Roger Penske’s resources will only take this to another level.” We all realize that as a family and organization we had probably taken it as far as we can. “I simply said I’d like to meet with him and talk about stewardship and he got a very serious look on his face,” said George, who several times choked back tears discussing his family’s legacy. “We as a family agreed we all needed to have a conversation with Roger Penske,” George said. George wished Penske luck in the championship battle, then asked “The Captain” if they could have a conversation about the speedway. The deal was done in roughly six weeks and began when Tony George, grandson of Tony Hulman, approached Penske before the season-ending race in California in September. It can spill over into things like hospitality and then they can use that to schmooze people and businesses and bring more sponsors into the sport. That’s where Roger can help, is essential to the sport. “What people don’t realize is how much it is on the business to business side. “Ind圜ar has had a good few years but motorsports still has this challenge going forward,” said Andrew Baker, director of motorsports studies at IUPUI in Indianapolis, whose campus is just a few miles from the speedway. The speedway itself spun off multiple subsidiaries, including the Ind圜ar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway Productions, which are also being acquired by Penske Entertainment, a subsidiary of Penske Corp., which is owned by the billionaire.Įxperts were unsure how to value the deal and Penske quipped to AP: “I haven’t paid anything yet.” But the sale was a bombshell in a industry that has struggled with declining attendance and interest over the past decade. The speedway with its famous pagoda tower, Gasoline Alley garage area and massive grandstands was a dilapidated mess in 1945 when Tony Hulman bought it and brought racing back to the corner of 16th Street and Georgetown Avenue after a four-year absence following World War II. The sprawling, 110-year-old speedway and its famed, 2 1/2 -mile oval track is one of the most famous venues in sports and crowds for its showcase race every May, the first one dating to 1911, used to swell to more than 400,000 people. Longtime residents of town of Speedway react to IMS sale.“I hope myĭad is looking down at me and this group and saying ‘Son, you did a good The Hulman family for 74 years in one of the biggest transactions in theīlood,” Penske recalled about that day with his father, Jay. will take over all those entities owned by Its properties in a stunning deal announced Monday. Grounds, “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” the Ind圜ar Series and all Now he owns the iconic speedway, its hallowed They made the trek from Cleveland, and when Penske saw the cars zipping around Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 200 mph he fell instantly in love. (AP) - Roger Penske was a car-loving, 14-year-old who regularly listened to the Indianapolis 500 on the radio when his father landed tickets to the 1951 race.
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