Officials for the Indy Racing League and Indianapolis Motor Speedway are hoping to roll out the red carpet for President
Barack Obama—in May 2011.
Terry Angstadt, president for the IRL commercial division, said series officials are hoping Obama will accept an invitation
to come to Indy for the Indianapolis 500.
If Obama accepts, it would be the first time a sitting U.S. president attended the Indianapolis 500.
IMS this morning confirmed that an invitation is being prepared, and will be sent to Obama this May, inviting him to the
race in 2011—which marks the event’s centennial.
The IRL has already made quite an impression with Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and series officials
are hoping to leverage Obama’s friendship with da Silva to coordinate a possible joint visit to the Indianapolis 500.
The IndyCar Series races in Brazil for the first time this Sunday. da Silva, popularly known as Lula in his home land, is
scheduled to attend the race and present the winner’s trophy.
Already, da Silva, has met privately with the five Brazilian race drivers set to race this Sunday in Sao Paulo, Brazil. And
da Silva took a ride in an IndyCar two-seater piloted by Brazilian driver Ana Beatriz. The IRL had a race helmet custom made
for da Silva, and he prominently displays it in his office.
“The support we’ve gotten from him—and the entire region—is phenomenal,” Angstadt said. “The
president (da Silva) has become a huge IndyCar fan.”
Angstadt said outreach has begun between IRL officials and Obama’s staff, but no commitment has yet been given for
an Indianapolis 500 visit.
A presidential visit would be a big coup to a series struggling to gain media attention and a main stream U.S. and global
following. The visit no doubt would be a boost to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway—which is dealing with its own challenges—and
to the entire city’s tourism efforts.
Obama is a big sports fans, having attended a number of sporting events since he has taken office. But it’s not clear
how closely Obama follows motorsports in general or open-wheel racing in particular.
da Silva was a big enough fan to throw his support behind a multi-year, multi-million dollar sponsorship deal that began
last season between the IRL and Brazil's trade promotion agency, APEX-Brasil, for which the Brazilian president has a
great deal of sway.
Sources said da Silva is such a fan of IndyCar, that he is pushing to extend Apex-Brasil’s two-year sponsorship before
his current term ends Jan. 1, 2011. IRL and Apex-Brasil officials are working to hammer out a two-year extension through 2012,
and an announcement is expected this week in conjunction with the Sao Paulo race.
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Welcome to The Score, your place for hard-hitting sports business news, fast-breaking updates and fuel-injected debate. Buckle up. I'm your host, Anthony Schoettle, IBJ sports reporter.
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"And the success of the Indiana GOP to not allow an expansion of Medicaid had nothing to do with Indiana hospitals' financial woes? Fixed that for you; editorial bias rebalanced. Seriously, there are so many things wrong with Obamacare that the only way one can view it as a success is to assume that it was designed to fail our way into a government single payor healthcare system. The system is complex, creates huge regulatory burdens and overhead and yet still does not have adequate means to control escalating health care costs. But then when you elect a 10th grade math drop out with no quantitative reasoning skills to be President of one of the world's most important economies in troubled times, you can't really be surprised by blatant stupidity.
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No NIMBYs here to chase off a decent development. We don't need tons of parking and we'd happily play the role of host to a downtown Whole Foods.
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Whatever you do, don't change a single thing about Broad Ripple. I want it to look just like it did in the late '70s, with 30% of the north side of Broad Ripple Avenue burned out and plenty of places to park. That's right Broad Ripple, NEVER CHANGE. Let the world pass you by, don't improve your empty, abandoned lots full of weeds. Someday someone will want to film a zombie movie here.
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Hollywood could step in and make a movie about the history about this forlorn series. It could be a full celebrity cast of characters. WOW. http://www.advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2013/02/indiana-taxpayers-forced-to-pay-for.html
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This shouldn't come as a shock to many. Austin is a great city, and Indy needs to take some notes. Austin invests in decent transit options, has a highly educated workforce, embraces a creative class, and --despite being the state capital-- is not micromanaged by rural and suburban legislators. Want Indy to grow? Invest in the city (i.e. spend money). Raise taxes a bit, and use the money to improve education. And keep the state legislature out of Indy the other 9 months of the year.
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Although the Secret Service would never allow it, it would be cool to see a president in an Indy 2-seater. Hell, it would be cool to see me in a 2-seater.
IRL is pulling out all the guns to put butts in the seats...nothing would be finer (I suppose) than to be in Indiana when 200,000 conservative spectators BOO the President of the United States. It'll do wonders for his populatity.....
