Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

...to become VP of Business Operations for ISC.

http://www.indystar.com/article/2009...dway+president

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

Maybe now is the perfect time for Robin Miller to throw his hat into the ring as the leader of the IMS & IRL?

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

... and 20 days into his new job , CEO Jeff Belskus , released the following statement -

"This is a disappointment for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway".
"Joie provided the leadership you would expect for a facility that hosts the largest sporting events in the world".
"With his history in the sport combined with his business acumen , Joie was well suited for the role of President of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and we appreciate how he has represented IMS".
"We wish him all the best".

He should have added "and all of the remaining talent has just walked out the door".
"We are now officially in deep :21: !". "Has anyone seen Mari ? ... Nancy ? , Josie ? , Kathi ?" "Damn".:7:



To Nancy :26:To Josie:26:To Kathi :26: and Mari deserves two :26::26:

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

I wonder how the next board meeting will go. Sounds like a family disagreement and nonfamily members are heading for the nearest exit to avoid getting thrown under the bus.

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

When ISC buys the speedway from Mari, Joie will be back in charge from his FL home.

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

They're likely to be talking about a poorly attended "Allstate 400 at the Brickyard" in that next meeting to take place the day after the race.

This is the first time in the 16 year history of the "400" that not even one of the available 30 stands / seating areas has been sold-out prior to race week.
Many stands in previous years have "sold-out" months in advance of the event.

The race on Sunday could prove to be the least attended NASCAR Sprint Cup race thus far in '09 in terms of percentage of total available seating sold.


:31: < Joie Chitwood Leaving Indy

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

IMHO thats got nothing to do with THE SPEEDWAY and everything to do with NASCARs Clone car racing and the Economy. The Daytona race the fourth weekend had a ton of empty seats including whole sections.

Chuck, doubting the speedway will loose its family ownership but you never know. Indy without a Hulman/George. Its almost unthinkable.

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

I doubt it has as much to do with the economy as with last year's tire debacle. Nice job Goodyear! :11;

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

almost forgot the tire deal. Didn't bother to watch or go and am thankful I think.

Didn't they diamond cut the surface? Everytime a track has done that theres been that tire issue. Of course theres been the issue anyway on tracks they never tested.

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

I would certainly think that this played an important role in the decline in tickets sold. When Michelin had their meltdown at the speedway and F-1 raced with only 6 cars, they helped the next year pay for tickets for disgruntled fans. I still haven't heard Goodyear's official apology for that fiasco last year called the Brickyard 400.:34; They basically just hung the speedway out to dry. And NASCAR is no better with that turd they call the car of tomorrow.:29: It will be interesting to hear the propaganda that the NASCAR "mouths" drool about the empty seats during the second half of this season.:11; They are having a difficult time selling out Bristol for the night race.:14: Somehow the TV networks will place the cameras so that you won't be able to see the grandstands period.:42::

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

You are correct , as NASCAR's VP of Competition , Robin Pemberton was summoned to be the public face of the latest tire debacle.
Pemberton offered his apologies for NASCAR on the Tuesday after the race.
Any representation from Goodyear was suspiciously absent.
Goodyear did initially attempt to place blame on the Speedway but later stating , " Nobody's at fault ... everyone is at fault". :10:



:34; Goodyear @ Indy

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

Paul,

Isn't it amazing that when things go wrong, Brian France and Mike Helton are no where to be found.:15: They send one of the underlings to fend off the lions.

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

Well , Brian just simply doesn't have a clue and Helton is all about protecting the NASCAR image.
A great many people lost all respect for Mike Helton when he attempted to manipulate evidence to place blame on Bill Simpson
( & Simpson Performance Products ) in the death investigation of Dale Earnhardt , Sr.

Sorry to see the IMS shake-up , but NASCAR could use some house cleaning , too !


