Angie’s List Affirms That The Race Must Go On

Indianapolis Grand Prix action during the inaugural running of the IndyCar Series event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. [John Wiedemann Photo]

Indianapolis – Services information purveyor Angie’s List confirmed that the May 9 Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis is not materially impacted by the Indiana legislature’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act mis-step.

Speaking for the company Cheryl Reed, Director of External Communications at Angie’s List, replied to RacingNation.com’s query regarding the INDYCAR event by saying, “Our sponsorship of the Grand Prix (of Indianapolis) remains in place and we are very excited about it.”

Chief Executive Officer Bill Oesterle of AL was a vocal critic of the RFRA legislation, which has since been modified slightly by Indiana lawmakers in an attempt to deflect scathing local and national criticism of the Act.

The Act as originally written gave businesses and individuals a means to discriminate against gay, lesbian, transvestite and gender anormative individuals in the city of Indianapolis and beyond. Additional wording approved by the Governor of Indiana on April 2 gives partial protection to the LGBA community, but does not extend fully over the entire state.

“Our campus expansion project involves financial commitment from both the city and the state,” Reed said. “We’ve placed it on hold because of the state component. The Grand Prix is a separate project with no state involvement.”

Angie’s List previously announced that they would cancel a $40 million expansion of their Indianapolis-based headquarters due to concerns over the law, that would have moved 1000 jobs into the state.

Reed also acknowledged that at the present time the company has no sponsorship arrangement in place for a driver/car team at the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day. Angie’s List has in the past been a very successful INDYCAR partner in the Great Race, most recently with Tristan Vautier and Schmidt/Peterson Motorsports in 2013.

Rather, AL will focus on their “Festival of Service” program for their most successful top-rated service companies.

A spokesperson for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway responded in kind by saying, “IMS has a great relationship with Angie’s List and there are no issues” with the road-course race at the track.

Allan Brewer

Allan Brewer covers IndyCar and other racing series for RacingNation.com. Allan is a fixture at the race track, armed with keyboard and camera, eager to take you inside open-wheel sport where the news is being made. He comes to RacingNation.com with multiple professional awards from the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association (AWWRBA). He began his motorsports writing career at FastMachines.com; and solely published IndyProRacer.com and A1GP.com, two award-winning websites for open-wheel racing’s junior leagues, prior to becoming IndyCar correspondent at Motorsport.com. He has also covered Formula 1, NASCAR, Formula E, the Indy Lights Series and its predecessor Indy Pro Series, NHRA events and major auto shows. His major interest outside of competition is automotive technology and its application to the cars we drive every day on the public highways.

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