George falls off IndyCar radar

(by Terry Blount espn.go.com 1-28-10)

Tony George is out. Completely out. The man who forever transformed Indy car racing, good or bad, is out of the sport.

In less than seven months, George went from the most powerful man in American open-wheel racing to just another guy on the street.

Racing royalty to serfdom in the blink of an eye.

Vision Racing, George's IndyCar Series team, shut its doors Thursday, suspending operations due to a lack of sponsorship.

The team was all he had left.

Some Indy car fans, still angry over the long open-wheel feud between two separate leagues, will gloat today at George's downfall, believing he got what was coming to him.

John Barnes, co-owner of the Panther Racing IndyCar team, is not among them.

"Anyone who feels that way, I feel sorry for them," Barnes said Thursday. "I think Tony is a true visionary with the things he's done at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Without him, that place would be a shopping center by now."

Not everyone agrees, including Indy car legend Mario Andretti.

"Tony's legacy is not a very good one from my standpoint," Andretti said Thursday. "His grandfather, Tony Hulman, did more for open-wheel racing than any other individual. Tony George did more to destroy it than any other individual.

"That's the only way you can put it. It is diminished today because he started the IRL."

Just last week, George resigned his position on the board of directors that oversees IMS and the family business, Hulman & Co.

But his power was lost last June when the board ousted him as CEO of the speedway in an ugly family feud that pitted George and his mother, Mary Hulman, against his sisters.

George resigned from his position as president of the Indy Racing League, which he founded in 1994.

The irony of all this is George finally got what he wanted two years ago when the IRL merged with Champ Car, what little was left of it, anyway.

But it was too late. Too late to bring Indy car racing back to its past glory and too late to save George from his family's wrath. His days of spending the family fortune were over.

Some reports estimate George spent more than $500 million to keep the IRL going through the split, but some of that money was spent on dramatic improvements at IMS to bring Formula One to the Brickyard. F1 left after the 2007 race at Indy.

George also was instrumental in bringing NASCAR to IMS, a huge success for the speedway and NASCAR. But Barnes sees a far more important contribution that George helped facilitate.

"Every driver who races today at a superspeedway should say a prayer for [George]," Barnes said. "He saved their lives with the SAFER wall and all the safety advancements of the last 10 years, and he spent a lot of his own money to do it.

"No one talks about that. I've been in racing for 42 years. No one before him ever came close to making the difference he has made."

Maybe over time, more people will recognize George for those accomplishments. But the sad truth remains that many people view him as the man who ruined Indy car racing by feuding with CART (the original name of Champ Car) and causing a split of two competing leagues that lasted 13 years.

There was plenty of blame to go around for open-wheel's war, including CART team owners who steadfastly refused to make needed changes.

So George took a bold step in forming a new league. The stated goals were more oval-track racing, more American drivers and reduced costs to the competitors.

But both leagues struggled while competing for the same fan base. And George continued to spend piles of money over the years to help fund the league and crush Champ Car.

It's a war he eventually won when the leagues merged before the 2008 season. However, winning didn't mean much by then, and his siblings fought to take control of the speedway and the league.

But George still had his team, until Thursday. Vision Racing was his pride and joy, with his stepson, Ed Carpenter, as the driver.

"I feel bad for Tony and bad for Ed," said Indy car legend A.J. Foyt, an IRL team owner. "Ed was really coming on last year to contend for winning races."

Foyt, the first man to win the Indy 500 four times, has been loyal to George from the beginning. Foyt was George's anchor when most of the major team owners stayed with CART.

"I feel awful about this," Foyt said Thursday. "I've been a friend of the entire [Hulman/George] family for a long time, but I always stayed out of their business because I want to remain friends with all of them.

"Tony's idea for the league was a good one. He did a lot of really good things, but at the end, I think he was getting some bad advice on how to run things."

Another irony is how today's IndyCar Series is strikingly similar to the CART series of the 1990s. IndyCar today races on a variety of tracks -- ovals, road courses and street events -- it races internationally (at Brazil and Japan) and it has fewer American drivers than foreign competitors.

Despite the turmoil of the moment -- George's team shutting down and the IMS board looking for a new IRL president -- Andretti believes the future is bright. That's important to Andretti, who says he "still has skin in the game" with son Michael (a team owner) and grandson Marco (a driver).

