Racing matriarch, Mari Hulman George, longtime president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, renowned for her heart and welcoming spirit on the famous track, has died at the age of 83. She has had a profound and lasting impact within IMS and her most famous run, the Indianapolis 500, a life in which she was born.

Beyond his business acumen, his position as Chairman of the Board of IMS and Hulman & Co. and his work as a racing enthusiast, Hulman George was known around the world as a woman who had called the Indianapolis 500 pilots, "Gentleman, start your engines."

"Think about this: how many people make a quarter of a million people annually applaud in four simple words?" asked Jake Query, IndyCar radio presenter and Indianapolis 500 longtime.

"Fourth gear for the matriarch of the race," said Query, "who oversaw the world's biggest sports site."

A mother's heart

Scott Brayton had just died in an accident at IMS in May 1996. A flat tire during Friday's training at Indianapolis 500 had his car turned into a concrete wall traveling at 220 km / h.

Bob Walters was in the office of Dr. Hank Bock – the medical director of IMS at the time – when he received a call from Hulman George.

"Mari begged me not to announce the death of Scott until we could inform his mother," said Walters, then director of public relations at IMS. "It was Mari, president of IMS, she did not demand, she asked, and she first thought of Scott's mother, it always gives me something. thinking about that. "

Hulman George's heart for pilots who came running on his circuit every year was obvious to them – but IMS historian Donald Davidson said few knew publicly how much she had gone to greet them.

"So, if you ran the race once, 40 years ago, you come back and you get a proof of identity for you and your wife," Davidson said. "She made sure that they greet you again and they greet you, and I do not think there's another faction of the sport where that's the case."

Not only were the winners of the race, but whoever was driving in the race was never turning away from IMS. Years ago, George even cooked a lot for his old drivers.

Her love for the drivers was not really surprising, as Hulman George, the only daughter of Tony Hulman and Mary Fendrich Hulman, spent much of her childhood – and even all her life – surrounded by drivers and their families.

As a little girl, she would befriend them. she was the little girl adored on the runway. She married a driver, the late Elmer George, in 1957.

"No matter where a pilot from around the world came from, they knew after the race that the person to thank was Mari," Query said. "It was not because she showed leadership, she had a grace in her, the legacy of this event and she wanted the Speedway to be presented to the world."

She grew up on the track

Hulman George was chair of the emeritus board of directors of IMS when she passed away Saturday in Indianapolis, with her family at her side.

She was president of IMS from 1988 to 2016, having grown up on the track after being taken over by her father, Anton "Tony" Hulman Jr. in 1945. She was co-owner of a racing team in the 1950s and 1960s .

She called Mary Antonia Hulman on Boxing Day 1934 in Evansville. She was 11 when her father bought the track.

At 21, she had formed the HOW race team, which included her future husband. She and Elmer George were married in 1957.

She presented entries to the Indianapolis 500 in 1962 and 1963, with Elmer as a driver.

IMS has prospered during her tenure as Chair of the Board of Directors and she has also witnessed a resurgence of the Indy 500 and the renovation of the runway in recent years.

Hulman George is survived by three daughters, Nancy George, Josie George and Kathi George-Conforti; a son, Anton H. "Tony" George; a daughter-in-law, Carolyn Coffey; seven grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and his longtime companion, Guy Trollinger. Her husband Elmer and a son-in-law Joseph George preceded him in the grave.

Funeral arrangements are pending with the Callahan & Hughes Funeral Home in Terre Haute, Indiana.

This story will be updated.

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow. Contact her by e-mail: [email protected].