Tony George resigned

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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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Why would NASCAR want the IRL???

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Originally Posted by Lee Roy

Why would NASCAR want the IRL???

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Hmm... same reason I bought another RX7: for parts. :D

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing...ory?id=4298125
check that guys

"We are pleased that he will continue to be an important part of the Indy Racing League as a team owner and as a member of our Board of Directors, and we wish him every success."

"Tony George, 49, had been president and CEO of the Speedway since 1990 and founded the IRL in 1994. He was asked to remain in charge of the IRL but declined."

What everyone thought was that Tony would lose IMS leadership, but keep IRL leadership. Now it appears that all he has left is a chair on the board at IMS, and his Vision racing team. So who is heading up the IRL now? And there's a lot of people that call this the end, or the beginning of the end of the IRL. Maybe that's the case. On the other hand, maybe new leadership is what this league needed to survive.

This is what the press release says, but it doesn't really clarify things:

"Joie Chitwood is president and chief operating officer (COO) of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC. Terry Angstadt is president of the commercial division of the Indy Racing League. Brian Barnhart is president of the competition division of the Indy Racing League. Charlie Morgan is president and COO of IMS Productions. Gary Morris is president and COO of Clabber Girl."

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Originally Posted by Lee Roy

Why would NASCAR want the IRL???

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Maybe the same reason that they wanted Grand Am.

Whatever that reason is.

The claim is that NASCAR bought Grand Am to split up sports car racing fanbase and prevent ALMS from becoming popular and competing with NASCAR. I can't imagine any scenario where ALMS would potentially be a threat to NASCAR, but that's what I've heard.

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Originally Posted by FormerFF

Well, that certainly vindicates Robin Miller.

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Yes, we went over this a few weeks ago.

http://www.motorsportforums.com/foru...t=robin+miller

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Originally Posted by NickFalzone

The claim is that NASCAR bought Grand Am to split up sports car racing fanbase and prevent ALMS from becoming popular and competing with NASCAR. I can't imagine any scenario where ALMS would potentially be a threat to NASCAR, but that's what I've heard.

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With the IRL they got someone to do it for them?

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Originally Posted by Lee Roy

Why would NASCAR want the IRL???

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- Indy 500
- Reasonably established drivers and teams
- International exposure, outside North America still more people know and watch the IRL compared to NASCAR.
- Eliminate the competition forever
- Because they can.

Just guessing.

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Originally Posted by methanolHuffer

IMS will be fine. Even if weeds grow through the row of bricks, it will never be sold outside the family.

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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.