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IMS Sold to Penske
Official announcement at 11am. Stay tuned.
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Re: IMS Sold to Penske
I thought the Captain already owned the joint. :)
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Re: IMS Sold to Penske
Didn't he just sell his other speedways to NASCAR? Hmm. . . .
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Re: IMS Sold to Penske
https://speedsport.com/indy/indycar-...ndycar-series/
Well...this is basically what he wanted in 1979...I don't feel the best about someone that already wins as much as they do (can not say "Dominate", as the IRL rules HAVE kept the playing field very level, but Penske always finds a way to win Indy & championships...); but it DOES say a lot about the series, being on a continued uptick (ratings, etc). Roger wouldn't do it to lose $ (altho I can't blv much is being made on the Smart car dealers he owns?...at least yet anyway...). THANKFULLY that dirt track on the infield was already built! He'da never thought of that...I'm certain it is a $ maker, so likely he will keep it... What will he do with the Brickyard 400??? Can't see him losing $ on that every year...(I still think run it on a Sept Saturday, then have the Indy champ Sunday - either on the road coarse or two 150milers on the oval...) - it will take someone like Roger too get that kind of "double-header" scheduled...Cup won't want Indycars to out-shine them... Hope Tony George takes his cut & buys USAC...can't see the connections between that & Roger being too much... I hope Roger makes it so NO races go against NASCAR (so he can be at both) and people like me don't ever have to have both of them on at the same time...lol (I know, the struggle is real...lol) - altho, lots of times, they do work out so its maybe only half an hour or so overlap...espscly when NBC has both of them on... |
Re: IMS Sold to Penske
As long as he adds Spectator Oval Drags I will be happy!!
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I was wondering the same thing how’s this affect or tie into usac?
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I would say dirt track gone can you say welcome back F1 and more sports car races 12 hours of Indy
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Re: IMS Sold to Penske
I always thought having a 12 or 24 hour endurance race there would be awesome kind of on the same level as Daytona 24, Sebring 12 hours, 24 hours at Le Mans, and Petite Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Indy is already known world wide as on the big name tracks in the world along with the city of Indianapolis it’s self. Us Hoosiers have been fortunate enough to to have had Indy, NASCAR, F1 race at the track over the years and I’ve been lucky enough to seen it at one time or another. Hope the dirt track stays. It think it gives racers and fans a sort of an incentive to hopefully get to race there some day for those that will never make it to the top levels of Motorsports. :32:
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Re: IMS Sold to Penske
Originally Posted by nathans1012: |
There is an 8 hour race planned for 2020 per this article.
https://www.wthr.com/article/new-end...oming-ims-2020 |
Re: IMS Sold to Penske
Looks like Roger has taken over all of Hulman & Company, not just the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar Series. It will be interesting to see who in Hulman management may be kept - if they desire to do so.
************ https://www.indycar.com/News/2019/11...INDYCAR-Penske INDYCAR, IMS acquired by Penske Corporation By INDYCAR | Published: Nov 4, 2019 The Board of Directors of Hulman & Company announced today that it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Penske Corporation, a global transportation, automotive and motorsports leader. Penske Entertainment Corp., a subsidiary of Penske Corporation, will acquire all Hulman & Company principal operating assets, including the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the NTT IndyCar Series and IMS Productions. The transaction will close following receipt of applicable government approvals and other standard conditions. The acquisition by the Penske organization will carry the future of the legendary Speedway and the IndyCar Series forward for the next generation of racing fans. It was the vision of Carl Fisher to build the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in 1909 and the track hosted its first races later that year. Eddie Rickenbacker later purchased the Speedway in 1927 before selling it to Tony Hulman and Hulman & Company in 1945. IMS has been the host of the world’s largest single-day sporting event – the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race – for more than 100 years. The iconic venue has also hosted NASCAR, Formula One and other racing series events throughout its storied history. The NTT IndyCar Series continues to be the premier open-wheel racing series in North America and is one of the most competitive championships in the world. IMS Productions is a leading video services and production company. “We recently approached Roger Penske and Penske Corporation about this opportunity and began working to put an agreement in place,” said Tony George, Chairman of Hulman & Company. “The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been the centerpiece and the cathedral of motorsports since 1909 and the Hulman-George family has proudly served as the steward of this great institution for more than 70 years. Now, we are honored to pass the torch to Roger Penske and Penske Corporation, as they become just the fourth owner of the iconic Speedway. There is no one more capable and qualified than Roger and his organization to lead the sport of IndyCar racing and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway