Apparently undissuaded by the continuing debacle that is the forthcoming taxpayer-funded stadium for the Colts, Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson is offering taxpayer dollars to the George family, owners of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Peterson is concerned that the city may lose the Formula One race it only recently won, and so is offering taxpayer assistance to the Georges to make a lucrative offer to keep Formula One in town.

There’s just one problem. The Georges never asked for any money:

While admitting surprise at Peterson’s offer, George said he is not currently considering asking the city to contribute to his family-owned business. George’s grandfather, Tony Hulman, built the company on the foundation it would avoid using public funds. IMS president Joie Chitwood said there has been no deviation from that.

“We have never asked for any assistance; we have never received any assistance,” Chitwood said.

Good for them.

Also, is there a better Indiana last name than “Chitwood?”

Thanks to my dad for the link.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 5th, 2006 at 9:52 am by Radley Balko and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.