance of the Open wheel scene in the US. but he's gone, it's done, Who needs him as a lowly team owner of a two bit race team? I could care less if Vision Racing under his leadership is in the 500 next year. With no control of the IRL or IMS, who is he to sponsors? All I can hope for is they see the light and replace Barnhart ASAP and bring in someone like Humpy Wheeler to run the speedway.

going thru this whole mess....twice....first slowly as a CC/Cart fan.....and now at a turtles pace as an IRL is painful

but then there is the bright side..... this weekends ratings should be double as all the CC fans tune in now that ***** is no longer in charge...

right..!!!..????

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Originally Posted by Ken

but then there is the bright side..... this weekends ratings should be double as all the CC fans tune in now that ***** is no longer in charge...

right..!!!..????

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NO! I will still not tune in to that crap!

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Originally Posted by Pat Wiatrowski

NO! I will still not tune in to that crap!

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ok ok ok... double -1

:)

Finally some good news!

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Originally Posted by Ken

but then there is the bright side..... this weekends ratings should be double as all the CC fans tune in now that FTG is no longer in charge...

right..!!!..????

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I still can't force myself to watch a Honda spec series, even if I do like a couple of the drivers and many of the tracks. And I've tried, really I have.

I think this vindicates those of us who have said for many years, that Tony George is not a visionary nor is he some great business leader. He was just a spoiled rich kid who kicked all his playmates out of the sandbox.

So can we overcome all of his poor decision making and fix it? Or must the IRL fail too for this failed chapter of AOWR to be truly ended, before it can start again with a fresh vision?

I vote for IMSA to control AOWR racing. Leave NASCAR out of it.

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Originally Posted by Lousada

You sure about that? The ones pro-speedway are TG and Mari Hulman-George. The sisters don't seem to care one way or the other. From their actions it looks like they want their share of the inheritence. It wouldn't be the first family company that gets split/sold when the indifferent offspring gets power.

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You're right. The squabbling amongst heirs does get more ugly when there's large amounts to fight over.
I guess the crown jewel of this whole AOW strife has always been that place.

But as it is now, the track will probably always be there. And if it ends up in the hands of a different set of owners, maybe that would be better in the long run.

If there is an interest in keeping it an open wheel race, who knows.

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Originally Posted by FIAT1

Finally some good news!

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What is good about it other than "King" George is gone? Now what's left? Careful what you wish for. As I said earlier, I would have relished in his demise 14, 10, 3 years ago. But now I have real fears about ANY AOWR beyond this fall. Maybe you are willing to cut off your nose despite your face, but I hate the prospect of only NASCAR being left on TV with the occasional IMSA and GrandAm bones throw to us.

Gary

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Originally Posted by Rex Monaco

I vote for IMSA to control AOWR racing. Leave NASCAR out of it.

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And just where, pray tell, do you see the $$$ coming from?

Gary

I am guilty of being one of those who wanted the IRL to fail and ChampCar to survive. Everything about the IRL irritated me from Arute to George to the hypocrisy of the "vision" to the jumping ship of Ganassi and Penske and the late bolt of Fernandez a couple of days before the season opener.

I feel sad for the Dale Coyne's and the Conquest and HVM teams of the CC era. The LuczoDragons and Sarah Fisher's of the IRL. Passionate about racing and doing their utmost to get a car on-track. They always seem to manage a sponsor or two and that is nice to see the sidepods full. Alas, it is never enough money to keep the car on-track for the year as is evidenced when they go to Indy and become associate sponsors, IE, Dad's Root Beer.

I can't see the series staying alive past this year. It is not a desire of mine for it to fail. I was hoping that a new car and engine would be the catalyst to generate much needed publicity. I can't see that occurring now. I have a fear the season not even end.

Time for KK, Penske and Ganassi to get together and reform CC. Buy the cars back from this Green racing (sic) and start from scratch. (wishful thinking).