:30:

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

Agreed!:6:

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

How's that little guy , Andrew doing ?
I think of him often and pray that he may have all great days ahead forever !:6:

Tell him an old racer is thinking about him and says "hello" ! :2:


:31:

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

Paul,

Thanks so much for asking. He is doing remarkably well. It is amazing with all that he has been through that he has returned to being the same great kid (the old man is bragging now) only now he is three years old. He just got a new bike and I told a number of IOW members at sprintweek that he is the terror of Hubble Street.:3:

Thank you for continuing to pray for him and we all hope and pray that he has all good days ahead forever. However, with no cure for this dreaded disease, it always remains in the back of our minds that it could turn at any point in time. Our eyes are wide open and we enjoy the time we have been given with him. Right now things are quite boring and we hope they remain that way. We have had enough excitement to last the rest of my lifetime. I will let him know that you asked about him.

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

Mike , that's all great news !
Thanks for sharing an encouraging update with us ! May all good things continue for you , Andrew and family !! :6:

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

you wrong!

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

I took my two kids last year to the Brickyard. Ages 5 & 10. They begged me to never take them to another race. I was able to get my youngest to go with me this year to Putnamville so he could watch Shane Hollingsworth race, but while I think he had a good time, he has not asked about when we can go back. I think it has a lot to do with the Brickyard mess from last year. It is very loud and not much of a race. We left before halfway.

We are taking our family vacation during this years running and that's OK with me.

I think it's too bad that Tony G is out. I think he tried some new things that just didn't bring in enough money for the girls in the family to be happy with. I bet in the end he said "You girls run it, I'm going racing with the IRL and enjoy just being a car owner." The girls have got it, now we will see where they take it.

Geo. Wilkins

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

BeanCounter turned CEO , Jeff Belskus , said yesterday that "we need to manage our expenses and manage our costs" ... "there's a revenue aspect to what we're doing".
Those things should be his focus as opposed to Chitwood who worked more on the promotion and event planning side.

So everyone is asking and wondering what cost saving and cost cutting measures may be in store ?

Well , we know that some layoff's took place and some job positions were eliminated as announced by Fred Nation this past December. I have since learned that some 90 positions were axed. We also know that the operation of the Brickyard Crossing Inn came to a close , also in December , as the former Speedway Motel has since been demolished. Fifteen full-time employees were laid off.

I have learned just today that it is not by accident or oversight that no concerts were planned for the Brickyard 400.
You may recall that last year we had two concerts on the Miller Lite Stage ; the Goo Goo Dolls performed on Saturday and the Charlie Daniels Band on Sunday prior to the race starting time. This year the Miller Lite stage ( located behind the museum ) is absent of any performer.

There will be live music on the Coke Zero Stage ( on the Pagoda Plaza ) -
Anyone ever heard of "Healing Sixes" , "Corey Cox" , "Casey Jamerson" , "The Elms" , "Megan Linville" ... how about "Steve Trent and Small Town" ?
Well , I'll admit that all of these names mean nothing to me.:14:

For as much as many will miss the "name" entertainment at the Speedway , as apparently it is no longer in the budget , all things are not bad.
Just added to the event schedule is a " Turkey Leg Eating Contest " - Saturday , 12:45pm , Coke Zero stage ! :5:

Same as last year , the general admission is $10.00 Friday ( practice ) , $15.00 Saturday ( qualifying ). :7:

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

Paul, not to disagree with you, but steve trent and small town are really good.
HOWEVER; I would rather listen to a v-6 sprint car than any music personally. Even though a v-8 sounds much sweeter or how about a full field of 30 silver crowns roaring to the green flag at orp tonight!

back on topic: I would say mr chitwood and mr. george were pretty close and mr. chitwood didn't care to work for anyone other than tony g.

The brickyard 400 will be a good race, I heard Jeff, Tony and Dale all say so on tv the past couple of weeks.:11:

Re: Chitwood Resigns as IMS President
 

A couple of interesting articles about Jeffrey Belskus.

http://www.versus.com/nw/article/vie...uce_martin.tpl

http://www.indystar.com/article/2009...n+of+few+words