Anton Hulman "Tony" George (born December 30, 1959) is a member of the board for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Hulman & Company. He was formerly the CEO of both entities. He founded the Indy Racing League and owns Vision Racing.
Tony George is the grandson of Tony Hulman, who purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at the end of World War II. He is a former driver, having competed in the 1989 Indy Lights championship, finishing 12th in points and capturing 5 top-tens. His mother (and Hulman's daughter), Mari Hulman George (born 1934), serves as the speedway's Chairman and delivers its famed "ladies and gentlemen, start your engines" before every Indianapolis 500. Tony George became president and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation after the death of Joe Cloutier in 1989. He resigned on June 30, 2009 as CEO of IMS and Hulman & Company to focus more time on the Indy Racing League[1].
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Indianapolis Motor Speedway Leadership
During his first few years as Speedway head, he oversaw new projects such as Tower Terrace Suites, pit lane reconstruction (including the addition of a warm-up lane requested by many influential Speedway alumni), and a control tower.
Before George's arrival, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (or "the Speedway") traditionally had only one race: the Indianapolis 500. He changed that with the announcement that a NASCAR race would be held at the Speedway. The Brickyard 400 made its debut on August 6, 1994, with Jeff Gordon taking the checkered flag. Many Indianapolis purists despise the fact that stock cars are running at the most famous circuit in North American open-wheel lore. Some fans believe the configuration of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as well as the diamond cutting of the track surface makes it a poor facility for stock car racing, which is best exhibited on high banked ovals.
In 1998, the IROC series came to the track, to little fanfare, and less success.
Later, George helped bring Formula One back to the U.S. with the United States Grand Prix held at the Speedway in 2000. This project involved building a road course inside the oval. Despite the controversy surrounding the 2005 United States Grand Prix, where only 6 of the 22 cars took the green, the event continued. Michael Schumacher became the first driver to win 5 races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway by winning the 2006 race on July 2. The UK's Lewis Hamilton won the 2007 event. IMS (The Indianapolis Motor Speedway company) was unable to negotiate a contract with Formula 1's Bernie Ecclestone to bring the series back to the Brickyard for 2008 and beyond, thereby losing the U.S. its Grand Prix; for the time being.
The Speedway hosted its first MotoGP event in 2008. To accommodate the motorcycles which could not safely race through the banked turns, an additional section of the infield was plowed over to build a road course section to bypass the turn 1 section of the road course.
On June 30, 2009, George resigned from his post as CEO, but remained a member of the board of directors.
"The Split"
Shortly after being removed from the CART Board of Directors, George announced the creation of the Indy Racing League, which began racing in 1996. He created the IRL to challenge the already established CART series, and, he said, to encourage a more even playing field in open wheel racing. He also said he wanted a series to run entirely on oval tracks, making it distinct from CART, which raced on road and street courses in addition to ovals. George angered many CART participants by requiring 25 of the 33 spots in the Indianapolis 500 to be occupied by drivers in the IRL circuit. This meant that CART could not hold the Indianapolis 500 as a points scoring event on their calendar as not enough teams would be able to compete to earn points. His allegedly abrasive personality didn't help matters either. CART decided to boycott the race and stage their own race on the same day, the U.S. 500 at Michigan International Speedway. Due to the CART boycott, most of the biggest names didn't enter the Indianapolis 500 for several years. Tony George became a figure of derision among some racing fans, and he was blamed for open wheel racing losing fans, sponsors and drivers to NASCAR.
IRL
(see Indy Racing League) The IRL was founded in 1994 and began racing in 1996 as a cost-effective, all-oval alternative to the PPG CART Indycar World Series. The basic beliefs behind the creation of the series were:
- Cost controlled racing
- Driver Safety
- All-oval schedule
- Give a better opportunity for American drivers to succeed in motorsports and compete at the Indianapolis 500, particularly USAC drivers whose numerical representation at the 500 had dwindled. Ironically, with the demise of IndyCar's popularity, came the decline in American participation in open-wheel racing.
However, as the series evolved, it moved away from these principles, with more foreign drivers, increased costs and, eventually, racing on road courses and street circuits.
The IRL ("The League") struggled initially, until CART faced financial turmoil and coincidentally, CART teams began to return to the Indianapolis 500. Teams, not being sure of CART's future, financial stability, and the attraction to the sponsorship draw of the Indianapolis 500-mile (800 km) race began slowly moving over to the IRL full-time.
Prior to 2003 the IRL was unable to use the term "IndyCar" due to licensing issues that arose with CART. In 1992, The Speedway trademarked the term "IndyCar" which had been widely used by CART in championship branding and promotion. The Speedway then leased the term to CART through 1997. With the inception of the IRL, the Indianapolis 500 boycott by CART teams, a lawsuit, and a six-year non-use agreement, formal use of the term disappeared. Widespread confusion ensued with CART still competing at "Indy" branded events, and both CART/Champ Car and IRL cars being popularly referred to as IndyCars. In 2003 the non-use agreement expired and the IRL was able to adopt the popular IndyCar moniker once again, thereafter becoming the IRL IndyCar Series. Ironically, under Tony Hulman's reign as leader of the Speedway, the IndyCar name was rarely used, even looked down upon, in favor of 'Championship Car', 'Indianapolis Car', 'Champ Car', or simply 'Big Car'.
Despite his alleged initial philosophical beliefs, Tony George introduced road courses to the IRL schedule in 2005. Adding road courses added costs to the increasingly expensive league, because modifications to the chassis and engines (which were initially designed solely for the stresses of oval racing) would be required. This caused much criticism of George, and debate amongst fans, some of whom argued it went against what the IRL was founded on and opined that oval racing was more exciting than road and street racing, better represented the heritage of open-wheel, paid homage to the Indianapolis 500-mile (800 km) race, was more cost effective and better allotted American drivers with the opportunity of success in open-wheel racing. The other side of the debate argued it was best for the IRL to adopt more road racing, and become similar to CART, the series that saw American open-wheel racing reach its peak (popularity, manufacturer and sponsor interest) with a diverse schedule, technical package, manufacturer involvement, and large costs. In addition, Champ Car had failed at providing a diverse schedule in the fashion its predecessor CART had. Therefore, becoming CART-like in terms of season schedule could help grow the IRL fan base.
In 2005, George stepped down from his operational duties in the IRL to start his own team, Vision Racing, with his wife Laura George and actor Patrick Dempsey. The team was formed from the remnants of Kelley Racing, which disbanded after the 2004 season. George's stepson, Ed Carpenter, began driving for the team in 2005 and continues to as of 2009.
On February 22, 2008, the IRL and Champ Car World Series signed a deal to unify the two open-wheel American circuits, bringing them under the umbrella of the IRL IndyCar Series. A statement was released by the two sides, saying, "Owners of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League completed an agreement in principle Friday that will unify the sport for 2008."
"Gerald Forsythe, co-owner of Champ Car, signed an agreement in principle in Chicago, joining his partner Kevin Kalkhoven and Indy Racing League founder and CEO Tony George who had signed late Thursday in Indianapolis."
Champ Car liquidated its assets and George bought almost all of it, thereby allowing the unification of IndyCar and Champ Car on track for 2008, as well as officially unifying the history of American Championship Car Racing.
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External links
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