As many of you saw today, Tony George released a statement on the new and improved Vision Racing site that was "in response to the June 30th announcement by the Board of Directors of Hulman & Company". It was was a tersely worded exercise in restraint, bordering on a sterile description

Fortunately your humble host speaks "sterile press release", so allow me to give you a taste of the unsanitized version.

“Nearly 20 years ago, I was asked by my family to represent our business as President and Chief Executive Officer. Since accepting that position, I have served at the pleasure of the board and, in doing so, I enthusiastically agreed to commit myself to stewardship of a great institution. While my service as CEO has now ended, I consider my stewardship to be a life-long appointment."

Translation: My sisters aren't the biggest racing fans in the world so they asked me to take over. And why wouldn't I? I get to be in charge of the biggest, most awesomest motorsports event in the world. Would YOU turn that down? As if.

At a board meeting a little over a month ago, the Board of Directors of Hulman & Co. and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway asked me to propose a management reorganization that would focus my duties exclusively upon the operation, promotion, and development of the Indy Racing League, which I founded in 1994 and have overseen the development of since 1996.

Translation: In the first paragraph this was "my family", but here in the second paragraph where they decide they don't want me near IMS anymore I think I'll just refer to them "the Board". You want business? I'll give you the business.

Don't expect any Christmas cards this year, and don't bother bringing that nasty ambrosia to our Thanksgiving get together either. You think after you kick me out, after I've spent the last decade and a half being blamed for everything wrong with open-wheel racing, that I'm going to put up with your culinary disasters? Survey says "BUZZZZZ"!

At a board meeting last week, I was asked to continue as CEO of the Indy Racing League, reporting to a new President and CEO of IMS. In my view, this would have created an unnecessary bureaucratic layer between the people in the operations of the IRL and the CEO of IMS that had not previously existed. From the perspective of my experience as President and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, I am acutely aware that the interests of IndyCar racing as a sport, the IRL as a league, and the most important motorsports race in the world, are mutually dependent and inter-connected, both now and in the future. I did not feel that a subordinate position as “CEO of the IRL” was a management vehicle which would allow me to accomplish the objectives that the family and the board requested me to pursue. I declined that position.

Translation: I don't know what crawled up their collective yahoos, but out of the blue my fam, err, "The Board" decided to give me the boot. They're all like, "We wants to get PAID" and I'm telling them "You're going to get paid" and they're still like "WHEN are we gettin' PAID" and I'm saying "I'm WORKING on it!" What is up?

On top of that they go telling me I'm supposed to run a 13-year-old racing League without having the money from the century-old Speedway. Like you would tell your 13-year-old "sorry, but we've spent too much money on you so you're on your own." Apparently "The Board" forgot how many decades it took to get our magnificent Speedway to the great financial footing it's at today, but it looks like history lessons aren't my problem anymore. I did what I thought was best for all of us, but if they don't like it then so be it. I'm not going to be "CEO of the IRL" just so they can jerk my chain the next time they get in a tizzy.

Screw you guys, I'm going home to my racing team.



(MORE from Vision Racing's Tony George)

"So what’s this about my old enemy, Sebastien Bourdais, huh? Someone asked me, I guess just for a joke, whether I’d like to see him back over here in the series. I said, “I’d like to see myself back in the series before I see him here.” In my opinion, it would be a criminal act to have him just walk back into the series and welcomed with open arms and an open seat, when I’ve had to lather everyone up with lotion to get what little I’ve got." - Paul Tracy, thinking happy thoughts about one of the lost rivalries of motorsport.

What does this one say?



(Photo: Indy Racing Experience)

Indy Racing League officials seem to be pretty excited about this prospective race in Brazil, especially when word comes from TrackSide Online that teams traveling to the race will each get north of $125K each - and that's on top of the TEAM money which already pays teams around $1.3M for a full-time entry. But how does this phrase strike you?

"For Indy, Ribeirão Preto pay $ 20 million and will have a street circuit."

Furious Wedge has more from a Brazilian news article, translated from Portuguese, but as he notes "With that money (likely somewhat dispersed to teams as well in sponsorship & travel costs) this race could be even better for the IndyCar Series than a title sponsor."

Seriously. Twenty meeeeeeeellion dollars! That's F1 money.

James at 16th and Georgetown has uncovered Will Power's new color scheme. It doesn't have as much to do with Verizon Wireless anymore.