into the future.” Penske Corporation has a rich history of managing major motorsports properties, beginning with the acquisition of Michigan International Speedway in 1973. Over the course of its history, Penske and its subsidiaries have also operated the Grand Prix of Cleveland, Nazareth Speedway and California Speedway, along with investments in North Carolina Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. Penske Corporation currently promotes and operates the Detroit Grand Prix, hosted annually at the Belle Isle Park street circuit. “My passion for racing began at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1951 when I attended the Indianapolis 500 with my father,” said Roger Penske, whose race team celebrated its 50th anniversary of first competing at IMS this year. “We have so much respect and appreciation for the history and tradition of the Speedway and the sport of IndyCar racing. I want to thank Hulman & Company for the opportunity to build on this legacy and it will be an honor for Penske Corporation to help lead these great institutions forward into a new era.” “The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race and the NTT IndyCar Series have enjoyed considerable growth over the past decade, with significant increases in television, digital and social media audiences combined with record attendance at many of our race venues,” said Mark Miles, President and CEO of Hulman & Company. “With their track record of business success, their venue, operation and event experience and their passion for motorsports, Roger Penske and Penske Corporation will help us take the IndyCar Series, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and all of our properties to new heights. Everyone on our team looks forward to working with them to capitalize on the momentum that the Series and the Speedway have achieved.” Hulman & Company’s financial adviser was Allen & Company LLC, and its counsel was Ice Miller LLP for this transaction. |
Re: IMS Sold to Penske
Originally Posted by hoosierhillbilly: |
Originally Posted by racefan20: |
To me, the bottom line is that if the track must change hands, it's not going to fall into the hands of someone who loves and reveres the place more than Roger does. And sounds like he would like to put the facility to a little bit more use than it has been, but isn't interested in making too many changes to the management structure. The track will be in steadier hands than it has been in a while, IMO.
Jerry |
Re: IMS Sold to Penske
I'd like to see F1 back, as I was a pup and not in the area when it was in town. i think enough time has passed and enough has changed that folks would support it for a couple years. Idk about it being a hit as a yearly tradition from here on forward.
I'd check a 24 hour race out. Sightlines are the only bummer. Feel like sightlines in regards to RC is worse than oval. Stands on pit side are a real kill joy and will never change. |
Originally Posted by Vookie: |
Can you imagine what it would like if The Captain was 20 years younger? I know there are mixed emotions regarding Tony George, but this has to be satisfying that he had control of the process and not the girls.
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Re: IMS Sold to Penske
Originally Posted by nathans1012: |
Not sure I like this chuck
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Re: IMS Sold to Penske
My Captain,My Captain ,I salute you :22:Like La Salle Indy is probably more suited special events than a weekly show
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Re: IMS Sold to Penske
My guess is that Roger will wield his power and money to transform IMS into an massive entertainment destination on the same vein as Phoenix, Dover, Kansas, and soon to be at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It will include tax incentives for his corporation from the town of Speedway and the state of Indiana to invest upwards of $1 billion to create a destination/resort at IMS including, but limited to, Indoor water park, indoor theme parks for both families and adults, major concert venue, night clubs plural, restaurants plural, Top Golf like copy, shopping/outlet mall, and a casino if legal. He has the influence to crush local, state, and regional influences/desires to get what he deems necessary to be profitable. I am not saying this is bad, I am just saying this is the future of motorsport facilities. The changes are real today and with Penske's leadership, the changes will be swift and stunning.
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I don't have a clue about what changes he will make, but it sure is entertaining listening to everyone else speculate!
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Re: IMS Sold to Penske
The reality of my existence in comparison to Penske, or someone like him, makes speculation on my part utterly ludicrous.
What is within our grasp of reality is knowing that Penske and his "people" will need to walk a fine line to fend off any perception of impropriety of decision making within the sanction. Those of us who are of a certain age remember well how Mr. Penske would wield leverage and power to get what he wanted and what was in his personal best interests. When a high profile, highly successful team owner is also the proprietor of the sanction there may be, justified or not, many a jaundiced eye cast in his direction. |
Originally Posted by racefan20: |
Originally Posted by ISF: |
Just hope he listens to the fans and we don't have "locked in spots" for full time teams. Call me old school but I want the fastest 33. We finally have a bump day again! Don't screw that up!!
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Re: IMS Sold to Penske
Apparently a few of you missed the press conference and are still beating the Penske hates dirt racing dead horse.