"The series is stable," Andretti said. "There are a lot of positive things to look forward to. It's much brighter today than it was two years ago when we still had two series. What happened, happened. Now it's time to move on."

Even after all these years, fans of the sport and people involved in open-wheel racing draw a line in the sand when it comes to George.

Andretti sees him as the villain. Barnes sees him as a hero.

"Everyone who races in this league owes Tony a lot," Barnes said. "I know I do. I owe him everything I've got."

Matt Connolly Motorsports Porsche GT3

Preparing for the 2010 season and the Rolex 24. (I'm diggin' the paint job.)

George resigns from boards

(by John Oreovicz espn.go.com 1-19-10)

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indy Racing League founder Tony George has resigned, effective immediately, from his board of director responsibilities at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Hulman & Company, the Indiana-based family business founded in 1850.

George, 50, had served as President and CEO of Hulman & Co. and its affiliates, including Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corp. and the IRL, from 1989 until he was effectively forced out in June 2009. Since then, he remained a board member of Hulman & Co. and IMS, though he resigned his position last year from management of the IRL.

"As members of his family, we are sorry to see Tony leave," Hulman & Co. chairman Mari Hulman George, Tony's mother, said in a statement. "We are grateful for his service to our company as a board member and of course for formerly serving as CEO and president of our companies. I speak for our whole family in wishing him well. All of us had hoped that Tony would continue to serve on the board, and we made that clear to him. We are disappointed with his decision to step down despite our wishes."

Tony George polarized the racing community with his decision to use the Indianapolis 500 as the centerpiece of the IRL, which he formed in 1994 as an alternative to the CART IndyCar World Series. When the IRL began staging races in 1996, it instigated a 13-year battle with CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) and later the Champ Car World Series for control of the sport generically known as Indy car racing. In that time span, Indy car racing lost fans, sponsors, manufacturers, teams and drivers, with many of those constituents transferring their allegiance to NASCAR.

The open-wheel war finally ended in early 2008 when the IRL absorbed the assets of Champ Car, but only after George spent hundreds of millions of dollars of the Hulman family fortune on starting and sustaining the IRL. In June 2009, the Hulman & Co. board, which includes Mari Hulman George, as well as Tony George's sisters Nancy, Josie and Kathi plus attorney Jack Snyder, voted to remove Tony from his role as chairman.

"Our company is healthy and is weathering the economic recession well," noted Mrs. Hulman-George. "Jeff Belskus, president and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Curt Brighton, president and CEO of Hulman & Company, are both doing excellent jobs in guiding our companies through this difficult time. Many hard decisions have been made, and now our companies are well positioned for the future."

Tony George is expected to remain involved in the Indy car arena as the owner of Vision Racing, which has fielded cars in the IndyCar Series since 2005 for his stepson, Ed Carpenter.

George was not immediately available for comment.

(a power struggle looming within IndyCar?)

(by Robin Miller speedtv.com 1-12-10)

Indianapolis, IN Collectively, racers are a doubting breed, always skeptical of something new and usually wary to try it. It’s always been that way, whether it’s a car, engine, driver or rules change.

The Panoz DP01 was considered a possible series killer prior to the first race, but it actually brought the smaller teams closer to the front. Some of the panic about Delta Wing's newly proposed IndyCar design reek of the same fear.

The proposed Delta Wing concept Indy car for 2012, which will be displayed to the public for the first time at an upcoming auto show, has enthused most of the 50 or so people who have seen the model and listened to designer Ben Bowlby’s presentation.

However, some doubters claim it will be unstable or not even turn the corners, while the car owners behind the project love its space-aged shape and are convinced it will be much racier compared to today’s aero sensitive cars.

The naysayers scoff at 325 horsepower and a chassis that’s going to weigh significantly less than a sprint car while the Delta Wing LLC. group is jazzed about the in-line 4 turbo engine’s sound, mileage and identity with the American car manufacturer.

An open wheel purist will likely have difficulty embracing the radical look at first but that was the same reaction the roadster devotees felt when the rear-engine revolution broke out.

But, the bottom line is that IndyCar is long overdue for a makeover because running the same car for seven seasons has made things boring, predictable and did I mention boring?

That ugly old Dallara has sucked the life out of a Gasoline Alley that once enjoyed cutting edge technology and embraced free thinking.

What Brian Barnhart & Company can’t seem to grasp is that the different cars and engines were always as big a part of the attraction to Indianapolis as the drivers.

