Tony George resigned

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.

Quote:

---

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.

---

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:

Quote:

---

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.

---

I'll have what he's smoking.

Quote:

---

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..!!!..????

---

You are kidding, right?

Quote:

---

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?

---

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.

Quote:

---

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.

---

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.