“Then Sell the Series”- Michael Andretti’s Shocking Plea Portrays Lack of Trust in New IndyCar Boss Roger Penske

Not all is fine and dandy in the IndyCar Series, as two legends of motorsports seem to be in a verbal duel. Series owner Roger Penske‘s organization Penske Entertainment proposed plans of a charter that required teams to pay $1 million to have a guaranteed start in every race of the season and a stable source of income through prize money. More investment in the sport is the need of the hour, but the way the series owners went about it did not sit well with the team owners, including racing legend Michael Andretti.

IndyCar is not what it used to be any more in terms of revenue and viewership. The open-top racing competition heavily relies on the Indy 500 for its annual revenue and for a series this big, relying on one race is not the best idea. When it comes to ratings and viewership, the series has been constantly being beaten by Formula One and NASCAR. Some sort of change is crucial at this point and Andretti believes that it’s the ownership.

Michael Andretti urges Roger Penske to not take their money

Roger Penske is no slouch. He has been in motorsports for decades now and knows the business very well. But he has not had much success with IndyCar of late. Andretti is not the only team owner in the competition who has called for a change before him, but his words hold a lot of weight. Andretti Autosport is one of the big teams in the series that has won 4 championships. When someone like the team’s owner publicly slams the series owner, it does not look good for the competition at all. And it all boils down to money.

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“From what I understood about the first proposal about the charters…it was comical,” he said as per a report in IndyStar. “First of all, $20 million isn’t going to do anything. You’ve got to have five times that number — at least. And it’s like, ‘Don’t take our money, Roger. You bought the series. We don’t own the series.'”

All this took place in front of a few reporters on Friday, and Michael Andretti did not hold back against Roger Penske at all. Some people have suggested that the proposed charter system was a way for the Team Penske owner to raise money for a series in dire need of investment, without reaching too far deep into his own pockets. And that’s something the Andretti Autosport owner was simply not going to stand by.

“Then sell the series. There’s people out there willing to do it. I think there’s a lot of people on the sidelines thinking, ‘This is a diamond in the rough if you do it right.’ But what you need is big money behind it to get it to that level, and if he’s not willing to do it, I think he should step aside and let someone else buy it,” he added.

Andretti might be a big name in motorsports, but so is Penske, and they were not going to lie down and take all that criticism without responding. Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles was tasked with that job and while he remained diplomatic, iterated that investment was not going to be an issue with or without the charter system.

Penske Entertainment ensures ‘significant investments’ after asking for money from teams

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It’s not that all has been bad in IndyCar ever since Roger Penske took over. Under his leadership, the competition saw an impressive increase in ratings, merchandise sales, sponsor interest, attendance, and social media engagement. But it’s still nowhere near the level of NASCAR, let alone Formula One. Miles remained optimistic that there have been investments since they took over the sport, but that raises a counter question. If you had significant investments, why go to the teams and ask for a million dollars each?

“We have made significant investments since our acquisition that have delivered record metrics for the sport of IndyCar across nearly every area. It has fueled our momentum, and we will continue to invest rationally and strategically to grow the sport,” Miles said.

“We’re readily talking to other media platforms, studios, production houses, agencies, and others, looking for ideas and potential partners — by which I don’t mean selling equity — but I don’t have any doubt that when we come up with big ideas that have real potential and meet the criteria I’m talking about, that those investments are available,” he added.

It certainly is a confusing time to be involved with IndyCar, as no one really is quite satisfied with how things are turning out. Yes, the Indy 500 is still a global phenomenon, but it’s still just one race. When F1 goes to Saudi Arabia and NASCAR goes to Phoenix this weekend, they’ll earn revenue and viewership numbers that IndyCar would struggle to on a non-Indy500 weekend.

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