We idolized Jim Hurtubise, Jim Clark and Parnelli Jones and we paid even more attention when they were in the Novi, the Lotus and the turbine. Roger Penske tried three chassis in 1995 and still couldn’t make the show a year after dominating Indy and there’s never been a bigger crowd on Bump Day.

Open wheel racing, even in the late ‘90s in CART, boasted five chassis and four engine manufacturers, which created interest, competition and a cash flow that hasn’t been seen since.

Nobody is saying that a new car/engine package is immediately going to add 25,000 spectators to the ISC ovals or manufacturers are going to start throwing money at IndyCar teams.

But what if an American-built car only cost half of what owners have to shell out today? What if the car was assembled in Indianapolis from components built over here instead of paying the outrageous exchange rate to get parts from Italy? What if the rules were written so that local race car builders like Joe Devin and Danny Drinan could come compete at Indy with their own ideas and not have it cost them $1 million for one month?

What if the trailing car suffered no aerodynamic disadvantage going into a corner?

What if Lola, Swift and Panoz are enticed to come back?

What if the engine cost a tenth of what a lease is today? What if it got such great mileage that rebuilds were 5,000 miles apart? What if the smaller, more efficient engine platform suddenly got Detroit’s interest? What if Porsche or Audi or Alfa wants to show off their 4-cylinder engines?

What if normally-aspirated or V-6 engines also wanted to play?

What if suddenlythere were 50 cars going for 33 spots in May instead of scrambling at the last minute to fill the field?

We won’t know the answers to these questions for at least a year but the point is that at least the owners are taking the initiative to try and come up with something fresh, different and relevant to the times.

As well as something more affordable.

Of course the most interesting aspect of this move is that Bowlby is employed by Ganassi and the Chipster has spent his own money fronting this project.

Considering Ganassi and Penske and their four drivers (Dixon, Franchitti, Briscoe and Castroneves) won 16 out of 17 races in 2009 and those two operations have been in victory lane 48 of the last 65 races dating back to 2006, one would imagine they’d be content to keep the same car for another eight years.

Yet as much as Ganassi enjoys winning, he seems to realize this stagnant formula isn’t a good scenario on many fronts.

Why would we think a new car might loosen the stranglehold Ganassi and Penske have on the field? Just look at Champ Car in 2007 and note that the little teams of Derrick Walker and Keith Wiggins each scored a pair of wins in the new Panoz DP-01. Sure, Newman/Haas/Lanigan still won the most races and the title with Sebastien Bourdais but that new car truly leveled the playing field.

There’s no denying that Honda and Dallara have been good suppliers and, without Honda, this series may have already died. Nobody is saying they’re not welcome, but having a closed shop for spec racing is not what IndyCar is about, nor what it needs. Honda’s attitude was always the more the merrier and that’s what IndyCar’s attitude needs to be.

But even though IndyCar has given a verbal OK to the Delta Wing Project to create a prototype, there’s hardly been a show of support. The Hulman/George family should welcome it because it won’t cost them anything and could actually instill some renewed interest in Indy.

Barnhart will be the biggest obstacle either because he feels threatened or ostracized but, considering his total lack of effort in addressing new cars, budgets or rules, he seems to be part of the problem instead of the solution.

The last thing IndyCar needs is another war but don’t be surprised if one breaks out over this new car.

They said it: The year in quotes

(by John Oreovicz espn.go.com 12-22-09)

I was struggling to put together my traditional end-of-year compilation of classic comments from the open-wheel world, and then I stumbled onto a gem of inspiration embedded in a recent story by Marty Smith right here on ESPN.com.

"There's a market right now for folks who are willing to tell it like it is," he wrote. "It's a rarity these days."

Ain't that the truth. Marty was lamenting the way NASCAR and its sponsors tend to, shall we say, strongly suggest that drivers show as little personality as possible. It's pretty much the same way in Indy racing, and drivers almost never deviate from the script in Formula One.

So it's getting harder and harder to come up with memorable quotes from the year. Maybe the personalities just aren't as colorful as they used to be, and some of it is surely just me losing my memory, but instant classics like Tony George's "I take my hammer to work every day" and Bobby Rahal's "No harm, no foul" just aren't happening very often these days.