-Tony George for the first time since the split fully admitted that the family can't take the series and race back to the level it once was. They no longer have the clout they once did, and what clout remained after the first split was totally lost with the "Vision". -Tony reached out to Penske at Laguna Seca. Why? Because he is the one man with the one organization that has skin in this game that can get what he failed miserably in doing done. -For me and many others this is finally full admittance that he screwed up in 1996, he may have won a couple of battles when CART owners finally came back and then ChampCar folded, but ultimately he lost the war....a war that never had to be waged. His decisions, and no I don't hold CART owners totally without blame as they could have ended it just as quickly, resulted in him urinating a ton of family money into one of the many IMS men's restroom troughs and alienated what was once of strong fanbase full of people from all walks of the multiple racing genres rather than just one. Will Roger get rid of the BC39? I highly doubt it. He said in his press conference that one of his visions(and like Mario Andretti stated yesterday, Penske's "Vision" will come with actual real world working actions as opposed to just a word meant to spin up a base) he wants to turn this back into a world class facility. In doing so that means it will be used and not just for one month a year. Will he ever live to see this fully grow to the levels he dreams of? Statistics say no, but I highly suspect the few of of you that poo poo this and hold a cold heavy heart for anything Penske and CART will stand back and wonder just why the Hell 1996 had to happen to begin with after all is said and done. Had someone not had "vision", we more than likely aren't talking about this today. All you need to know is the fact that Foyt, Andretti, and Bobby freaking Unser are on board with this. That alone speaks volumes, and with grandson out of the way I suspect words aren't going to be minced. Tons of people lost jobs and money due to those decisions of the early to mid 90's and one of oldest top level racing series in the world that was just as big as NASCAR and could have given Bernie a run for his money was reduced to a cracked and broken shell of it's former self. There is nowhere but up with this decision, and no, Tony isn't going take this money and sock it into USAC. |
Re: IMS Sold to Penske
Roger - always smartest man in the room right? - what was he doing in the early '90s? He started up a Winston Cup team, with Rusty Wallace as his driver.
NASCAR had already passed IndyCar by 1995. Jeff Gordon winning the inaugural 1994 Brickyard 400 was about as poetic a moment as you could ever ask for in motorsports. It demonstrated everything right with NASCAR and everything wrong with CART/USAC/open wheel racing at the time. Frankly I don't think much would have changed if no IRL existed. The series would've done then what it's doing now which is leaving the ovals, NASCAR was still on fire then and took over all that audience, they went to take on Bernie and F1, which let's be honest, was really stupid because the FIA would never let them win - the same organization intentionally killed their own sportscar series multiple times to remove a threat to F1 - and when tobacco sponsorship was killed in the early '00s (Player's, Marlboro, KOOL, Hollywood, sure there's others I'm missing), there went all your sponsorship funding outside of ride buyers. NASCAR was able to replace Winston, Camel, Kodiak, Skoal, etc. Indycar never did, and still hasn't. I looked at modern racing now and in a way it's really depressing. Money has so completely destroyed the sport. F1 is horrendous to watch. Nothing in the race matters outside of the start, a few laps around the pit stops, and tire management. A team not named Mercedes, Red Bull, or Ferrari have won a race since the 2013 Australian GP (season opener), won by Kimi Raikkonen in a Lotus. If you remove the Ferrari intra-team turmoil this year, seriously, what is left to talk about? There's actually good racing in F1...7th on back, so no one cares about it. NASCAR has likewise devolved into the Indian caste system. Kyle Busch could get in a JTG Daugherty car and is not finishing in the top 15. It's even gotten to the point of you have open factory teams which is something I never thought I would see in NASCAR Cup Racing. Yeah, Hendrick was always the favored Chevy team, but other Chevy teams could race and win. Toyota has 5 cars, period. 4 of them are Gibbs and the 5th car pay a huge amount of money to Gibbs. That's incredibly MotoGP-ish. There's a lot negative to be said about the Split. Frankly, I don't wish to rehash because it's been done for decades now on the internet and I don't desire to kill my brain cells yelling at a keyboard, but the sport is just whittling away and dying unless you're born rich. Tony George did not cause that, if anything he was a reactionary that was foolishly you could argue trying to stop what racing has become. I love racing, have since I was 5 years old. I'm 37 now and I just don't see much of a future. I have kids and while I'd support them if they wanted to race, in a way the finances of it all scare me, and I have a damn good job compared to most people. |
Re: IMS Sold to Penske
Originally Posted by Brickyard: If Tony had failed as bad as u make it sound, the last few years of the 500 would not have had full grandstands, the series itself would not be on perpetual rise (ratings, attendance at other tracks, car owners, etc), and there would be nothing left to sell...but ya, I didn't really think Tony would "invest" in USAC and I think most of "us" believe the dirt track on the infield is there to say; but I'm afraid Roger won't do much more than drive by the USAC office building...time will tell... |
This will be interesting. I am not a Penske fan at all but maybe this will be good for Indy. A concern is that he doesn’t seem to have a history of success when it comes to owning tracks. They have seemed more like an investment with him waiting for an opportunity to sell in order to turn a profit. Hopefully his passion for Indy will make this different.