Just because many of you wouldn't go to the Indy 500 because he is there, many will.
On the other hand, it's a security nightmare for the Secret Service...and just look at the haters this post has brought out.
All in all, I suspect it will be considered too big a risk. IMS would never do what's done at the Super Bowl: nothing in that isn't searched; no one in who isn't frisked, everyone goes through metal detectors.
Nice thought, though.
I would like to see him come to the IMS, but I agree that the security issue would stop it. It would be great for the city and state... and not just great for the IMS. And regardless of a person's political views, a sitting president (and regardless of their political affiliation as well) at an event is a great thing.
Security intrustions would be minimal at worst. I was there when the sitting vpotus (Quayle) attended the 500. He was helicoptered in, sat for part of the race in the turn 2 suites and then left with minimal issues. Granted security would be tighter, this would be no worse than him giving a public speech or taking a walk back to the white house like he has done.
Helicopter him into the infield near the pagoda. whisk him up to the suites in the tower. all is good. The height of the tower and the dark tinting would make it near impossible for a gunman to take aim. other than clearing out the pagoda plaza for a little while, no issues.
Yet you did just that in the same post where you tell us you don't do that.
please tell me where I talked about something i hate.
Never was a yellow shirt, could not take off that much time. The only work I have done at IMS was volunteering through my church to work a concession stand for some qual days years ago.
So truth, what did I write about that I hate?
go Delta wing!
Truth - nice "Kenny Brack Experience" reference. :)
How many times were cart races affected by bad tracks. Be it the peeling asphalt at Miami or the lack of practice that made the race at Texas never happen.
What did cart do? Ran, hid, took the cheap way out. The IRL and the track promoters stepped up and ran what many consider one of the best races. don't believe me, here is an article from SI.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/bruce_martin/03/14/racing.notes/
And he writes for Versus, the 10 year contracted TV supplier for the IRL NOT available on Direct TV? That Bruce Martin? Hey, what ever was the outcome of the alleged DUI? So, he though it was a good race, huh? hehehe
How utterly stupid to protest the Race because you disagree with this specific President's policies. The Race is a non-partisan event, and the 500 does not endorse or oppose any specific national policies. Also, President Obama is the president of our nation. Whether one voted for him or not, or agrees or disagrees with his policies, he is our nation's leader and designated representative. There was a time when people understood the concept of respecting the Office of the President, even if they disagreed with the specific policies of an individual President. It is time to restore some of that wisdom from previous generations.
It would be quite an honor for a sitting President to attend the Race. And if that upsets some people, then perhaps they should stay home--we don't need their negative and shameful attitudes at such a terrific event.
IMS' vice president of marketing resigns
Star report
Posted: March 18, 2010
After 2 1/2 years as vice president of
marketing and communications at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Chris
Schwartz resigned today.
A former marketing director at Penske
Racing, Schwartzâ??s responsibilities at IMS
covered all marketing, ticket sales and
customer service activities for the
Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400 and Moto
GP events.
Schwartzâ??s last day will be March 31.
You crow that the IRL cannot get a title sponsor, then when they do you try to pick them apart.
Comcast and Direct Tv have a pi$$ing match and you guys blame it on the IRL, a deal is stuck returning it at the begining of the season and somehow it is not because of the IRL.
You guys are very creative. Awesome imaginations.
Truth, do you hear the silence of the rotors? The fact you don't hear them, means they are there.
Gordon Kirby
Bruce Barnes, the longtime agent for the Unser family, has been trying to re-publish my 1988 book, 'Unser, an American Family Portrait.' But he's been unable to find a publisher prepared to underwrite the project. "I've approached at least twenty publishers and there's been zero interest. Nobody cares. There's just no visibility for any of these guys anymore. I can't sell any endorsements for the Unsers. The only guy whose name has value in the market is Mario. He stands apart from all the rest of them.
"Tony just doesn't get it does he?" Barnes adds. "He doesn't understand that he's ruined the entire business. I used to have a few hundred tickets and more every year for raceday for various guests and corporate clients. But that's all collapsed since the split. These days I've got maybe twenty-five people who want to go and none of them are heavy hitters. This year I called Peggy Swalls (the Speedway's vice-president of administration who's in charge of credentials) and asked if I could get some upgrades to better seats and she said, 'Sure. What do you want? We've got seats available anywhere you like.
TOney, indyman and the IRL, destroyers of a legacy
So are you now searching for a Floyd Davis quote about how Eddie Rickenbacker cost him a race win?
My series still has a pulse and is still running. Although some of the changes are unfortunate.