But there were still a few zingers -- especially when taken in context. We'll start with an entry from a veritable quote machine who ought to have a full-time IndyCar ride for publicity value alone. Paul Tracy is a hell of a race car driver, too -- the kind of aggressive, combustible racer that Marty and I obviously agree the sport needs more of …

"As I was laying on the couch watching the disaster of a race at St. Pete, I felt like I could get out there and clean everybody's clock, the way they were driving." -- Paul Tracy

"I continue to be perplexed by the board's recent decision to relieve me from my responsibility as CEO of the enterprise." -- Ousted Indianapolis Motor Speedway boss Tony George, who therapeutically expressed himself with occasional statements on the Vision Racing Web site.

"I thought the verbal bashing from Marco [Andretti] was completely unwarranted. Who's on the outside on the first corner of the first lap, up in the marbles at the 500? Say no more." -- Jimmy Vasser defending his driver Mario Moraes after an avoidable first-lap accident in the Indianapolis 500.



Foul Language Dept.

"Where the f--- is everyone? I'm world champion, man!" -- Jenson Button's greeting to the near-empty interview room at the Brazilian Grand Prix when he arrived for his championship press conference.

"I'm definitely a guy that's done a lot of stupid s--- too. It happens." -- Scott Dixon defending Ryan Briscoe's pit-lane gaffe in Japan.



The Danica Files

Danica Patrick's pursuit of a NASCAR career was a yearlong story, and by September she grew tired of talking about it. "You'll know when I tell you," was the terse mantra she adopted. But she was still the IndyCar driver most in demand by the media and almost always a good quote.

"You have a million times more joy turning a good lap on a road course than an oval." -- Danica Patrick. Good luck finding joy in NASCAR, then.

"I'm learning how everything I say and everything I do, I just have to imagine that it's all on camera." -- Patrick's reaction to being questioned about throwing fewer tantrums this year.

"She should stay where she is." Pioneering Indy car driver Janet Guthrie assessing Patrick's move into NASCAR.

"I'm starting to get a little nervous. It's time to do my part of the deal and get in these cars and perform."-- Patrick, after her JR Motorsports deal was finally announced.



Milka Mania

Since she's riding Danica's coattails into stock car racing, maybe it's appropriate that we feature a Milka Duno quote as well. Before the season, when she was testing for that Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing ride that didn't quite pan out, I asked Milka how she would respond to the notion that some people maybe questioned her talent and whether she deserved the seat. Her reply was priceless:

"Yes, well, there's only two peoples … [writers] Robin Miller and Curt Cavin. I'm not thinking about what they say. They really don't understand about racing and it's not interesting for me what is the opinion that they have." -- Milka Duno



The Dario Diaries

"A championship doesn't all come down to one race or one point. That's the moment that everybody remembers, but it was a long season, and a lot of things got us there." -- Dario Franchitti, who said it 11 days before he won the IndyCar season finale -- and the championship -- by using a fuel-mileage strategy at the Homestead finale that had some competitors grousing.

"I apologized to the fans, because they came out to see good racing, and I didn't feel tonight was that." -- Franchitti, who wasn't the only one who noticed the lack of passing at what turned out to be the IndyCar Series' last race at Richmond International Raceway.

"He pays all the time; he's his own worst enemy. TK is always the first man to reach for his credit card." -- Franchitti explaining why his pal Tony Kanaan seemed so out of sorts all year long.

No doubt the happiest story of the IndyCar year was Justin Wilson's victory for Dale Coyne Racing at Watkins Glen. It was the only race in 2009 that Target Chip Ganassi Racing or Penske Racing did not win, prompting Coyne to say:

"We were David and we beat two Goliaths today. My wife and I didn't buy a new house; we bought an engineer." -- Dale Coyne, after his first win in 25 years of trying.



The New Car Follies

The IndyCar Series originally announced that its new formula for engines and chassis would be implemented in 2011. That quietly turned into 2012, and the way things are going, 2013 may not be out of the question. Here's a timeline of the IRL's progress -- or lack thereof.

