INDIANAPOLIS — The shock was felt through all forms of racing when the news broke on Nov. 4.
It was news that, in reality, many of us thought we would never hear.
After 74 years of ownership of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and stewardship of the Indianapolis 500, the Hulman-George family was selling Hulman & Co. to 82-year-old Roger Penske’s Penske Corp.
Included in the sale were IndyCar and IMS Productions.
Selling the speedway was never going to happen as long as Mari Hulman George was alive.
The only daughter of Tony Hulman, the man who saved Indianapolis Motor Speedway from becoming a housing development when he purchased it on Nov. 14, 1945, was determined to keep it in the family.
Many believed that generation after generation of the Hulman-George family would find a way to preserve the facility and continue to foster the Indianapolis 500.
Mari Hulman George died on Nov. 3, 2018. One year and one day later, her family announced the sale to Penske.
Tony George, Mari’s eldest, along with her daughters Nancy, Josie and Kathy, realized that in order for the Indy 500 to continue to prosper, it was time to pass the stewardship of the race on to someone who cared about it deeply.
There were other interested parties, including late interest from Liberty Media, which owns Formula One, along with some New York investment companies. Those groups likely offered more money to purchase the assets, but George did not feel comfortable selling it to an unfamiliar group.
He wanted to ensure the Indianapolis 500 continues well into the future, and wants IndyCar to grow to the next level.
That is why he approached Penske to discuss “stewardship” of the speedway and IndyCar.
Emails were exchanged and from that moment forward, secrecy was the key. According to Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles, meetings were held with Penske in Detroit early on Saturday mornings and late on Sunday nights.
Penske’s offices were closed during those hours and it was a great time to meet without being seen.
Only four individuals on each side were involved in the negotiations. Key figures such as Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles didn’t know about the negotiations because Miles did not want the word to get out.
The same could be said for Penske, who in 1993 and 1994 pulled off one of the greatest top-secret projects in racing history with the development of the famed 209 cubic-inch Mercedes Benz pushrod engine that provided Penske’s Indy 500 team with the ultimate advantage in that year’s race.
Thirty-six hours before the announcement, Miles and Penske shared the news with key members of the IndyCar staff on the stipulation that it remain confidential.
At 8 a.m. on Monday morning, Nov. 4, came the announcement of the sale. Three hours later, Miles, Penske and George held a press conference to discuss the sale.
There are many who blame the 1996 split between factions of the Indy car world on Tony George. There were others to blame for CART’s decision to boycott the Indianapolis 500 beginning in 1996. Even Penske said it was one of his “poorer decisions” in racing to stay away from Indy from 1996 to 2000.
CART was on a roll at that time with multiple engine, chassis and tire suppliers, and with some of the top companies in the United States sponsoring the teams. But with a business model that required millions of dollars to keep operating, there was no guarantee that would have continued.
George brokered the speedway in order to build the Indy Racing League and the vocal critics continue to paint him as the “man who ruined the sport.”
But in many ways, the Hulman-George family should get credit for saving the sport.
If Tony Hulman had not purchased IMS from Eddie Rickenbacker in 1945, it would have been the end of the Indianapolis 500.
Without an Indy 500, auto racing would be an outlaw sport without a pinnacle. Even NASCAR was founded by Bill France because he was inspired by the size and magnitude of the Indianapolis 500.
George negotiated an end to the split with Kevin Kalkhoven and created a unified IndyCar Series in February of 2008.
And during 74 years of stewardship by the Hulman-George family, the Indianapolis 500 remained one of the world’s greatest sporting events.
“We all love it and we all care deeply for it,” George said. “I think we all realize that as a family and as an organization, we probably had taken it as far as we can.”
That is why passing the torch of stewardship is an important one and why Penske was the perfect choice.
“I’ve got a big commitment here to take over as the steward of this great organization and what’s been done here in the past for so many decades,” Penske said. “It’s my commitment to the Hulman family. The fact that you would select us for the opportunity to take on this investment, it’s amazing.”
It’s the beginning of a new era for the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar, but we must never forget the contributions of the Hulman-George family.