Tony George replaced as head of Indianapolis Motor Speedway

By SceneDaily Staff
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Tony George had overseen the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy Racing League since 1990 but has not been running the day-to-day operations of the speedway.

Tony George had overseen the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy Racing League since 1990 but has not been running the day-to-day operations of the speedway.

Jerry Markland
Getty Images for NASCAR

Tony George has been replaced by Jeffrey G. Belskus as president and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation, according to a news release from the speedway.

George also was replaced as president of CEO of Hulman & Company by W. Curtis Brighton.

Belskus was vice president of Hulman & Company and now heads the company that promotes one of the biggest NASCAR races of the season in the Allstate 400.

“Our board had asked Tony to structure our executive staff to create efficiencies in our business structure and to concentrate his leadership efforts in the Indy Racing League,” said Mari Hulman George, IMS chairman of the board and Tony George’s mother. “He has decided that with the recent unification of open-wheel racing and the experienced management team IMS has cultivated over the years, now would be the time for him to concentrate on his team ownership of Vision Racing with his family and other personal business interests he and his family share.

“Tony will remain on the board of directors of all of our companies, and he will continue to work with the entire board to advance the interests of all of companies.”

George had overseen the race track and the Indy Racing League since 1990 but has not been running the day-to-day operations of the speedway. George was not at the track last year for the Brickyard 400 as the Indy Racing League was in Canada that weekend.

Joie Chitwood, who is president and chief operating officer of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway LLC, has overseen the day-to-day operations of the track and will remain in that capacity.

Comments

11 responses to "Tony George replaced as head of Indianapolis Motor Speedway". Post a Comment.
  1. 1
    Phoenix987 said:
    Jun 30, 2009 at 7:30 PM

    Is this really a surprise? He hasn't really been involved with the speedway in the last few years. Plus, this was rumored to have happened weeks ago, only to have been quickly shot down.

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  2. 2
    SS396Chevelle said:
    Jun 30, 2009 at 8:05 PM

    Who now runs the IRL?

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  3. 3
    Phoenix987 said:
    Jun 30, 2009 at 8:19 PM

    He still does. He just isn't the head of IMS.

    The IRL is still run by him, as is Vision Racing or whatever the IRL team he owns is called.

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  4. 4
    Werner said:
    Jul 1, 2009 at 8:53 AM

    RObin Miller was right...he broke this story weeks ago....

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  5. 5
    SS396Chevelle said:
    Jul 1, 2009 at 9:03 AM

    Didn't the IMS fund the IRL?

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  6. 6
    Phoenix987 said:
    Jul 1, 2009 at 4:49 PM

    Pretty much. But the stories that had all reported this neglected to add when the story broke that the IRL must now fund itself, with no help from IMS. Supposedly, over $500M has been spent keeping the IRL afloat. I'd hate to be Tony George right now.

    This just made Danica coming to NASCAR that much more likely. With the IRL potentially not able to remain afloat financially, the series may be doomed- we might see the second 'Open Wheel Invasion' to NASCAR.

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  7. 7
    wmvjr1960 said:
    Jul 1, 2009 at 5:04 PM

    If Danica comes to Cup she will get stomped. Even in the best equipment. She needs to start in ASA or ARCA. No offense, just truth.

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  8. 8
    bthompson133 said:
    Jul 1, 2009 at 5:44 PM

    good bye tony can't say it was fun. go away danica you'd only get hurt in nascar when you can't wheel the HEAVY,NO TRACTION ASSIST REAL CARS!!!!

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  9. 9
    rairheart said:
    Jul 1, 2009 at 6:08 PM

    What took them so long. The Speedway hasn't been the same since Tony Hulman left us. I remember Mr. Hulman standing on the front straightway, looking up at the sky, and saying "don't you dare rain"! It usually worked. Good old days......

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  10. 10
    SS396Chevelle said:
    Jul 1, 2009 at 6:53 PM

    It could bring Danica to Nascar. Not saying she is, or could compete, but she is easy on the eyes and it sure would get a lot more women interested in Nascar.

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  11. 11
    ktgrosch said:
    Jul 2, 2009 at 11:55 AM

    Been expected for weeks based on Robin Miller's reports and overdue.

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