18 Facts About Tony George

Tony George was formerly on the Board of Directors of both entities.

Tony George founded the Indy Racing League and co-owned Vision Racing.

Tony George became president and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation after the death of Joe Cloutier in 1989.

Tony George changed that with the announcement that a NASCAR race would be held at the Speedway.

Later, Tony George helped bring Formula One back to the US with the United States Grand Prix held at the Speedway in 2000.

Tony George had spent hundreds of millions of dollars on IRL teams, drivers, entry fees, marketing plans, airplanes, personnel and his own team.

In January 2010, Tony George resigned from the board of directors.

Shortly after being removed from the CART Board of Directors, Tony George announced the creation of the Indy Racing League, which began racing in 1996.

Tony George claimed to create the IRL to challenge the already established CART series, and to encourage a more even playing field in open wheel racing.

Tony George claimed he wanted a series to run entirely on oval tracks, making it distinct from CART, which raced on road and street courses in addition to short ovals and superspeedways.

Tony George angered many CART participants by requiring 25 of the 33 spots in the Indianapolis 500 to be occupied by drivers in the IRL circuit.

Tony George became a figure of derision among some racing fans, and he is blamed for open wheel racing losing fans, sponsors and drivers to NASCAR.

Tony George was successful in increasing the visibility of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Tony George attracted NASCAR and Formula One to Indianapolis.

Tony George made a bid for certain assets of the company, while a trio of CART owners, along with Dan Pettit, made a bid, calling their group the Open Wheel Racing Series.

Tony George's offer was to purchase only select company assets, in an effort to eliminate any series that would rival his Indy Racing League.

However, if Tony George's bid had been successful, many vendors that were still owed money by CART would have not been paid.

In 2005, Tony George stepped down from his operational duties in the IRL to start his own team, Vision Racing, with his wife Laura Tony George and actor Patrick Dempsey.