For the past 13 years, Tony George has been blamed, ridiculed, vilified and crucified by many as “the man who ruined IndyCar racing.”
It’s doubtful he will get the same level of credit as the man who may have saved IndyCar racing with his efforts of the past several weeks and months to finally reach an agreement with Champ Car that will now bring everything together as one series.
Even some of his harshest critics have realized that George’s efforts to put IndyCar racing back together became a noble effort in the end; that he continued to spend his own money to help end the divisive war by being benevolent enough to provide Champ Car teams with Dallara chassis and Honda engines free of charge for joining IndyCar.

The Champ Car organization had reached the end of the road and was considering bankruptcy. If George was as evil as his critics pointed out, he could have simply let the organization die on the vine and then pick the meat off the bones like a vulture.

The Champ Car organization had reached the end of the road and was considering bankruptcy. If George was as evil as his critics pointed out, he could have simply let the organization die on the vine and then pick the meat off the bones like a vulture.
Instead, George has offered to save the teams and give them a new home, to welcome them in as part of the IndyCar family.
“I’m very proud of the effort that Tony put into this of making it happen over the last several months because he has been directly responsible for the conversations and negotiations that have been taking place,” said IndyCar President of Competition Brian Barnhart. “He has done a tremendous job from that standpoint.
“I’ve also been very proud that he has shown tremendous dedication to his principles from day one.
“How we have operated and what we have done has been a direct reflection of our boss. That is what he expects and will accept nothing less than complete professionalism and treating everyone the same. We will do that with these people and welcome them with open arms.
“They are instantly members of our family and we will treat them no different than we do the people that have been here for 10 or 12 years.”
It’s unlikely that many individuals in sports have taken the public pounding for as long as the grandson of Tony Hulman, the man who saved the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500 from extinction when he purchased it from Eddie Rickenbacker in 1945.
Fans of open-wheel racing, especially those in CART and later Champ Car, developed a deep hatred for this man because his vision was different than theirs’. There are many who simply refuse to forgive him for creating the Indy Racing League, which began competition in 1996 and would lead to CART’s boycott of the Indianapolis 500 that year.
The level of rhetoric often became bitter and vitriolic.
But over a period of time, it became obvious that the side that included the Indianapolis 500 would eventually win out.
With Champ Car agreeing to close its doors, many of its teams are expected to join the IndyCar Series, boosting car counts and bringing added competition to this form of racing.
Now, fans can watch Danica Patrick race against 19-year-old Graham Rahal, the son of 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal. Helio Castroneves may now be able to race against Paul Tracy, renewing a rivalry that culminated with the controversial finish to the 2002 Indy 500 — a race Tracy contends he actually won.
Marco Andretti can go wheel to wheel against Justin Wilson of England and Will Power of Australia.
For the first time in years, IndyCar fans can see hope for the future. It’s time to put the bitterness aside and unite and hopefully, everyone can learn from the lessons and mistakes of the past.
Admittedly, this war certainly never went the way George intended. He expected many of the CART teams would willingly join the Indy Racing League when it began at Walt Disney World Speedway on Jan. 27, 1996.
Instead, those teams prepared for war, even ran a race the same day as the 1996 Indianapolis 500 called the US 500.
Some thought that stood for “Unbelievably Stupid 500” especially when a major crash on the parade lap sent much of the field back to the garage to bring out their backup cars.
With 400,000 fans watching Buddy Lazier win the Indianapolis 500 and another 110,000 fans at Michigan Int’l Speedway for the US 500, over a half-million fans watched an Indy car race on the same day.
But from that point on, a new era of mediocrity would follow as the IRL Indy 500 lacked the superhero names it had enjoyed in the past. Although its drivers displayed heart and character and represented the grass roots racers of the United States, CART still had the bigger names and sponsors.
Over time, however, CART felt the impact of not being at Indy. Sponsors began to leave and team owners such as Chip Ganassi in 2000 and Roger Penske in 2001 returned to the Indy 500. They would later leave CART completely and become full-time competitors in the IRL.
Michael Andretti and Bobby Rahal would follow by 2004 the stronger teams were now in IndyCar while the revived Champ Car series began to struggle.
It was still obvious, though, that both sides were operating as two halves rather than one whole.
And even though the IndyCar Series had become the stronger of the two, George realized the time was right to bring the sport back together for the first time since 1978, when the USAC National Championship and the Indianapolis 500 were all part of the same sanctioning body.
“I think the whole paddock will pull together to make sure that we make the most of this opportunity to unify open-wheel racing,” George said. “I think a lot of those that have trepidation will soon realize it was just their own discomfort and we will be able to allay any concerns.
“We are going to require a lot out of our existing teams. Not only are they going to have to make equipment available, they are going to have to reach out and really make all the Champ Car teams feel welcome and part of the family.”
So, it’s unlikely George will ever be known as the Peacemaker because far too many people blame him for the war in the first place.
But in the end, he chose to be a “Uniter” rather than a “Divider.”