Indiana motor sports is now taking a victory lap, as a bill allowing for the “economic revitalization” of the industry has officially been signed into law.

Earlier this week, House Bill 1544 was passed into law, after receiving bi-partisan support from both the House and the Senate. Supporters are now hoping that Indiana racetracks, like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will receive the proper resources from our tax dollars in order to thrive.

“One of the things I wanted to do is I wanted to protect the Hoosier taxpayer in how we approached it and what we’ve historically done in Indiana,” said Representative Mike Karickhoff. “Over a number of years we’ve created professional sports development areas to help with professional teams like the Pacers and the Colts and the Indianapolis Indians and minor league teams in South Bend and Gary and Fort Wayne, Evansville.”

Karickhoff says that it didn’t seem right for the local government to turn their backs on what Indiana is probably best known for  - the Indy 500.

“We tried to structure this in that way so that we’re going to be committing $5 million a year to the Indianapolis motor speedway,” he said, explaining that an investment now would lead to a new facility being built in the future. “The theory is that unless a facility is built, we wouldn’t get that new money, and once it is built, we get it. And so we use that to help pay for it.”

He also adds that lending some financial support to racetracks across Indiana is something he feels taxpayers will truly support.

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