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from 12 WISN
Milwaukee 2009/07/21
Wisconsin State Fair Park is looking for someone to run the Milwaukee Mile.
The board of directors decided to end its contract with Wisconsin Motorsports, which was running the track.
Park officials said the promoter faced insurmountable financial challenges.
The board said it's looking for a new promoter to secure IRL and NASCAR races for next year.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Save The Milwaukee Mile
I could write about a lot of things this week. The ALMS is denying all rumors about Grand Am DP buyouts or mergers. The ALMS is closer to the ACO than ever. The ALMS admits that the 2009 Le Mans break was too long. OK. That's all great - really. I could say more but do not have time. The FIA and FOTA are still fighting and plans continue to move forward for a new FOTA series. This is just getting silly. FOTA - go for it. Bernie and Max have shown their time has passed them by. But there is something that has been keeping me up at night all week and now the news broke - The Milwaukee Mile has been driven into the ground by a promotions hack and it needs your help.
Some background - The Milwaukee Mile is a $150 to $180 million, newly renovated asset owned by the State of WI, overseen by the WI State Fair Board, and it's promotional rights are leased out. The current promoter is Wisconsin Motorsports' Claude Napier. The Giuffre Brothers successfully ran the track from 1983 until 1991. The Mile is 106 years old. It's North America's oldest continuously run race track and has always had a major sanctioned race.
Stories (1, 2, 3) have been out there for a few weeks now. On July 2, Mark Belling discussed the situation in depth on his radio show. The Milwaukee Mile can't pay the bills it owes to the IRL and NASCAR. We are talking about nearly $4 million for the 2009 races. Claude "The Hack" Napier, head of Wisconsin Motorsports can't seem to make money with a NASCAR weekend. As of July 8 the remainder of 2009's races have been canceled. In 2010 the track could be closed.
The Giuffre Brothers have offered - pleaded with the State Fair Board to allow them to come out of retirement and take over the running of The Milwaukee Mile. The Giuffre's have reported that they have backing from John Menard. Mr Menard runs a small lumber yard hardware store business and has a small interest in motorsports. The offer seems like a no-brainer for Governor Doyle and Wisconsin.
The Milwaukee Mile needs your help. The following people or organizations can make a difference but they need to know that Wisconsin's racing heritage and The Mile are worth saving. Please contact them now.
Some background - The Milwaukee Mile is a $150 to $180 million, newly renovated asset owned by the State of WI, overseen by the WI State Fair Board, and it's promotional rights are leased out. The current promoter is Wisconsin Motorsports' Claude Napier. The Giuffre Brothers successfully ran the track from 1983 until 1991. The Mile is 106 years old. It's North America's oldest continuously run race track and has always had a major sanctioned race.
Stories (1, 2, 3) have been out there for a few weeks now. On July 2, Mark Belling discussed the situation in depth on his radio show. The Milwaukee Mile can't pay the bills it owes to the IRL and NASCAR. We are talking about nearly $4 million for the 2009 races. Claude "The Hack" Napier, head of Wisconsin Motorsports can't seem to make money with a NASCAR weekend. As of July 8 the remainder of 2009's races have been canceled. In 2010 the track could be closed.
The Giuffre Brothers have offered - pleaded with the State Fair Board to allow them to come out of retirement and take over the running of The Milwaukee Mile. The Giuffre's have reported that they have backing from John Menard. Mr Menard runs a small lumber yard hardware store business and has a small interest in motorsports. The offer seems like a no-brainer for Governor Doyle and Wisconsin.
The Milwaukee Mile needs your help. The following people or organizations can make a difference but they need to know that Wisconsin's racing heritage and The Mile are worth saving. Please contact them now.
| WI State Fair Board 640 South 84th Street West Allis, WI 53214 1.800.884.FAIR | Jim Doyle WI Governor Madison Office P.O. Box 7863 Madison, WI 53707 608-266-1212 |
| Senator Herb Kohl Washington Office 330 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 (202) 224-5653 Fax: (202) 224-9787 | Senator Russ Feingold Washington, DC 506 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-4904 (202) 224-5323 TDD (202) 224-1280 Fax (202) 224-2725 |
| Scott Walker Milwaukee County Executive 901 N. 9th Street Courthouse, Room 306 Milwaukee, WI 53233-1458 Phone: 414-278-4211 Fax: 414-223-1375 countyexec@milwcnty.com | Dan Devine West Allis Mayor 7525 W. Greenfield Ave West Allis, WI 53214 (414) 302-8200 |
Thursday, July 2, 2009
of ALMS & Indianapolis
In the past two months the Hulman-George family ousted Tony from 1st being CEO of IMS and then IRL. Mom allowed Tony to stay on the various boards but like all good children he is to be seen and not heard.
