The Rise and Fall of Tony George

In 1989, you could argue that Tony George was the most powerful person in Motorsports. The new Chairman of the Board with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the then 29-year-old was given full control over his family’s castle, which hosted the most famous race in the world (the Indianapolis 500), and would host NASCAR and Formula 1 in the coming year.

Twenty years later, the grandson of Tony Hulman is nothing more than a struggling car owner, unable to find funding for his fledgling team.

What went wrong? It’s easy to say the IRL brought his downfall, both with the Speedway and with the general public, but it goes much deeper.

Tony George quickly recognized a big problem with CART in the 1990’s: it was fully operated by its owners, who were frequently unable to see passed their own personal goals to help the series. While the on-track product was the best it ever was, the “behind-the-scenes” stuff we didn’t see was a bit of a mess, with CART’s leadership coming and going more than tires during a pitstop. A decreasing presence of ovals, domination by a handful of wealthy teams, sky rocketing costs, and a somewhat broken ladder system also proved to be crucial elements in this saga.

With that in mind, Tony George decided to take matters into his own hands. He first attempted to buy CART in 1991, an attempt that failed miserably (the team owners reportedly laughed at his proposal). Not long after, he resigned from CART’s Board of Directors, and announced the formation of the Indy Racing League in 1994, directly competing with CART.

He has garnered much of the blame since that fateful decision, but it’s important to understand that he may not be as culpable many would like to think. As previously mentioned, he identified major issues within CART that the outside world wasn’t seeing, and didn’t see until long after “The Split” had started. Quite frankly, he was forced into his decision, especially since CART didn’t seem to listen to any of his concerns about the series.

Almost arrogantly, CART never took the IRL seriously, allowing the series to stay alive when there was ample opportunity to thwart it. We all remember the “25/8” rule, and CART’s resultant U.S. 500 to contest against the Indy 500. But, had CART decided to send around 10 of their drivers to Indianapolis to contest “the IRL’s race,” the situation, and history, might have been drastically altered. I imagine that, had such a scenario played out, the CART team’s would have dominated the race, leaving the IRL in a wake of uncertainty, as it would have shown the IRL to be inferior and end any momentum it would have had.

However, no such thing happened, and the CART/IRL war continued on, with Tony George in the title role of scapegoat.

While it's easier to vilify the man, one would be remiss not to point out the good that George has brought to Indianapolis, and the motorsport world as a whole. He helped bring NASCAR to the 2.5 mile oval, a great success for both the track and the Sprint Cup Series. He brought Formula 1 back to the United States, and Indianapolis remains the only American track capable of fielding a Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Let us not forget he also helped fund the SAFER barrier project, possibly the greatest safety innovation that racing has seen, second only to the HANS device. And, yet despite all the good, his lasting legacy will be the CART/IRL Split.

His resignation from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Board will likely have little affect on the Izod IndyCar Series, given that he was already removed as its Chairman last June.

It also appears that the current board (which is comprised of George’s sisters, Cathi George Conforti, Josie George and Nancy George, understands the necessity to keep Indianapolis Motor Speedway aligned with the Izod IndyCar Series, and vice versa, seemingly spoiling rumors about the track being for sale.

What remains unknown, though, is the status of Vision Racing. Operations have been suspended, but could easily resume if and when funding is secure. It's hard to fathom that Tony George and Vision Racing will miss the Indy 500; and with months to go prior to the big race, fielding a car for that race remains a strong possibility.

For now, however, Vision Racing will not compete a full season in 2010. Ironic that Tony George has gone from one of the most powerful people in the world of motorsports to the owner of an underfunded team that may not see the opening round of the upcoming season in the series he created.