By alley - Sep 10, 2014, 8:21 PM ET

Report: IndyCar, IMS back in the black

The

Sports Business Journal

reports that the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway – key elements of the motorsports division of the Hulman & Company corporate portfolio – are set to be profitable for the first time in more than five years. The report credits the elimination of some positions and new revenue from increased ticket and sponsorship sales for putting the company's Hulman Motorsports division back in the black.

"We had a very good year and turned the corner," Hulman & Company CEO Mark Miles (ABOVE, IndyCar photo) told the Sports Business Journal, although he declined to discuss specifics of the company's financial performance.

The positive numbers on the sales front follow encouraging numbers in TV audience for IndyCar this year. Overall, Verizon IndyCar Series races on ABC, ESPN and NBCSN gained 12 percent in viewership with an average of 1.07 million viewers for the 17 race telecasts, up from 953,000 average viewers for 19 telecasts last season.

Miles credited ending the season early with helping IndyCar post its second-most-viewed season on NBC Sports Network. For the full story,

click here

.