"We've engaged multiple manufacturers. We're at a point where at least one of them in the next 60 days should be seeking board approval for participation in the IndyCar Series in the future." -- Brian Barnhart, now COO of the Indy Racing League, in February

"We have previously confirmed five engine manufacturers have expressed continued interest in participating in the IndyCar Series in the future … and they continue to show great interest. Plans for introducing a new engine spec, while remaining and maintaining the series position as a leader in the use of ethanol biofuels remains an ongoing process with considerable OEM [original equipment manufacturer] input. We are expecting to finalize the engine specifications in the next few months." -- Barnhart, July

"I think we'll have the package announced by Thanksgiving of this year. We expect the engine and chassis specifications to be announced in the fourth quarter." -- Barnhart, September

Vision for IndyCar, speedway still on track

(by John Oreovics espn.go.com 12-17-09)

One of the most important stories in Indy car racing during 2009 was the boardroom coup that resulted in Tony George being removed from power at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Even more surprising was George's subsequent decision to relinquish leadership of the Indy Racing League and the IZOD IndyCar Series, which he founded back in 1996.

George's roles with the IRL and IMS were taken over by Jeff Belskus, a longtime associate of the Hulman-George family who has worked for IMS since 1987. Like the Hulman family and many key members of Speedway management, Belskus is a native of Terre Haute, Ind., and he has been a friend of George through high school and into their time at Indiana State University.

A certified public accountant by trade, Belskus has long been known as the money man in the background of the IMS hierarchy. But with George's ouster from IMS and surprise move to distance himself from the IRL, Belskus found himself thrust into the spotlight.

Shy by nature, Belskus was somewhat unfairly roasted by Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz following his first public appearance in his new roles. But the key constituents of the Speedway and the IndyCar Series are comfortable with their new leader, mainly because he was quickly able offer a sense of calm and a "business as usual" approach to the issues faced by the track and the league.

"I think it has gone as well as anyone could expect it to go," Belskus said of his first three months as the outright leader of IMS and IRL. "I'm pleased with the way it has gone. Tony and I have a good working relationship and I'm happy about that. I'm still spending a lot of time learning the lay of the land in some respects. It's been a great learning experience so far and I feel good about the way it has gone."

Belskus' longterm association with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation gave him an insider's view of the workings of the company, a huge advantage over hiring an outsider to take over the notoriously private family business. He's not concerned that he could be stretched too thin by being in charge of multiple facets of the company.

"We have a good team in place at IMS that is very experienced and we depend on them," he remarked. "Even though I'm not there, I get e-mails and phone calls, but I have responsibility for running the Indianapolis Motor Speedway."

After relying solely on the Indianapolis 500 through 1993, the Speedway now hosts three major events a year. In 2009, attendance was down for the NASCAR Brickyard 400 and the second running of the Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP race, but Belskus is not significantly concerned.

"Renewals [for the Brickyard] have been strong -- they are in line with last year," he said. "It's a higher quality product when you don't have to stop every nine or 10 laps for a competition yellow [as happened in 2008], so we hope those problems are behind us and we can win back the fans we lost as a result of that.

"Having said that, it seems like NASCAR in general, whether it's the economy or whatever it is, has certainly had their share of attendance issues this year. It's a good event for us and we hope it continues to be a good event for us. We met expectations this year. We planned for it to be off, but I think that was as much about the economy as it was about the event."

A bigger adjustment has been required in terms of managing and being the public face of the IRL. One of the toughest tasks he already dealt with was cutting staff by approximately 40.

"It's an ongoing process," Belskus said. "We're doing what we can to review everything for efficiencies to try to be as productive as we can be. I know my way around the racetrack pretty well and there haven't been too many surprises about what's going on with the League at these events. Terry Angstadt [Vice-President of Marketing] and Brian Barnhart [Vice-President of Competition and Operations] are working hard and doing a good job, and I think we deliver a lot of value."

The IndyCar Series got a huge boost in early November when it was revealed that apparel manufacturer IZOD signed a multi-year contract for title sponsor rights. Most importantly from Belskus' perspective, IZOD is essentially going to pick up the tab for the TEAM subsidy program that pays each full-time competitor up to $1.2 million annually in lieu of prize money.

"Getting the right [title sponsor] was important," Belskus said. "We spent a lot of time talking about 'fair value' and what the series is worth. We're very excited about being associated with IZOD, a brand that we feel good about."

The other bullet the IRL dodged was Danica Patrick's potential move to NASCAR. In the end, America's favorite female racer elected to remain with Andretti Autosport in Indy cars fulltime for at least the 2010 season while beginning to sample the world of NASCAR with a limited schedule for JR Motorsports in the Nationwide Series.

"She's great for our series and an important part of our series," said the IRL leader. "We hope to see her as a part of it for many years to come. I won't say it's absolutely necessary, but we'd prefer to have her here, given our druthers. My hope is that she's going to continue to be an Indy car driver first and foremost."