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Originally Posted by maximilian

I always felt that the SECURE future of open wheel racing in the US would entail NASCAR either starting the "NASCAR Open Wheel Series" themselves, or... maybe now buying out the IRL, and making it the "NASCAR Indycar Series" - coupled with the massive NASCAR marketing engine, money, sponsors, track contracts, and brand recognition (that makes even something as silly as the Truck Series a success), it may well work!

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Outside of throwing money at it, there is NOTHING about NASCAR that would be better than what exists now.
NASCAR is what Bill France built, PERIOD.
GARRA is run by the NASCAR concern and was create by the NASCAR concern and it is as pathetic as the IMSA.

The France boy has to worry about throwing money at NASCAR and is NOT going to pee away millions on the IRL, if he did he is a bigger arrogant assinine fool than T. George.

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Originally Posted by nigelred5

He's stepped down from the league as well as the track. He's now somewhere between Dayle Coyne and Conquest. Don't let the door hitcha Tony.

Nascar buy the IRL? The same NASCAR that has two manufacturers leaving one series altogether and possibly shutting down the truck series due to lack of sponsorship, all three manufacturers pulling back to only technical support in both lower national series and barely more than that in CUP? Yeah, they bought out the GRand Am, but the family already had a huge hand in the series to begin with. The same family that is totally screwing up AMA racing ? The same one currently run by yet another village idiot? It is certainly in vastly better shape than the IRL, but all ain't so rosy in Daytona.

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yeah i heard late lastnight he was gone from the IRL too :eek:

whoever takes over the IRL and IMS i hope they make the track and series bigger and better, just to show Tony that he had no clue, but again whoever does that really needs deep pockets, so much to fix in the IRL right now, how it woludnt shock me if Tony shut down Vision Racing and left the IRL, fans dont want him, and now other teams dont have to kiss*** to Tony cuz now hes just a car owner,

yeah i heard the truck series might shut down, witch is to bad cuz i really enjoy the trucks, i was talking with my gf about that lastnight on the phone she even said, NASCAR could shut down the trucks and NNS but out the IRL and have "the NASCAR open wheel series" and how weird that sounds,
but im with you NASCAR is losing alot too, i cant see NASCAR buying them

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Originally Posted by Gluaistean

I am guilty of being one of those who wanted the IRL to fail and ChampCar to survive. Everything about the IRL irritated me from Arute to George to the hypocrisy of the "vision" to the jumping ship of Ganassi and Penske and the late bolt of Fernandez a couple of days before the season opener.

I feel sad for the Dale Coyne's and the Conquest and HVM teams of the CC era. The LuczoDragons and Sarah Fisher's of the IRL. Passionate about racing and doing their utmost to get a car on-track. They always seem to manage a sponsor or two and that is nice to see the sidepods full. Alas, it is never enough money to keep the car on-track for the year as is evidenced when they go to Indy and become associate sponsors, IE, Dad's Root Beer.

I can't see the series staying alive past this year. It is not a desire of mine for it to fail. I was hoping that a new car and engine would be the catalyst to generate much needed publicity. I can't see that occurring now. I have a fear the season not even end.

Time for KK, Penske and Ganassi to get together and reform CC. Buy the cars back from this Green racing (sic) and start from scratch. (wishful thinking).

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Why so you can watch it go belly-up again?

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Originally Posted by garyshell

And just where, pray tell, do you see the $$$ coming from?

Gary

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Hear-hear, all they have to do is check how much IMSA pays and that idea looks rather foolish quickly.

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Originally Posted by call_me_andrew

Maybe the same reason that they wanted Grand Am.

Whatever that reason is.

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Money from NASCAR started Grand Am. (GARRA)
It was ALWAYS controlled by the France family pocket-book.

