IndyCar closes entertainment office in Southern, California

IndyCar officials "have decided to close the small Santa Monica, Calif., office designed to assist with contacts in the entertainment industry." IndyCar Entertainment "opened two years ago at the direction" of then-IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard. ICE "assisted with several projects, including the animated DreamWorks movie 'Turbo' scheduled to be released in July." ICE consisted of a three-person staff led by IndyCar Senior VP/Media & Entertainment Sarah Nettinga.

The following is the statement from IndyCar:

“As we look ahead to 2013, INDYCAR is focusing resources on our core business objectives, growing television ratings and event attendance, and therefore has decided to close our Los Angeles operation and realign those resources to better achieve these objectives. Our partnership with DreamWorks on the animated feature Turbo remains a top priority for the upcoming season and will be handled internally by our marketing, sales and public relations staff here in Indianapolis, which is where the relationship originally began and where much of the day-to-day work has continued to reside." INDYSTAR.com