Tony George Responds

[cosworth151]

Tony George has issued his first statement about the recent changes at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy Racing League. The response was published on the IRL website:

http://www.indycar.com/news/?story_id=14562

He states that Chairman of the Board Mari Hulman George has re-affirmed ongoing support for the IRL. She is also Tony's mother, and the daughter of long-time track owner Tony Hulman.

[lkjohnson1950]

I am always uneasy when tha lawyers and bean counters take over.

Lonny

[John S]

Just looks like Tony was not happy to have someone as his boss if you ask me.

But I do agree that things tend to become plain and ordinary when bean counters take over, they don't get the value to the audience of showmanship.

[cosworth151]

Do you mean like a lawyer named Max and a bean counter named Bernie? 

Seriously, the one knock I've heard from inside against Tony is that he looked at things too much as a sport and not enough as a business. The phase I've heard is that he lead too much with his heart and not enough with his head.

[lkjohnson1950]

He threw a fit when the owners didn't adopt his rules and split open wheel racing in two. Then he spent great bags full of money on the IRL to break CART. He succeeded in that but essentially broke all open wheel racing in the process. Now the sponsors are gone, the series is a spec class and the family is tired of spending money to keep the IRL afloat. They need a title sponsor and several race sponsors but aren't likely to get either. In addition TG has paid the expenses of several teams at the 500 to guarantee a 33 car field. Most of that will now stop. Open wheel racing in the US may yet devolve into something not worth watching. Lots of empty seats at Toronto today despite the presence of Tracy and Tag in the field.

Lonny

[cosworth151]

As I've stated before, Tony saved open wheel racing from the CART cabal. Race attendance and TV ratings were already in free fall, while NASCAR was soaring. If somebody hadn't done something to stop the process, the only open wheel racing in the US would be USAC sprints & midgets.

[Jericoke]

As I've stated before, Tony saved open wheel racing from the CART cabal. Race attendance and TV ratings were already in free fall, while NASCAR was soaring. If somebody hadn't done something to stop the process, the only open wheel racing in the US would be USAC sprints & midgets.

It's certainly true that CART shares blame with IRL.  From a pure narrative point of view, IRL was the 'split', and it was the split that did more damage than CART could do on its own.  It's easier to blame Tony.

Keep in mind that Tony was saying the same things Max is saying:  that the teams shouldn't be setting the rules, that there must be cost controls (plus Tony wanted more Americans involved).

Over all, I found IRL to produce an inferior spectacle to CART.  Further, IndyCar now is hardly different from the IndyCar dominated by CART:  Most of the stars and suppliers aren't American.  Tony didn't get what he wanted at all.

[lkjohnson1950]

As I've stated before, Tony saved open wheel racing from the CART cabal. Race attendance and TV ratings were already in free fall, while NASCAR was soaring. If somebody hadn't done something to stop the process, the only open wheel racing in the US would be USAC sprints & midgets.

Tony did not save Indy car racing. Indy car was ahead of NASCAR in ratings when it was one series. Tony wanted more ovals, more American drivers and a closer connection to sprints and midgets, plus rules that would substantially slow the cars at the 500. When the owners balked at rules that called for all new equipment, limits on who could drive, and the possible loss of races like Long Beach, Toronto, and Cleveland, Tony took the 500 and built his own series around it. He even made a rule stating only 10 non IRL regulars would be allowed in the 500. That caused the split, because the team owners would not cave in to him. Because of the huge publicity given the 500, sponsors demanded that teams race there, so one by one the teams trickled back to the IRL. When Penske left CART (he was one of the original leaders) it was doomed. Tony "won" but the split killed open wheel racing in the US.

Lonny

[Scott]

Sorry Cos, I've got to say Lonny has it right on from my perspective.  It wasn't until Tony insisted on a completely new design for the 500, essentially meaning CART teams had to build special cars for one race, that things really went badly for CART.  Then he blackmailed and eventually bribed (Penske) teams to abandon CART.  TG was the bad guy in the whole thing in my opinion.  

