Moderator: Thank you for joining us this afternoon. My name is Ron Green, and I’m the director of public relations here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Joining us this afternoon is Indianapolis Motor Speedway President and COO Joie Chitwood and Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation CEO and new president Jeff Belskus. Gentleman, thanks for joining us today. It’s a bittersweet day here at the Speedway. First, we are losing a very good leader, senior member of management, in Joie Chitwood’s resignation yesterday. But also it’s a relief for many of us who don’t have to listen to the successes of Urban Meyer and the University of Florida football team, which we do get tired of listening to every fall. No, seriously, we are here to discuss Joie’s announcement yesterday of his resignation and heading back to his home state of Florida. We’re also here to introduce Jeff Belskus to the media. He was recently named to his new position. He has been a frequent interview request by the media, but because of scheduling, we haven’t been able to offer that, so we’re also taking advantage of this day to offer Jeff up to the media, as well. Let’s talk a little bit about Jeff real fast before we get started. Jeff joined the company in 1987. He has served in various capacities. He has been the treasurer, the CFO, most recently executive vice president and CFO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation. He is an Indiana State graduate with honors. Most recently he received and honorary doctorate degree from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute. We’re going to start with Jeff today as he has a few comments to make, and then we’ll turn to Joie.
Jeff Belskus: Well thanks for the introduction, Ron. I’m glad for the opportunity to talk with you today, and I’m looking forward to getting to know you more as I settle into my role as CEO. I appreciate the confidence that the board of directors has placed in me. Most of my working career has been here at the Speedway, and it’s where I plan to spend my career. I want to congratulate Joie on the fine job that he has done and wish him well. I’ve worked with Joie in one capacity or another since 1996, and I certainly appreciate the contributions he has made and the leadership he has shown.
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I want to assure you that we have a strong leadership team in place with many years of experience. I was walking around the building today, and I think we have an average of 15 or more years of experience for our leadership team. We have many challenges, but we also have many, many opportunities. I’m quite excited about the future. I’m proud to be in charge of the greatest racetrack in the world. It’s an important part of this city, this state, this nation. We have three great events here, and our future is bright.
The challenges, the economic situation is challenging for all of us, but we’re better positioned than most to deal with it. A good case in point is this past running of the Indianapolis 500 was a very strong performance. The Allstate 400 at the Brickyard and the MotoGP are looking better than we thought they might a few months ago, and things are continuing to improve for us. I’m pleased to be here today, and I’m excited about the future. With that, I’ll turn it back to Ron.
Moderator: Before we turn it over to Joie, I’ve been with the company now just about 11 years, and Jeff is very much a behind-the-scenes individual. But I can truly say that he has been a presence in just about every major decision that I have been a part of, and we have great confidence in his leadership. I’m looking forward to working with him. Joie, let’s turn it over to you for a couple of comments.
Joie Chitwood: Thanks, Ron, thank you, Jeff, for those kind words. I appreciate it. It’s a challenge sitting here today to talk about resigning. When I think back to all the great experiences here, whether it was creating Walt Disney World Speedway and carrying TV’s up the grandstands to put in Race Control or creating a sanctioning body after USAC departed after the Texas race and we had to come up with a rules package by the Colorado race, going up to Chicago and working for a partnership between ISC and IMS and to build Chicagoland Speedway, to come back to the Speedway 6½ years ago as a senior VP and then be promoted to president, it’s been a heck of a ride. There’s been a lot of challenges along the way. Formula One seemed to provide most of those challenges. But it’s been a very rich and fulfilling experience—one that I will cherish and remember for as long as I live. I told Jeff as we got through this process and talked about the transition, there’s great history out there for me personally. My grandfather raced her and finished fifth three times. He’s credited as being the first man to wear a seatbelt in the Indy 500. I’ve got to play an important role in some of the great things we’ve done here at the Speedway, and I hope to come back with my son and my grandson and my family and share those experiences with them. So it is a bit of a challenge leaving that, but I leave with great memories and I’m proud of what the team has really done. I will tell you that standing in pit lane last year as the motorcycles roared down the racetrack was just a great way to encapsulize everything we’ve done. To think about an event, to create that whole activity around it and to see it come to fruition was pretty special so with that, I will tell you that to go back to Florida for my family and I is a big deal. I was born and raised there. My wife and I both attended the University of Florida. Both sets of relatives are there. The chance to be closer to them is really important at this stage of our lives, and I think life is about a journey. This is what it is. For me, it’s the next opportunity, and I look forward to the challenge it’s going to present. But I will tell you that I am well-prepared for it. The things that we did here, I don’t think there’s anything that I’ll be surprised with, and I’m looking forward to what that next set of challenges will be.
Moderator: Thank you Joie. Also, just a reminder of why we’re here today. We’re really focusing on the Speedway and the leadership of the near future of the Speedway and Joie’s departure. This is not a state-of-the-company address by Jeff. So feel free to ask anything you wish, but he might not yet be prepared to answer certain questions on certain departments of the company.
Q: Jeff, what is your grand vision for the Speedway and the Indianapolis 500?
Belskus: The Speedway has a proud history and tradition and is the finest racetrack in the world, the greatest racetrack in the world, and I hope we can continue that and continue to build our events. The Allstate 400 at the Brickyard is this week and should be another great race for us. Knock on wood, I think NASCAR and Goodyear have their tire issues worked out. Hopefully, we can meet and exceed our fans’ expectations with that event and all of our events here.
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Moderator: Joie, do you want to elaborate on this weekend’s race? I know you worked very closely with NASCAR and Goodyear.
Chitwood: I think I still hear NACAR cars testing. We tested so many times this year, and I was privy to each and every one. In fact, Mike Helton and Robin Pemberton were here for one of the last tests, and with a green racetrack they went out and ran 26 to 30 laps on a set of tires. So we feel really comfortable that they put the right effort in to the tire situation and that our fans will enjoy the competition. That’s the goal. I have to applaud their effort because they realized that last year’s event didn’t meet anyone’s expectations. So, if weather cooperates, I expect that we’ll do fine this weekend.
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