CART/Champ Car went away because most billionaires like Kevin Kalkhoven are basically cheap, and he couldn't see spending any more of his own money trying to compete with Tony George (being a rich exception) and the IRL, TG only too willing to go through his family fortune at IMS hellbent on bringing down CC. Who's to say Penske, Ganassi, and Kalkhoven couldn't do it right this time? With all three working together, they could be just what AOWR needs to get back to viability. If they could keep their egos in check, that is...

Grand Am cars (DP) are an abomination. They hobbled the GT2 911s with weight and air inlet restrictions so they wouldn't beat the snot out of the premier cars. Not trying to get off topic, just saying that's what the governing body of Grand Am is all about. FAKE.

There is nobody that has the money (and sense) that will buy the IRL. The rich kid's experiment may not have proved much.

Well Robin Miller got it right..........................AGAIN. I think open wheel is done for good now. Road racing is where it is. Better, teams, better cars, better drivers and best of all better racing. Old3Fan, one of the 1st 100 Forum Members signing off. Been a nice run. Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And to think, that KK sold this guy absolutely everything, including CART/Champcars historical archives???

Will there be another series that gives us all we long for? The Champcar website still exists!! Has someone been waiting in the wings??

Leaving the name, the IRL was an omen in itself. Because of what it stands for, I could never refer to this series as that. That is why I always use the term "Indycar"........


Unification should have started with an all new series from the ground up. Using the best of both series.

There have been some good races! But, not nearly enough.

KK, and Champcar should have designed this with the Indycar series years ago, and spent the time building a series that would remain the greatest fans would ever see. Instead both series let the timer run completely out and now try to succeed on a series that was already a failure, "except for Indy, and even that race is a shell of its former self"....

Could've been, Should've been.

It is what it is.......which isn't enough IMO
It's an embarassment to all of those legendary drivers from long ago.

Test the DP01 on an oval, switch to honda turbos, and do this whole thing right!! Or somebody start over!

wishful thinking

It's too early to say what, if any, impact this decision will have on the fate of the IRL. To me getting rid of Tony George was only the first step, and my first reaction was that it was a decision that came 14 years too late. My second reaction is that changing the chief officer without cleaning out his staff is probably a useless jesture. George had people who were dedicated to carrying out his vision. If you're replacing him because his vision didn't work you need to put a new staff in charge, and probably a new injection of capitol. You need someone who can take what works and trim what doesn't and give them the resources they need.

Ideally I think Humpy Wheeler or Tony Gossage should take over the speedway. Vicky O'Coner should be the new CEO of the IRL and Tony Cotman should be the new competition director.

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Originally Posted by Starter

I think everyone is a little too gloomy. Not long ago many posters were saying the key to success was getting rid if TG. What's changed?

The current owners still have a substantial investment in Indy. You can't run the 500 as a stand alone event with out a supporting series to keep the teams, drivers, etc. occupied for 11 months of the year. You'd have 5 cars show up that way.

I see 4 options at this point:
1) Keep the IRL or similar series going to rebuild on.
2) Replace the Indycars on Memorial Day with (fill in blank).
3) Construct a housing development with shopping and a nice attached golf course. (Cash out and run.)
4) Sell at bargain rates to someone willing to try running the series (after spending a year asking way too much for the product and no takers).

I haven't a clue which of the possibilities rank where over the others. All is not quite lost yet, hang in and see what happens.

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no doom and gloom here.... i believe its the first step towrds reorganizarion of the way the league is owned and operated...

i just dont expect it to happen swiftly is all

My initial reaction: embarrassment. How much lower can AOWR fall? While I'm happy to see TG kicked out, I'm downright embarrassed by the mess he left behind. I hope someone has the gall and the money to try to rebuild thsi series into something worthy of respect.

http://www.superspeedway.com/gif/camera/logcart.gif

So once again we learn, unless something is truly broken, keep your mutha f###in' hands out of the engine bay, m'kay?! :dozey:

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Originally Posted by disko

why all the doom and gloom? Look, a lot of us are in business, and at the end of the day we are accountable for making money. Sometimes there is a need for a change at the top, but the show still continues.

