IndyCar Series news

Chitwood steps down as IMS president

21 July 2009

Less than three weeks after the announcement of Tony George's departure as a president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation, Joie Chitwood has announced that he will be stepping down as president of the venue in order to became vice president of business operations for the International Speedway Cup, NASCAR's sister company.

With George having left his role as boss of the Speedway (IMS) after holding it for almost two decades, Chitwood's own decision to leave means he is the second personality to call time in Indiana within a month; as well as working on the vital American series which take place at the legendary oval, Chitwood also played a large part in seeing Formula One return in 2000 plus MotoGP last year.

This year's Indy 500 was won by Brazil's Helio Castroneves

"We have a good leadership team in place," IMS chief executive Jeff Belskus, who took the reigns from George at the beginning of July, told the IndyStar. "We're going to continue to analyze that and staff ourselves appropriately."

Chitwood has explained that a move back to his home state of Florida - where International Speedway Cup is located - is the most appropriate decision at this stage in his life. "After last fall's successful Red Bull Indianapolis GP event and the successful launch of the Speedway's Centennial Era, I began to start thinking about new challenges," he said. "Because of my family's history here at the Speedway, it was very difficult to make this decision to leave. Since my grandfather started bringing me here when I was young and knowing he raced in the '500,' I had a lifetime of memories for this place before joining the company in 1996 as an Indy Racing League employee.

"I felt like I had accomplished a lot of things here. I'm from Florida, I've got experience in motorsports and it seemed like a good opportunity for me."

more news

Homepage