Open-wheel merger may cost Tony George millions

Open-wheel merger may cost Tony George millions

The IRL boss promised CART teams free cars and engines for one year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

After an enduring rivalry that probably cost him close to $200 million of his personal fortune and made him a villain to many, Tony George has finally put together what he once tore apart.

For more than a decade, George has been at the center of a raging controversy.

It all began in December 1994 when George, best known at the time as the head of the family owned Indianapolis Motor Speedway, announced he was starting a new open-wheel series, the Indy Racing League.

Some thought he was simply using the threat of a rival series to the reigning Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) circuit as a lever to gain some say in the world of American open-wheel racing.

Despite being the head of the biggest open-wheel track, with the Indianapolis 500 as its crown jewel event, George had gotten a cold shoulder from CART, a series owned and operated by its team owners.

For a while, George was allowed to be part of the CART board of directors. But, in what some perceived as a gesture to keep him in his place, he was a nonvoting member and had to leave the room when votes were taken.

There was even talk that some CART car owners wanted to own the speedway that George’s grandfather, Anton “Tony” Hulman, saved from destruction after World War II. Hulman, a much-revered figure in motorsports, also brought the Indy 500 back to prominence before his death in 1977.

And when George took over leadership of the speedway he didn’t like the direction that CART was taking the sport.

The struggle that developed between the IRL and CART, which later became the Champ Car World Series, nearly brought down open-wheel racing in America.

Even as NASCAR’s popularity and power grew, both open-wheel series struggled with waning fan interest, little sponsorship mowney and the loss of big-name drivers to retirement, Formula One and, most recently, NASCAR.

The one thing that everyone in both series seemed to agree on through most of the 12 years of competition was that two open-wheel series — each with its own philosophy and equipment — only served to confuse and divide the few fans that remained.

Over and over, efforts were started to get the two sides back together. Each time it appeared a deal was close to being done. And each time something — usually egos of the people in charge, who steadfastly refused to give up control — got in the way.

Finally, it was up to George and Champ Car co-owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe — who, along with minority partner Paul Gentilozzi, bought the assets of the bankrupt CART in December 2004 — to make the peace accord happen.

The unification of open-wheel racing became a reality Feb. 22 when the three principal players signed off on a deal that would close down Champ Car and offer its teams and drivers the opportunity to race in the IRL, beginning with the season-opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway March 29.

It is expected that all of the Champ Car teams, with the exception of Forsythe’s team — which will race only in the developmental Atlantic Series — will make the move. That would add between eight and 12 cars to the IRL, which had been racing most weekends with fewer than 20 cars on its grid.

For George, the peace agreement was costly. He is giving the Champ Car teams that come to the IRL a year of free Honda engines, two Dallara race cars — one new and one used — and $1.2 million in incentives, which the current IRL teams also receive.

Speculation is that it could cost George another $30 million. But, it was George who started the unification process when he made his offer of engines, cars and money to the Champ Car teams late last year.

He sounded thrilled by the deal at a press conference last week at Homestead.

“Last month, when the calendar turned over to 2008, I was wondering ‘Is it possible that this could happen?’ ” George said. “I felt like this was perhaps going to be the best year of my 48 to have a chance to do something that’s very important to me and very close to me.”