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 | |  | | Tony George talks IRL on Thursday. |
Welcome to ESPN.com's moderated chat room. On Thursday, Indy Racing League founder, Tony George, hits chat to talk racing. Anton Hulman "Tony" George, 40, is president and chief executive officer of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation (IMSC), home since 1911 to the largest single-day sporting event in the world, the Indianapolis 500, and leads the Indy Racing League in his role as IMSC chief executive.
George represents the third generation of IMSC ownership for the Hulman family of Terre Haute, Ind. Anton "Tony" Hulman, the grandfather for whom George is named, purchased IMSC from the family of famed World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker in 1945. Hulman's daughter, Mari Hulman George, serves as IMSC's chairman of the board. Tony George was appointed IMSC president in 1989.
George founded the Indy Racing League in 1994 to preserve the traditions and excitement of America's open-wheel oval racing.
If you missed George's Oct. 18 chat, a full transcript follows:
For a list of upcoming ESPN.com chat guests, visit the Community section.
Moderator: (2:02 PM ET ) We're here with Tony George.
 Tony George: (2:04 PM ET ) It's my pleasure to be with you all today. It's been an exciting 2001 IRL season. I look forward to answering whatever questions you all might have.
Danny (Montreal): How many hours of TV programming does IRL have for 2002? Will I be able to see all the races live?
Tony George: (2:06 PM ET ) All of our races will be aired live on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 -- as well as IRL qualifying, which will be aired live and on tape. In addition, there will most likely be shoulder programming with shows such as IRL2Day and Road to Indy -- and RPM2Night will be live from the Speedway through the month of May.
dream69: Is Team Penske coming to the IRL for the full schedule? And, who is the fourth engine manufacturer, if there is one?
Tony George: (2:08 PM ET ) That would be upto Roger Penske to announce, and not me, certainly, if and when he decides to do -- he and his sponsor would make that announcement at the appropriate time, if it were the case.
I don't have any confirmation at this point that there is a fourth engine manufacturer, but I understand that there is interest from at least two others for entry into the IRL in 2003.
Brad (Indy): Do you have a vision of re-creating an "IRL Triple Crown" of three 500-mile races? Do you feel that is necessary to establish in the future? Indy, Michigan, and California.
Tony George: (2:10 PM ET ) Certainly, we have the opportunity to do that now with the superspeedways we have on the schedule. There has been interest on the part of the league and the race tracks. Some sponsors have expressed interest. It is likely that we'll try to create some type of Triple Crown.
Chris (Navarre, OH): I enjoy the IRL races, but I'll be honest and say I prefer CART because of its diverse tracks and strength of its teams and drivers. Now that CART has adopted the IRL engine specs and clearly crossed the biggest hurdle to any thought of a reunification, what would it take for you to agree to merge the two series and to run a few road courses and street circuits. Please disregard technical issues such as CART being a public corporation, etc. Each of series needs each other more than you may think.
Tony George: (2:15 PM ET ) Chris -- I certainly understand everyone has their preferences. We feel for an all-oval series, we have a very diverse oval series, ranging from 3/4 mile at Richmond to 2.5 miles at Indy. We have a very interesting range of tracks that provide excitement. All on an oval that spectators can view from any seat in the house. We're very happy to have such diverse tracks on the schedule.
With regard to our competitors, clearly we have a growing group of car owners from various backgrounds, some of which are coming from CART to join our series. We feel like the IRL is well positioned to capitalize on the momentum we've built the last few years. We have every intention of continuing the IRL as it exists today and sticking with the IRL vision.
Joe INDY: What is about Indy cars racing on road courses that you don't like -- even NASCAR runs on them?
Tony George: (2:18 PM ET ) I don't dislike road courses personally. I enjoy racing on them as a driver. But the IRL is fortunate enough to have plenty of permanent oval facilities in major markets that are geographically diverse that allow us to run a competitive oval series, which helps us achieve our goals of cost containment and good, close competition. It's one of the keys. I don't feel that we necessarily need to run on road courses to have a successful series. Having said that, there are plently of great road courses around the country and need profitable events. Hopefully there are enough road racing leagues to supply them with such an event. They don't need the IRL to do that.
Julie (Indy): Will there be a new title sponser now that Northern Light won't be the title sponser? If so, when is the announcement? Congrats on a great 2001. I attended a record number of five races and I'm going to all but three next year.
Tony George: (2:20 PM ET ) We are currently in discussions with a couple of potential series title sponsors. Nothing is ready to be announced. It is my hope that the time will soon be upon us that we can announce that, but it's not anything I can confirm today.
I really appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you at even more events next year.
NYR2119935: Some years ago the IRL announced a deal to race in Cleveland, what ever happened to that deal?
Tony George: (2:22 PM ET ) I guess Mayor White and IMG decided that they didn't want the IRL after all.
Bryan (Florence,KY): The IRL has continued growth in the number of events each year. Just how many events do you hope to someday reach?
Tony George: (2:25 PM ET ) Ideally, I believe 17 is a good number. We're at 15 -- we have a couple of opportunities that will most likely come our way in the next couple of years, which would put us at 17. Most sponsors and teams feel that is a good number as we try to condence our schedule from March to September -- possibly into October. That's a reasonable number ... and still have a quality of life.
Moderator: (2:25 PM ET ) Many have asked which markets you are looking to expand to.
Tony George: (2:26 PM ET ) No, I don't know which markets -- I don't think it would be appropriate to say, anyway.
Brian In Nazareth: First, what is the IRL doing in general to help advance fan safety in the stands at events, and second, how will you promote new venues such as Nazareth to attempt to get a large turnout, compared to previous years events at the track?
Tony George: (2:31 PM ET ) We have for the last few years been deveolping the SWEMS system which basically teathers wheels, suspension, gear boxes and the main rear wing to the chassis itself. Our data shows that we have been very successful in containing and reducing the velocity of those major components when that come off the car. Our 2003 car will have even further enhancements to the SWEMS system.
With regard to Nazareth, as with all of our tracks, we have developed a very good relationship with our promotors, and we will work with them in advertising and promotion to make one plus one equal five! We go into a market with a consistent message. We work with our promoters agencies to place media. We have a consistent message from both the league and promoter. We also go in advance with an infomercial which really tells the IRL story. It runs several weeks in advance. It's a 28-minute format. It really gets people excited.
We have an established show car program (Indy on the Road) which goes in advance and spends a fair amount of time to help generate an interest and a call to action.
Mike (Indy): Year after year, there is speculation the IRL is lacking in sponsorship (both for the series and individual teams). Yet, year after year, the series continues to exist and runs some pretty good races. What has the current economic conditions done to the outlook of the series next year?
Tony George: (2:35 PM ET ) As strange as it might sound, it's helped. I think that we have tried to position ourselves as a great value to the car owners, the race tracks, the promoters and the car sponsors.
Further, we have a business plan that has proven effective. We are out telling our story to prospective sponsors. We have several great announcements coming in the next two to four weeks that will reinforce why the IRL will be successful both in the short term and the long term.
There will be some major sponsorships of teams announced; some commitments to the IRL itself, on top of the recent commitetment from ABC/ESPN to get behind and help grow the IRL. Our promoters are all excited, without exception -- they are all anxiously awaiting the start of the 2002 season. We have a great story to tell -- we've been telling it and it's starting to pay off.
Tony George: (2:36 PM ET ) Again, I want to thank ESPN.com for the opportunity to be in chat this afternoon and I look forward to seeing everyone at the races. | |
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