Tony George, the man who for better or worse holds all the cards in Indy car racing, finds himself and his Indy Racing League at a crossroads.
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George’s control over the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, his power base and money stream, could end.
The sisters want Tony to take his toy (the IRL) and do whatever he wants with it, but leave the speedway out of it.
Therein lies the problem. The IRL never has made money. Not even close.
And will all this force the family to consider selling the speedway? What is it worth?
The old Brickyard, which seats 257,000 people, isn’t going to fade into a dusty relic. One Speedway Motorsports Inc. official said, “The bidding would start at $1.5 billion.”
The hard numbers are difficult to attain, but conservative estimates have IMS earning between $80 million and $100 million a year in profit off the Indy 500 and the Allstate 400 NASCAR race.
The biggest asset is Danica Patrick. But will she stay if NASCAR comes calling with a pot of cash? The league’s hope for financial stability could rest on her decision.
So this is make-or-break time for the IRL. And it’s up to Tony George, the man who always believed it was the right thing to do.
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