IndyCar/Indy 500 not for sale, or is it?

We have repeatedly heard from IndyCar CEO Mark Miles that IndyCar and the Indy Speedway are not for sale, despite rumors to the contrary. So if they are not for sale, then what were NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France, NASCAR Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer Steve Phelps, NASCAR Executive VP and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O'Donnell, and NASCAR Senior VP of Marketing and Industry Services Jill Gregory doing at the Indy 500 10 days ago?

Was it to sample some local Indiana food like Persimmon Pudding, Snickerdoodles (an Indiana Amish specialty) and Sugar Creme Pie, or was it to research in preparation for a proposal to buy it all? The only key person missing was Lesa France Kennedy – the chief executive officer of International Speedway Corporation and a member of the board of directors of NASCAR. Perhaps she stayed behind to start the preparation.

Also present were NASCAR team bosses Steve Newmark (Roush Fenway Racing), Roger Penske (Team Penske) and Chip Ganassi (Ganassi Racing).

What would be good for IndyCar would be to move the entire sport under the NASCAR umbrella so they can all benefit from a larger TV buy, larger sponsor deal buys, and higher TV ratings. And then we might see some IndyCar drivers running select NASCAR races and NASCAR drivers running select IndyCar races. From our perspective the Truck series needs to go away.