IndyCar Series moves on with George on sidelines

Tony George's tenure as Indy CEO finally came to an end, when he was ousted by his own family. Gavin Lawrence/Getty Images

TORONTO -- Tony George's ouster as the President and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation by his own sisters is every bit as significant as last year's unification that brought rival factions together when Champ Car was absorbed into the IndyCar Series.

Team owners in the IndyCar paddock are hoping it doesn't become as much a disruption to the sport as the original split in 1996.

At that time, it appeared that George -- the grandson Tony Hulman, the man who saved the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he purchased it from Eddie Rickenbacker in 1945 -- was willing to gamble the popularity of the "World's Most Famous Race Course" in an effort to gain control of the sport.

That gamble led many to believe George was either going to ruin it all or own it all.

And when George's IndyCar Series finally wore down CART and later Champ Car, the white flag of surrender was waved last February when he reached agreement with Champ Car Series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven to make IndyCar whole again.

It was estimated that George spent $22 million to unify the sport. That investment also yielded a positive buzz.

Crowds were up at most of its venues and the Indianapolis 500 was once again a hot ticket as the biggest crowd in years filled the joint at 16th and Georgetown.

It appeared that after 13 years of negativity, IndyCar could begin to build itself back into a mainstream sport.

But when the economy tanked in September 2008, every sport in the United States felt the burden. And that is when George's three sisters -- Josie, Nancy and Kathi Conforti -- began to look at how the wealth of the company had diminished over the years.

Unable to blame Wall Street for investments that lost value, they took out their frustrations on Tony George.

A family-controlled board of directors overseas the ownership and operation of all of its properties, which includes Hulman and Company, the makers of Clabber Girl Baking Powder, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy Racing League, the sanctioning body of the IndyCar Series.

Since last October, George's leadership was under attack by his own sisters who wanted him removed as CEO. They wanted to make the IndyCar Series his sole responsibility where he would no longer have the ability to funnel money from the highly-profitable Indianapolis Motor Speedway to the money-losing IndyCar Series.

Rumors spread through Gasoline Alley during May as teams prepared for the Indianapolis 500 that George was under attack by his sisters. Just two days after Helio Castroneves notched his latest Indy win, the board met and told George he would no longer be the CEO of the company. They told him to focus on a plan of where he could utilize his services the most and told him that would be running the IndyCar Series.

George was told to report back to the board at another board meeting with his decision.

But George had one final surprise for the family. Rather than accept his removal as CEO of the IMS Corporation, he was not going to agree to stay on as the CEO of IndyCar. When he essentially told the family last Tuesday that if he wasn't good enough to run the entire company, he wouldn't be in charge of any of its holdings, he walked away.

Last Wednesday, George went from ruler of the IndyCar world to just a member of the board of the directors. His vote is now the same as Josie's or Nancy's or Kathi's.

George will focus on the Vision Racing IndyCar Series team he owns.

As he arrived at Watkins Glen International for Sunday's Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen, George refused to make a public statement on his ouster. He will make that later this week before the series heads to Toronto for next Sunday's Honda Indy Toronto. After that, he will begin to consider interview requests.

Sources indicate the week of silence is at the request of George's attorney as they work out a settlement for George's termination as CEO.

George did speak to fellow IndyCar team owners at an owner's meeting held late Saturday afternoon at Watkins Glen, and he assured them that he will continue to support the series as a team owner and would fully support the growth of the sport.

"He also thanked us for all of the support that we have given him over the years in IndyCar," said Team Penske president Tim Cindric. "It was a very heartfelt statement on Tony's part."

George finally broke his silence on Friday when he issued a statement on the Vision Racing website. It said in part:

"At a board meeting last week, I was asked to continue as CEO of the Indy Racing League, reporting to a new President and CEO of IMS. In my view, this would have created an unnecessary bureaucratic layer between the people in the operations of the IRL and the CEO of IMS that had not previously existed. From the perspective of my experience as President and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, I am acutely aware that the interests of IndyCar racing as a sport, the IRL as a league, and the most important motorsports race in the world, are mutually dependant and inter-connected, both now and in the future. I did not feel that a subordinate position as `CEO of the IRL' was a management vehicle which would allow me to accomplish the objectives that the family and the board requested me to pursue. I declined that position.

"Since our May board meeting, as requested, I have offered my advice to the board on management reorganization, but also and perhaps more importantly, a reorganization of our board, which would provide a structure for better governance for generations to come. It is my belief that, with the recent unification of open-wheel racing, the focus should be on the future rather than the past."

The end of his nearly 20-year reign as CEO seems almost unimaginable considering that he survived so many attacks during the IndyCar Series war from team owners in CART, from the legions of sponsors who left the sport and refused to be part of the IRL, to disgruntled spectators who refused to attend IRL races in the early years, to the fact that IndyCar diminished and floundered for many years.

In the end, the man who survived so many challenges was eventually brought down from within, by his own family.

But in a brief conversation with George before the start of Sunday's race, he looked like a man who had the weight of the world removed from his shoulders. He was relaxed, smiled, seemed comfortable in his own skin and was relieved that the heavy lifting is now up to others.

He talked about fireworks shows and the beautiful weather on Sunday.

Now, the tough tasks go to Jeffrey Belskus, who becomes the new president and CEO of IMS, and Curtis Brighton, the president and CEO of Hulman and Company.

Both are longtime members of the executive level of management in the corporate division and have been heavily involved in many of the major decisions that shaped and formed the IndyCar Series. They are expected to steer the course that was charted by George.

Belskus is in Toronto to meet with IndyCar Series team owners, sponsors and drivers to assure them that the company is fully committed to the growth of the IndyCar Series. Although Belskus is not prepared to do a sit-down interview, he told me he believes in the product and understands the value of the series to the success of the Indianapolis 500 -- the biggest race in the world which and biggest money-maker of the three races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Belskus has been a high-ranking employee of the corporation for over 25 years and was the chief operating officer at IMS Corporation from 1997-2000. Since that time, he has been the chief financial officer.

It's safe to say George's imprint will forever be a part of the organization. He remains a "substantial owner" of the company along with his mother and sisters.

It was Tony George's vision that guided him through one of the most difficult periods in the sport's history. While his critics in CART accused him of having "fatal vision" he endured, undaunted.

While George's vision for the sport included having IndyCar racing and the Indianapolis 500 under the same corporate umbrella -- an accomplishment that should not be overlooked -- he didn't see trouble brewing within in the family.

So the man who created the IndyCar Series is now just a mere participant, yielding control of the sport that he had fought so long to have.

"We still need to figure out who is going to pay the bills," Cindric said. "IndyCar hasn't had a series sponsor since Northern Light in 2001 and we need a series sponsor to move this sport forward.

"But because of the support and commitment of the owners, IndyCar racing will move on."

Except now, it moves on without George as its leader.