PENSKE TAKES OVER INDY 500
Billionaire car owner purchases race, speedway, IndyCar Series
Roger Penske was a car-loving 14-year-old who regularly listened to the Indianapolis 500 on the radio when his father landed tickets to the 1951 race. They made the trek from Cleveland, and when Penske saw the cars zipping around Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 200 mph, he instantly fell in love.
Now he owns the iconic speedway, its hallowed grounds, ‘‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,’’ the IndyCar Series and all its properties in a stunning deal announced Monday. By early next year, Penske Entertainment Corp. will take over all those entities owned by the Hulman family for 74 years in one of the biggest transactions in the history of motorsports.
‘‘The bug of motor racing got in my blood,’’ Penske said about that day with his father. ‘‘I hope my dad is looking down at me and saying, ‘Son, you did a good job.’ ’’
The sprawling, 110-year-old speedway and its famed, 2½-mile oval track is one of the most famous venues in sports for its showcase race every May. The speedway, with its famous pagoda tower, Gasoline Alley garage area and massive grandstands, was a dilapidated mess when Tony Hulman bought it in 1945 and brought racing back to the corner of 16th Street and Georgetown Avenue after a fouryear absence for World War II.
The speedway itself spun off multiple subsidiaries, including the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway Productions, which also are being acquired by Penske Entertainment, a subsidiary of Penske Corp.
Experts were unsure about how to value the deal, and Penske quipped, ‘‘I haven’t paid anything yet.’’ But the sale was a bombshell in an industry that has struggled with declining attendance and interest in the last decade.
The deal was done in roughly six weeks and began when Tony George, the grandson of Tony Hulman, approached Penske before the season-ending race in September in California. George wished Penske luck in the championship battle, then asked him if they could have a conversation about the speedway.
‘‘We as a family agreed we all needed to have a conversation with Roger Penske,’’ a tearful George said. ‘‘I simply said I’d like to meet with him and talk about stewardship, and he got a very serious look on his face. It’s obviously emotionally difficult. We all love it, and we all care deeply. We all realize that, as a family and organization, we had probably taken it as far as we can. Roger Penske’s resources will only take this to another level.’’
George, along with his sisters and the Hulman & Co. board of directors, most recently have been in charge of Hulman properties. Mari Hulman George, Hulman’s
daughter and the matriarch of the family interests, died last November, and the family businesses slowly have been divested.
The family now has turned its racing properties over to Penske in an announcement made one day after the one-year anniversary of Hulman George’s death. The family will have an opportunity from Penske to remain involved with the series and the speedway, and Tony George said he will take Penske up on the offer.
Penske said he will step down as the race strategist for his IndyCar team and focus on turning IMS into ‘‘the entertainment capital of Indiana.’’ He said the heavy lifting begins Tuesday, when Penske plans to walk the IMS property before meeting with the existing executive team.
Penske, who is also a giant in the NASCAR stock-car series, said he plans no management changes at this time. He was eager to address any potential conflict of interest that could arise from the most powerful man in motorsports owning a three-car race team, the series and one of the most important races in the world.
‘‘I understand the integrity,’’ he said. ‘‘To me, I know what my job is. Hopefully I have enough credibility to ensure that there is not a lot of conflict. I’ve got a lot of guys watching me.’’
The deal should close in January. Penske said because Penske Corp. and Hulman & Co. are private companies, they aren’t legally required to disclose the transaction price.