Were in a crazy economic bullsh-t situation because of the greedy pukes on wall street. We just need to find different avenues of profitability for our businesses. If you don;t, you become complacent and the competition erodes your market share. If you were accountable to your shareholders, or as a stockholder, isn't this your mission statement to be profitable? How are the Hulman Companies any different?

the IRL will be around. They not going to be sold, and they are going to be racing next year.

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I'll have what he's smoking.

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Originally Posted by Ken

but then there is the bright side..... this weekends ratings should be double as all the CC fans tune in now that ***** is no longer in charge...

right..!!!..????

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You are kidding, right?

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Originally Posted by Starter

I think everyone is a little too gloomy. Not long ago many posters were saying the key to success was getting rid if TG. What's changed?

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No money!

Ditch some (not all) of the ovals, flog the lot to Bernie, mix in the declined 2010 F1 teams, add some races in Mexico and Brazil and have a sort of "F1 Americas" series with Indy as showpiece.

Or not.

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Originally Posted by hornet

Ditch some (not all) of the ovals, flog the lot to Bernie, mix in the declined 2010 F1 teams, add some races in Mexico and Brazil and have a sort of "F1 Americas" series with Indy as showpiece.

Or not.

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Better still, sell it to Max Mosley - he might well find himself short of a racing series he can mess up in October, he's got the money and I am sure he'll be able to find some German-speaking hookers in Brazil (lots of Nazis fled to South America after WWII, I'm told...). Also, Indy Car teams won't put up too much of a fight against budget caps...

If and when the Hulman George family says "we're no longer supporting the IRL", then that is essentially the end of this series as we know it. Yes, it could be bought by a private investor(s) at that point and continue or go in a different direction... but that's unlikely. In the mean time, the Hulman George family has simply said that Tony no longer has access to the purse strings, and we want to continue the growth of the IRL. Since that's what they've said, I take it that the IRL will be around in a reduced financial capacity for several more years, minimally through the IMS Centennial in 2012. The scenario may well be smaller fields (16-18), less tracks (12-16) and a worse on track product. On the other hand, things may NOT change all that much at all from what we've seen this season. That is not something that excites me, but there's been NO indication that HG is ready to assist in the IRL going out of operation. So for better or worse, it will continue in it's slowly dwindling ways for years to come.

I wouldn't be shocked if there was a move by the five or so key owners to buy the IRL and return to a CART model.

I've been hearing some speculation that KK, Penske, Hass, Andretti and Green have been considering banding together and making an offer for the series with the belief the could return it to profitability and secure their sport's future. This would relieve the Hulman-George family of an liability they don't want to run, and allow them to focus on the speedway and their other business.

All of this is rumors, but if my source is right, and he was apparently off by a couple of hundred miles about the Brazil race, it could be a done deal by the off season, Supposedly the announcement of a new name and title sponsor could come by December or Janurary.

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Originally Posted by MDS

I wouldn't be shocked if there was a move by the five or so key owners to buy the IRL and return to a CART model.

I've been hearing some speculation that KK, Penske, Hass, Andretti and Green have been considering banding together and making an offer for the series with the belief the could return it to profitability and secure their sport's future. This would relieve the Hulman-George family of an liability they don't want to run, and allow them to focus on the speedway and their other business.

All of this is rumors, but if my source is right, and he was apparently off by a couple of hundred miles about the Brazil race, it could be a done deal by the off season, Supposedly the announcement of a new name and title sponsor could come by December or Janurary.

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they are crazy unless they lock in the indy or simply buy the track outright and do it their way

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Originally Posted by MDS

I wouldn't be shocked if there was a move by the five or so key owners to buy the IRL and return to a CART model.

