The Indianapolis Motor Speedway and The IndyCar Series has a new owner.
It's official, The Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar Series is under new ownership.
Roger Penske bought the speedway form the Hulman-George family and the announcement was made on Monday.
Mr. Penske is a Cleveland Native who fell in love with racing at the age of 14. His father Jay, scored two tickets to the 1951 "500" mile race and instantly Penske was hooked.
The Hulman-George family was looking for a buyer for the speedway since Mari Hulman-George passed away in December of last year. Tony George approached Penske about buying the speedway and the IndyCar Series at Fontana California at the final race of the season.
" We as a family agreed we all needed to have a conversation with Roger Penske." Tony George Said to reporters.
Penske is a billionaire and has his own entertainment company, and has a moving company to go with it. In a press statement the Hulman-George family said, "we have found the ideal steward of the company and its iconic assets."
The Penske organization employs 64,000 plus employees and with more than $32 Billion in consolidated revenue.
The Hulman-George people were glad to see Penske buy the speedway and the series. Go back to the Month of May, the family sold their bakery company, Caliber Girl, to B&G foods for $80 Billion so the Hulman family is losing interest in the businesses they had long ago.
Now as far as the speedway and the IndyCar series goes, the reaction from rival owners was immediate happiness.
Chip Ganassi, he said " The place is going to run like a business now."
Bobby Rahal, he called Penske the "Perfect Custodian"
Michael Andretti, he called the deal " positive news.
Here's my take..
This is the best thing to ever happen to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar Series. Penske practically owns the place if you stop and think about it. He does 19 Indianapolis 500 wins the most by any team owner. He has a couple of Brickyard 400 wins to go with it.
So Penske now officially owns the speedway, and this is the best news I've heard in racing all year. Earlier this year Penske was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Trump, and yes that award was well earned by Penske.
Let's go back to 1945 just after the end of World War II, Tony Hulman Bought the speedway form Eddie Rickenbacker and Hulman saved the speedway from ruin and brought back the "500" in 1946. Tony Died in the fall of 1977 and his widow became the chairman of the broad. Mary Hulman died in 1996 and the Hulman's Daughter Mari Hulman-George became Chairman until her passing last December.
The Hulman Family was not active in racing so this deal with Penske buying the speedway may have saved the speedway form ruin again.
Let's face it, the attendance at the Indianapolis 500 was fantastic as usual. However the attendance at the Brickyard 400 was not good at all.
Roger Penske is a risk taker and he's not scared to try anything new. Penske has an old saying, " High Risk, High Reward."
This deal is an excellent deal in my opinion and maybe we can go back to the days of old at Indianapolis.
Bottom Line..