Belskus said that Indy car racing fans shouldn't expect radical changes to the IRL schedule or the Indianapolis 500 during his watch. However, at a Dec. 9 meeting, the IMS board did approve a plan to shorten the month of May Indy activities to include just one week of practice and a single qualifying weekend.

"We will still be primarily a North American series, though international events are important to us," Belskus said. "We need a compelling reason to do the international events and it is important from that perspective. For Japan, it's because of Honda. We're looking at three or four international events as the most. I don't see it as a significant portion of our schedule."

For Indianapolis Motor Speedway's Jeff Belskus, it cuts like a knife

(by Anthony Schoettle ibj.com/the-score 12-16-09)

It doesn’t make any sense.

That’s the thought that went through my head yesterday when Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO Jeff Belskus told me business operations at the famed Brickyard “aren’t as bad as they look.”

Well, they look pretty bad.

There have been two rounds of layoffs within the last year, sending at least 70 people packing at the IMS—and its sister operations. That doesn’t include the people who vacated voluntarily.

There are a couple company jets for sale, the month of May is being sliced by one-third and the golf course and catering businesses are being privatized.

“The sky is not falling,” Belskus said yesterday from what looks like an unmistakable hard hat zone.

Belskus insists the Indianapolis 500 is financially strong and the MotoGP and Brickyard 400 races are “making positive impacts on the business.”

Belskus admits the motorcycle and NASCAR events aren’t making nearly as positive an impact as they once did. Still, something doesn’t jibe.

With all your properties presumably turning a profit, why all the cost cutting. And consider, this is a property—with its famed oval, 2.5-mile road course, broadcast facilities, pagoda, garages and other infrastructure—that was once estimated to have hard assets near $1 billion.

There’s another thing I don’t understand. The notion that shrinking the month of May won’t have much of an economic impact on Indianapolis.

What about all those thousands of motorsports related businesses in the region that the governor and Indiana Motorsports Association have been touting recently. Aren’t they hurt by this—at least a little?

My how things have changed. Steve Goldsmith thought the month of May was so important to the city, he threw all his support behind Tony George in the mid-1990s as open-wheel racing began to fracture.

A former top Goldsmith aid recently told me that the then mayor threw his support behind George after CART boss Andrew Craig told Goldsmith his plan was to cut back the month of May and emphasize the entire series.

In 2000, a study demonstrated the Indianapolis 500 had a $336.6 million economic impact on the city. It takes $6 million to $10 million annually on the conservative side to run an IRL team.

And we’re talking about reducing hotel and dry cleaning costs for teams and a week’s worth of yellow shirt staffing for the IMS. Oh, and a week’s worth of expenses for IMS Productions.

Belskus said the most recent move will create a six-figure savings for the Speedway. Team operators say they’ll save five-figures. By my calculations, this is a low single-figure percentage savings for the Speedway and IRL teams.

Now this startling revelation: Belskus said the IRL teams asked him to cut the month of May. I thought the Indianapolis 500 was the one thing that has kept the IRL afloat during the worst of times. I thought that’s what kept the teams, sponsors and TV partners hanging in there.

And in the same breath, Belskus told a small group of us reporters gathered yesterday at IMS’ headquarters that another IRL race could slide into the calendar space abdicated by the Indy 500—as soon as 2011. Wouldn’t that take a bit more luster off the Greatest Spectacle in Racing? This is the exact sort of idea that caused caused Goldsmith to turn his back on Craig.

This part of the puzzle does make sense: The Indy Racing League is not profitable, and its losses might now be outstripping the shrinking financial gains of the 500, 400 and MotoGP race.

Officials for the Performance Racing Industry Show, the nation’s largest motorsports industry trade show held last week in Orlando, told IBJ yesterday that business for all motorsports companies was down 30 percent in 2009—40 percent or more for open-wheel businesses.

And there’s this: The board that controls the Speedway and Indy Racing League didn’t care for Tony George’s proclamation that the IRL needs to be profitable by 2013 or else. They liked the idea of profitability, but another three plus years of sucking money from the family fortune didn’t sit well. That six-member board includes George’s three sisters and mother.

Belskus, the IMS’ former chief financial officer who replaced George as captain July 1, got the message. He sharpened his pencil—and his scalpel—to a very fine point.

And the transformational surgery is underway.