By Dick Mittman
indy500.com
Monday, September 27, 2004
Next to the construction of the track in 1909, the most momentous event - happening Nov. 15, 1945 - in Indianapolis Motor Speedway history came when Terre Haute, Ind., businessman Tony Hulman announced he was purchasing the auto racing landmark from World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker.
The negotiations and press conference took place in the downtown Indianapolis Athletic Club.
Today, the Speedway is the giant of the motorsports world. And the Athletic Club is no more.
It was announced Sept. 17 that the IAC, a bastion in the city since 1924, was closing its doors. Six days later, president John Durbin revealed the IAC building will be sold to a condominium developer. This will allow the club to pay its employees and meet all of its monetary obligations.
The IAC is a club that served to promote business, social and athletic relationships in greater Indianapolis. The club building features a grand ballroom, banquet rooms, dining areas, a pool, fitness center, basketball court, racquetball and squash courts and a lounge. The club has housed presidents, First Ladies, international statesmen and movie and music celebrities.
But throughout its 80-year history, the IAC also has maintained longstanding ties with the Speedway.
In fact, T.E. "Pop" Myers, longtime general manager of the track, was one of the founders and carried membership card No. 3. He also was the original secretary of the IAC.
Fast forwarding through eras, the Speedway has held its Indianapolis 500 May Kickoff Luncheon in the Club's fourth-floor ballroom for several years. Many of the Indy Racing League stars of today made appearances and were interviewed. Attending often were Mari Hulman George, chairman of the Speedway board, and son Tony George, IMS president and CEO.
It was Tony Hulman, Mari George's father and Tony George's grandfather, who used the Athletic Club as a stage to reveal he had purchased the track for approximately $750,000 just three months after World War II ended. Wilbur Shaw, winner of three of the last five Indianapolis 500-Mile Races before the facility was shut down in 1942 after America joined the war, attended also. He had convinced Hulman that the track must be saved and the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race resumed.
Hulman named Shaw president. The facility, after lying idle for nearly five years, was in decrepit condition, but it was resurrected in time to present the 30th Indianapolis 500 on May 30, 1946.
The ties between the Speedway and the IAC go much deeper than that.
"It was quite a gathering place for Speedway people," said Jack Martin, executive secretary of the Indy 500 Oldtimers Club.
Hulman and his right-hand man, Jo Quinn, lived in the IAC during May until the trackside Speedway Motel was constructed. Mari George lived there while attending a near-downtown high school.
The Borg-Warner Trophy, one of the most famous in all of sports, resided there during the winters of its early existence.
Noted drivers have stayed there going back to Englishman John Duff, one of the famous "Bentley Boys" of the Roaring Twenties. He made his one venture to the Indianapolis 500 in 1926, starting 28th and finishing ninth.
The exclusive Champion 100 Mile An Hour Club was formed in 1935, and every one of its May banquets took place at the IAC. To qualify, a driver had to drive the full 500 miles at an average speed of at least 100 mph without the aid of a relief driver. In latter years, a celebrity or two would attend the banquet. One year, famed variety show host Ed Sullivan joined the festivities.
The United States Auto Club, formed in 1955 and becoming the sanctioning body of the Indianapolis 500, conducted its first banquet there in May 1957. Jimmy Bryan, who won USAC's first two Champ car titles, was saluted.
The 500 Festival Parade became an adjunct to the Indy 500 weekend in the late 1950s. The Festival board's meetings took place at the IAC for a number of years. And the Festival queen was crowned there from 1959-65.
American Red Ball, a moving firm, sponsored cars in the 1960s and held a fancy party at the IAC each May that saluted Indianapolis 500 drivers.
The Monroe rookie dinner, a popular May party in years past, started at the Athletic Club before switching to the Columbia Club on the Circle.
Peter DePaolo, 1925 Indianapolis 500 winner and the first winner to average 100 mph, frequented the Athletic Club often. Even when he was 80, he might have been found in the restaurant/bar off the main lobby telling stories and singing opera with a grand voice.
Tony Stewart was the subject of a press conference in 1997 at the IAC. Joe Gibbs announced he had signed Stewart to a NASCAR contract for the future. Stewart won the 1996-97 Indy Racing League championship, moved over to the stock car circuit and won the 2002 Cup title.
Jim McKay, who anchored Indianapolis 500 telecasts for many years as part of his "Wide World of Sports" duties on ABC, returned to Indy in 2003 and was an honored guest at the Kickoff Luncheon at the IAC. National Speed Sport News Editor Emeritus Chris Economaki, auto racing's most famous reporter, was honored at another luncheon.
"No question, things socially and business-wise revolved around the IAC," said John Cooper, former Speedway president. "It was the center of off-track activity." ***
IMS tickets: To purchase tickets, camping or parking for either the Indianapolis 500, United States Grand Prix or Brickyard 400, contact the IMS ticket office at (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area, (317) 492-6700 locally or log on to www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com.
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