I can't speak to TV audiences, but as I said they managed the TV broadcasts as infomercials, so they were able to remain on air regardless of network viewership demands.  They packed the stands at most of their races, especially the road courses.  The death knell was when Penske and Barry Green racing went to the IRL (Barry Green retired then and sold his share of the team to Andretti because he had no interest in participating in the IRL under Tony George) as a result of TG's tactics in trying to crush CART.  Maybe CART would have muddled through with Forsythe, Kalkhoven and Gentilozzi.  Maybe not, but TG ensured that they couldn't compete.

Now where are they?  IRL might survive the latest shakeup, but I doubt it. 

[cosworth151]

From the very beginning, the TV networks paid the IRL to carry their races. Why? Because they were assured of ratings. People wanted to watch them. CART had to pay the networks to get their races on the air. Why? They were ratings poison! Even most hard core racing fans over here wouldn't watch. Open wheel racing was on full life support and about to flat line. It was a joke series racing in front of empty stands. Somebody had to do something before the pocket edition Bernies at CART killed it completely.

Don't forget, Tony brought F1 back to the US. The money e spent (and lost) on that had far more to do with his downfall than the IRL did.

[Scott]

From Wiki - Weak attendance and TV ratings have plagued the IRL since its inception. Eventually, the CART series temporarily lost its broadcast network television exposure, and it is suggested that CART's losses equate with IRL's gains.

Not only that, but even after the split, CART survived 12 more years even after the IRL took half the teams and many of the sponsors.  I wouldn't call that flatlining.

This has nothing to do with Tony bringing F1 to the US - for that I applaud him, but as for the demise of CART, it was personal.

[lkjohnson1950]

There was only one reason networks paid the IRL for their TV rights: TG attached  the IRL to the Indy 500. You want Indy, you take the IRL. When TG began as head of Indy, Bump day was a spectacle. Many cars trying to get a spot. The stands were at least 1/2 full. Now they send home a couple of cars that haven't raced in years and the stands are empty. TG put the Brickyard 400 almost on the level of the 500 by shutting out some of the best racers to favor his own. If open wheel racing survives it will be in spite of TG not because of him.

Lonny

[cosworth151]

Does Wiki still say that Senator Ted Kennedy died at 3:08 p.m. ET on January 20th of this year? Or that Senator Robert Byrd is dead? Or that John Seigenthaler assassinated both John and Robert Kennedy?

Yes, there were more cars around for Bump Day back in the mid-1990's. F1 was starting 26 cars every race, and had other cars that didn't make it past quali. The fact is that CART was in free-fall while NASCAR was soaring.

The CART cabal always vilified Tony. In truth, the Indianapolis 500 is the second largest one day sporting event in the world every year. (In terms of attendance) The only thing larger is the NASCAR Brickyard 400. It was started by Tony and is run at IMS.

[Jericoke]

The CART cabal always vilified Tony. In truth, the Indianapolis 500 is the second largest one day sporting event in the world every year. (In terms of attendance) The only thing larger is the NASCAR Brickyard 400. It was started by Tony and is run at IMS.

Indy500 made CART, but CART kept the Indy500 alive.  They needed each other more than anyone realised.  As a non-American, I find that Tony George's attempt to Americanize the 500 was very alienating, even if it was the better idea to compete against NASCAR.

Out of curiousity, who is the CART cabal?  Penske?  Patrick?  Gurney?  Kalkhoven?  Forsythe?

[cosworth151]

Out of curiosity, who is the CART cabal?  Penske?  Patrick?  Gurney?  Kalkhoven?  Forsythe?

Initially, it was Dan Gurney, Carl Hogan, Roger Penske, and Pat Patrick. They were the ones behind the original "split" in US open wheel racing. the organized CART as a power grab from USAC in 1978-79. This split mark the beginning of the slide of open wheel in the US. It also was the start of the rise of NASCAR.

A number of owners, including A.J. Foyt, opposed the formation of CART.

USAC (United States Auto Club) was formed in 1956. It was spun off of the AAA. The AAA had been the sanctioning body at Indy since the beginning. Following the tragedy at Le Mans in 1955, public outcry caused the AAA to split off its racing arm.

USAC is still active in the lower ranks of open wheel racing. It was also the official national sanctioning body for the USGP at Indy.