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Re: IMS Sold to Penske
Originally Posted by Brickyard: You have any, any shred of evidence that Roger has much regard for dirt track racing? Has he run a dirt track, a dirt track team? Roger Penske is a good business man, but hardly a friend or supporter of short track America. Heck, the guy has NEVER run an Indy Lights team, you know, what is supposed to be the feeder series, the stepping stone, the Road to Indy. I don't hate Penske and I think he's a great guy to have running a business. He has more resources than the Hulman George family. However, you gloss over a lot of things other than the money (alleged figures) Tony George dropped. How about the $300 million the sisters lost to Bernie Madoff, only a portion of which was recovered. Or that the business was sold to an octegenraian who can be expected to live how long. Or that he has his own sons with baggage. Or, that he once said that the wealthy patrons of the St. Pete GP were the kind of people Indy Car needed to attract? Because I'm not a millionaire, is my ticket money somehow worth less? Blab on all you want about 1996-there were huge mistakes on both sides and CART owners acted (and some like Yoda still act) as arrogant as NFL owners. But I keep in mind Roger Penske was part of an organization that used some questionable tactics to attack people in 1978 and 1979, and part of an organization that boycotted the Speedway in 1996 and ran a race against the Indianapolis 500. None of those things had to happen as well. Plus, here is a guy who protested vehemently the 25/8 rule and now wants guaranteed spots in the 500. Hows that NASCAR charter system working? I think Roger will be a great steward of IMS, the facility. Say what you want about Tony George, but he took great care of the place too. But I hold out no hope that Roger will ever try to keep or enhance a connection with the dirt track fans who have been buying 500 tickets for 30, 40, 50 years and I really doubt that his won't have advantages in the ICS when the rules are written. |
Brickyard, obviously you’re very knowledgeable of the Speedway, but you seem to have an axe to grind. You say, and I agree with the endorsements you quoted, but I think those are relative, in that Penske buying it is much better than an investment firm with obliviousness to the sport.
Honestly I don’t think the BC39 means anything in the big picture. I would doubt its profitable, and would not be if not attached to the nascar race. I’m sure this is probably the best transaction possible, but I think it will have its share of pain. I didn’t think CART cared about it’s fans, Roger was part of that if I remember correctly? I hope I’m wrong |
Re: IMS Sold to Penske
Originally Posted by Brickyard: Regardless, from the bit of the press conference I did see, Tony George did NOT look defeated or that Roger saved him from the poor house. Seemed like he was ok with it all and looking forward to the next stages of his life, as well as all of this (hopefully as a partner in Ed's team for him???). |
I didn’t realize how old Penske is, 82. I wonder what his succession plan is for the Speedway since it is not likely he will run it for long. Not trying to be negative but will he be around long enough to make great things happen?
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Re: IMS Sold to Penske
That's what i don't get. Tony G is much younger. It must be a figure that the Hulman's couldn't resist. I think and hope RP will be a good steward though. The guy you have to give him credit. He brought the super bowl to downtown Detroit and pulled it off. Long gone are the high speed ovals. Yet the road race people don't complain about the speeds at Indy. The cart people must be doing back flips over this news. I am not thrilled over this but hey these are my thoughts.
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Re: IMS Sold to Penske
Originally Posted by duel: |
Re: IMS Sold to Penske
I won't claim to know the numbers, but there are Indy Car fans that lost interest because of CART's actions, that came back when the IRL was formed.
I was one of them. |
Re: IMS Sold to Penske
Me, i followed Indy cars back in the 70s-80 when the men in the cars were the same ones at eldora terre haute, the miles.
Tried to stay interested into the 90s. To me that sport has nothing in common with short track racing anymore even if a few came from it. |
Re: IMS Sold to Penske
If the Speedway was to be sold, there probably is not a better buyer than Roger Penske.
I think F1 coming back to Indy will fly. I think the Indy500 is almost bigger than any person or organization, so how do you keep improving? I think Roger is that type of person, you can probably trust your great grand children will be hearing "Back Home Again In Indiana" with a race following. |
Now your gone again right?
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