Tony George

Tony George (born December 30, 1959) is the former president and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Also creater of the IRL series as an all oval rival to the CART series. George was also the former owner of Vision Racing

"The Split"
After he was removed from the CART board of directors, George announced he would create his own league the IRL (Indy Racing League). He said the new IRL series was an alternative with a more even playing field than what the CART series had. Controversy over the Indy 500 in it's original season in 1996 was that George reserved 25 of the 33 spots in the field for IRL regulars which only left 8 open spots to qualify for CART drivers. This angered the CART series to where they decided to run a seperate 500 mile race the same day called the US 500 at Michigan International Speedway.

"Merger"
On February 22, 2008, Tony George along with CART's Gerald Fosythe and Kevin Kalkhoven agreed to a deal that would allow them all to race under one unified series the IndyCar Series, which was still technicaly owned by the IRL and Tony George.