Penske Corp. Buying Indianapolis Motor Speedway, INDYCAR and IMS Productions
It was quite a Monday morning surprise. Penske Entertainment Corp., part of the Penske Corporation, is completing an agreement to purchase the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, INDYCAR and IMS Productions from Hulman and Co., the 170-year-old company led by Tony George that has owned these properties since 1945.
The agreement has not been in the works for a long time, according to George, board president of Hulman and Co., commencing during the NTT IndyCar Series season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in mid-September. Roger Penske and Tony George had their initial discussion during that weekend and have been talking about the plausibility of this purchase ever since.
Penske, first smitten by Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a 14-year-old, earned his 17th Indianapolis 500 victory this past May with Simon Pagenaud. At that initial, long-ago visit, he had his first opportunity to climb into a roadster, then to watch Mauri Rose earn victory on Memorial Day. It sparked the young Penske; this is the culmination of that flame.
“I spoke with Mario [Andretti] and A.J. [Foyt] this morning, and we all agreed what the Indy 500 means to us as individuals. Here in the USA, if you work hard and you’re committed,” Penske said, “if you have a great group of people working with you, you can have great success.” It will take great commitment, he realizes, to take over as “steward of this great organization. We’re pleased the Hulman family has selected us to take on this task.”
Tony George noted that his family pleasure to pass the ownership torch to Penske. “He’s an individual perfectly suited to take over these corporations; his family is involved much like ours is and Roger has a track record – as a businessman – without compare.” This agreement happened quickly; Penske is a man who likes to get things done without distractions, George noted, even as he remarked that the announcement was well-contained until made Monday morning, November 4.
Asked why he’s buying these three businesses, Penske acknowledged, “We invest in domain knowledge. We’ve been coming to this track for 50 years and understand its technology. We think it’s a great business opportunity and expect to use these 1,000 acres to make this property both the racing and entertainment capital of the world. We will invest capital,” he said, “and we want to grow the racing.
“Tomorrow,” Penske said, “I intend to walk the entire facility and strategically sit down with the existing ream to find the top 10 things we can do to make it more fan friendly. I’ve been the strategist atop the pit box but now I have a bigger job to do here: We need to find another car manufacturer, working with Jay Frye on that, we need to expand on the $100 million investment Hulman and Co. made before the 100th Indianapolis 500. We’re looking to add capability. Can we run a 24-hour race, or an F1 race here?”
This is not the first track purchase for Penske Corp, the former owners of Michigan International Speedway and builders of what is now Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Penske helped bring Formula One to Detroit and, as he says, “It’s in our DNA.”
Penske has talked with many INDYCAR team owners prior to this announcement being made and says they’re on board, wanting to get together to make INDYCAR even stronger. “That’s a priority for me,” he said. But he’s going to take it one step at a time, helping to build a better speedway with more economic development and working with the surrounding community to enhance the property. “We want to keep it an iconic place.”
Penske has “no intention of changing the management team in place today. We’ll have a new board that we’ll announce at the final closing of this transaction – which should happen around the first of the year – and we intend to have people on our board that know the business and want to grow it. We intend to offer the Hulman family some interest in the company; we’ll look at that before the closing.”
“Everyone who comes here has their own story,” Tony George said. The iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the media company built as IMS Productions who work with INDYCAR and many other clients, and the NTT IndyCar Series appear to be in the best of hands.
“Hopefully,” Penske added, “I have enough credibility not to be seen as someone with a conflict of interest,” owning both his Team Penske three-car enterprise, his NASCAR teams and his IMSA Acura Team Penske squad. “If it appears that way, I’m sure you guys [in the media] will tell me pretty quick.”
As both Hulman and Co. and Penske Corporation are private entities, no indication of the purchase price has been given, and likely intricacies of this takeover will continue to be private. It would be fair to say the balance of progress, together with tradition and heritage will continue with Penske Corporation’s ownership of these thee pillars of motorsports.