I've been hearing some speculation that KK, Penske, Hass, Andretti and Green have been considering banding together and making an offer for the series with the belief the could return it to profitability and secure their sport's future. This would relieve the Hulman-George family of an liability they don't want to run, and allow them to focus on the speedway and their other business.

All of this is rumors, but if my source is right, and he was apparently off by a couple of hundred miles about the Brazil race, it could be a done deal by the off season, Supposedly the announcement of a new name and title sponsor could come by December or Janurary.

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hmmm... where have we heard that before

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Originally Posted by MDS

I wouldn't be shocked if there was a move by the five or so key owners to buy the IRL and return to a CART model.

I've been hearing some speculation that KK, Penske, Hass, Andretti and Green have been considering banding together and making an offer for the series with the belief the could return it to profitability and secure their sport's future. This would relieve the Hulman-George family of an liability they don't want to run, and allow them to focus on the speedway and their other business.

All of this is rumors, but if my source is right, and he was apparently off by a couple of hundred miles about the Brazil race, it could be a done deal by the off season, Supposedly the announcement of a new name and title sponsor could come by December or Janurary.

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Sounds like De Ja Vu all over again.

Why does there have to be some sort of Titanic change in things? I can't see anything major working right now, it's just not the right time. Let the new guys carry on, and tweak things their own way. And for God's sake, do NOT let the inmates run the asylum again. That is (and always was) doomed to failure.

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Originally Posted by Ken

hmmm... where have we heard that before

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Yeah, I know I've said that before, but as I and other posters have said, a change in ownership/management structure was coming, and well it's here.

If you think this was voluntary, or that the team owners had nothing to do with this you're being a little naive.

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Originally Posted by MDS

Yeah, I know I've said that before, but as I and other posters have said, a change in ownership/management structure was coming, and well it's here.

If you think this was voluntary, or that the team owners had nothing to do with this you're being a little naive.

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huh?

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Originally Posted by chuck34

Sounds like De Ja Vu all over again.

Why does there have to be some sort of Titanic change in things? I can't see anything major working right now, it's just not the right time. Let the new guys carry on, and tweak things their own way. And for God's sake, do NOT let the inmates run the asylum again. That is (and always was) doomed to failure.

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OH, you mean you want them to emulate the band on the Titanic!

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Originally Posted by chuck34

Sounds like De Ja Vu all over again.

Why does there have to be some sort of Titanic change in things? I can't see anything major working right now, it's just not the right time. Let the new guys carry on, and tweak things their own way. And for God's sake, do NOT let the inmates run the asylum again. That is (and always was) doomed to failure.

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Because even though expenses were trim/cut years ago, the IRL is probably still losing $20-30mil a year and the family appears to no longer be willing to put that money out.

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Originally Posted by chuck34

And for God's sake, do NOT let the inmates run the asylum again. That is (and always was) doomed to failure.

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Without just speaking about the Indy 500, the time that the inmates were in control of the asylum was the only major period of success that AOWR has had (in my lifetime). Yes, it eventually failed. But only after roughly 15 years of success. Prior to that, USAC was a joke... more like a semi-pro league. And the IRL is still looking for its first year of success. Its only consistency has been in its failure, and now it's drug the Indy 500 down with it.

What is the right way going forward? I really have no idea. Who knew it would get this bad?! It's beginning to look like the horse's leg is broken, and Farmer Johnson is talking about fetching his shotgun. But one thing that we do know is that sponsors don't like instability (proven by CART in its last days).

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Originally Posted by Jonesi

Because even though expenses were trim/cut years ago, the IRL is probably still losing $20-30mil a year and the family appears to no longer be willing to put that money out.

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Yes, indeed. I can only repeat my words from the past 8 or 9 years here: costs/expenses only constitute one side of the business equation. Unless you have a plan to enhance the perceived value of your product, you're wasting your time. To use a phrase from several years ago (Robin Miller?), if you're selling onion gum, it doesn't really matter how low you can get the production costs... no one wants to buy it. And so, here we are.