Eastern Time on Sunday, signaling the gates are open and the 325,000 fans can begin to enter the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for what many believe is a life changing experience.įor the next 6-1/2 hours those spectators will see all of the pageantry and pre-race ceremonies that make the Indianapolis 500 such a memorable event including the playing of Taps, the incredible military flyover and the crescendo of “Back Home Again in Indiana.” The signal bomb will explode over the Indiana skies at 6 a.m. The massive “Coke Lot” near the northwest side of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, is already packed with campers and party goers who turn the annual gathering in Indiana’s capital city into a “Woodstock” or “Coachella” type festival. This year’s Indianapolis 500 practice, qualifications, and Friday’s annual “Carb Day” has seen some of the biggest crowds in recent years come out to the storied facility. What we were able to do was add our shoulder, our emphasis, and our capital to take it to the next level.” “It was a real opportunity to take this place to the next level. “The outside was something I didn’t pay much attention to over the years other than seeing it grow for what they did for the 100 thin 2016. “I can tell you, our experience running the tracks, we owned the inside for a number of years and had tremendous competition always,” Penske told me. He saw the opportunity to buy one of the greatest sporting events in the world as a long-term investment for the Penske Corporation and his family, while continuing one of the great traditions in sports. Penske owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500, and the Ind圜ar Series. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) Getty Images 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on in Indianapolis, Indiana. INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MAY 29: A flyover before the start of the 106th running of the Indianapolis. “We still invested almost $20 million that year in improvements to the track in a year when we couldn’t sell any tickets. We were capitalized in a way that we could handle it. “It’s like in racing, you don’t win the Indianapolis 500 every year. “In any business, it’s not up, up, up,” Penske said. He was able to formulate a business plan that kept the Indianapolis 500 and Ind圜ar operating until business could return to normal. Penske put his superior business skills to use. “Guess what? We didn’t have a crowd for the race that year. “Ironically, we did our business plan for our bankers showing 300,000 people here for race day,” Penske said. The virus raged on, and the 2020 Indianapolis 500 was contested without spectators in the massive grandstands. The race was moved from its traditional Memorial Day Sunday date to August 23 in hopes the virus would be contained and spectators would be allowed to attend. In early 2020, the COVID-19 Pandemic shut down the world, including major sporting events such as the Indianapolis 500. Let’s try to negotiate a deal.’ Within 30 days, we had a letter of intent, and we closed the deal in January not knowing that COVID was coming.” “Quite honestly, three days later Mark Miles and one of his key executives came to Detroit and started the discussion. I didn’t know it was for sale, but I would like to have a chance to talk to you about it. I sat down with Tony George and Mark Miles (Hulman & Company CEO and now CEO of Penske Entertainment) he told me the trustees had made a decision to sell the Speedway and asked if we would have any interest. “We won the race that day and was coming to Indy for a little banquet for Josef Newgarden who had won the championship with us. “It is ironic that in October of 2019, Tony George came up to me at Laguna Seca and said he would like to talk to me about the future. We were out of the track business and running our race team and trying to win races. We went ahead and partnered with Bill France and Jim France and the team and sold our tracks to him. “Over the years, we’ve been in the Speedway business, and people asked if we would ever be interested in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” Penske said. In an exclusive interview with the 86-year-old Penske at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the industrial giant and businessman who has a personal net worth of $3.5 billion according to Forbes told me how it all came together and his vision for the future.
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