It does however harken back a bit to a previous Penske car that had some notable success in 1987s.



I'm guessing most of you will greet Will's new livery with approval.

One thing I'm still wondering about is the reasoning for Will's part-time schedule that The Captain has prepared for him in lieu of the Helio Castroneves acquittal (and subsequent outbreak of hugging and crying). Running a third car at Indy makes complete sense since the purse is so significant, but for all other races Team Penske has more to lose than gain (at least in a financial sense) by fielding Will. The only explanation is that Team Penske is preparing to be a three-car team in 2010.

If that's the case, would that be a good thing because it's one more full-time car or a bad thing because it's one more full-time car for one of the two teams that win nearly every race?

(Photo: IMS)

Wanna guess what the winner of the 1999 Indianapolis 500 is up to this summer?

Drivers Kenny Brack, Tanner Foust and Brian Deegan will drive rally-prepared Ford Fiestas in competition at X Games 15 in Los Angeles in late July.

The Fiestas will be fielded by Sweden's Olsbergs Motor Sport Evolution. That is the same group that is bringing rally-prepped Fiestas to Colorado's Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in July.

Brack is the 1999 Indianapolis 500 winner. He will drive a three-door Fiesta in the X Games, his first time at the event. Brack retired from pro driving in 2006 to pursue a music career, but he still participates in special events.

(MORE from AutoWeek)

He probably still participates in motorsports because his music career, launched with a song about AJ Foyt of all things, never really took off.



No word yet on if Jeff Ward, who has no music videos but is still hero to Nearly Old Guys everywhere, is returning to the X-Games to defend his Moto X SuperMoto title.

What does this one say?



FYI - That's Robin Miller in the black shirt.

(Photo: Trackside Online)

Congratulations go out to Scott Dixon and his lovely wife Emma on the birth of their first child. The little daughter was born Sunday after Scott returned to Indianapolis from his 3rd-place finish at Watkins Glen.

The Dixon family waited nearly a day to reveal (or possibly to decide) on a name for their little girl. The final verdict: Poppy Davies Dixon.

I presume that's after the flower and not a tribute to Michael "King of Pop" Jackson, but you never know.

Since I mentioned pressdog in the last post (heck, I mention him in nearly every post just in case Paul Tracy reads this site) I wanted to point out what was and will be his best post of the year before it gets lost in the shuffle. It's about his ride in the IndyCar two-seater around his local venue, the Iowa Speedway.

About half way through lap two while sitting in the back of the Indy Racing Experience two-seat Dallara, an unexpected thought crossed my mind: "faster."

I certainly didn't expect to become Mr. Need-for-Speed going into my June 19 (the Friday before the Iowa Race) track debut as "just a passenger" in the Indy Racing Experience two-seater at Iowa Speedway.

I expected to crawl from the car, apologizing for both hurling AND crapping my pants.

(MORE from pressdog)

Do yourself a favor and take a read the whole thing. You might be ready to sign up for the few minutes to Indy Racing Experience yourself.

Bill's story reminded me of a story about the two-seater that I forgot to post almost a month ago. It seems Davey Hamilton was at the helm and was giving rides to members of the Toronto media as a promotion for the race coming up this weekend. Mike Strobel of the Toronto Sun described who was checking out the modified IndyCar during his trip around the block with Davey.

You got your wannabe paparazzi sticking their phone cameras out their minivan windows.

You got your crackheads, pill-poppers, dopers and boozehounds, wondering if that last dose spawned the monster that just sped past them.

You got your suits, pretending not to notice.

You got your daycare kids pointing and squealing.

You got your cops?

Yup, Ontario's Finest pulled them over. Read all about it in the Toronto Sun, and after you do be sure to check your mud flaps.

It's true.

I guess that’s it for today. I’ll pad this out a bit more by picking today to say thanks to all of you who’ve been writing in response to these blogs. It’s good to know there are still some fans of mine out there. And thanks also whoever it is at pressdog.com who’s been sending readers over to these blogs. Malsher at RACER tells me pressdog’s play-by-play notes after the Richmond race were funny but sad at the same time. I guess we all have a bunch of theories about how to fix the series, and media guys can only report on what’s happening – or not happening – out there on track. The decisions about how to improve the racing have to come from further up the line.

Better get a mop, because I guarantee Bill just dropped his water.