Things are changing on Georgetown Road and they might be looking for a sports car race. Now, the American Le Mans Series web site is running a poll. "Would you like to see the Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway?" Well, Duh! YES! Please head over to the ALMS and vote yes.
I know it would be too much to ask the ACO to allow a 24° of Indianapolis but a 12° enduro there would be spectacular.
Things are changing on Georgetown Road and they might be looking for a sports car race. Now, the American Le Mans Series web site is running a poll. "Would you like to see the Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway?" Well, Duh! YES! Please head over to the ALMS and vote yes.
I know it would be too much to ask the ACO to allow a 24° of Indianapolis but a 12° enduro there would be spectacular.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
of The IRL, IMS, & Tony George
NOW the war is over. After being voted out by the Hulman-George board of directors Tony George is no longer the CEO of IMS or his IRL. He was allowed to remain a board member.
Anyone who knows me will remember that I pledged to not attend an IRL race until Tony George apologized for destroying American Open Wheel Racing. With ChampCar gone, I had given up on ever seeing a live IndyCar race again. But now it was announced that Indianapolis Motor Speedway is free of Tony George - mostly. I will take this opportunity to accept, if not Tony's apology, then IMS' admitting to the huge mistake. The Speedway will still need to make me want to come back but there is hope.
This story has been brewing for months: here and here. In May, Tony George was voted out of power CEO of IMS by his mother and sisters. His foolhardy plans for forming the IRL cost the family too much money. Numbers have been reported that come in between $600 to $700 million in 13 years. Mom said, "enough Tony".
Yesterday it was reported that Tony George was stripped of his precious Imitiation Racing League. After last month's firing, Mom allowed Tony to save face and resign as CEO of the IRL and to stay on the various family boards. But, don't make any mistake - Tony is grounded and can't come out to play. He might be allowed to to play on Sundays with his Vision Racing Team - if he saves his allowance & behaves.
This is good news for IndyCar racing. The Hulman-George family could have hired a monkey to do a better job than Tony did. OK. I'll try to be fair. In the nearly 20 years that Tony has been in charge he has done a few good things. He started the Brickyard 400. He brought F1 back to the US and built the road course at IMS. I don't think he can be blamed for losing the USGP. MotoGP now races at Indy. These are good things that bring The Speedway closer to that original plan of Mr Fisher's over 100 years ago. But, Tony's temper tantrum resulted in a 13 year fight over Indy Cars eclipsing all of the progress.
Once it was announced that Tony George no longer controlled the purse strings or the series, the ugly truth was once again openly discussed. Kevin Kalkhoven of KV Racing and former ChampCar owner, "Clearly, we have a problem right now with boring races and old technology so we need new cars and engines as soon as possible." Sure. Now you speak up. Thanks for nothing Kalkhoven. The fans of American Open Wheel Racing knew this last year!
Tony's resignation & dismissal came, at the very least, 18 months too late. ChampCar could have been saved! Heck, the IRL could have been saved. ChampCar and the IRL could have merged on better terms. The Hulman-George family reports that they remain committed to the IndyCar Series as they do all of their companies. But something is up. If Mari's daughters are tired of paying for Tony's folly then why would they remove him only to keep paying for it? I don't believe they will. The former CFO of ChampCar, Gene Cottingham, is currently doing a top to bottom examination of the Hulman-George properties. I'm sure he is to report back on what is worth salvaging. Tony's IRL is eating money even after the 'merger' and the Hulman-George family is tired of paying. Someone needs to step forward and drive IndyCar into its second century.
My hope is that there are more team owners and manufacturers that feel the same way that Kalkhoven feels. Maybe they will step up to save IndyCar. I still have hope for the Indy 500 to return to true greatness by 2011.
Anyone who knows me will remember that I pledged to not attend an IRL race until Tony George apologized for destroying American Open Wheel Racing. With ChampCar gone, I had given up on ever seeing a live IndyCar race again. But now it was announced that Indianapolis Motor Speedway is free of Tony George - mostly. I will take this opportunity to accept, if not Tony's apology, then IMS' admitting to the huge mistake. The Speedway will still need to make me want to come back but there is hope.
This story has been brewing for months: here and here. In May, Tony George was voted out of power CEO of IMS by his mother and sisters. His foolhardy plans for forming the IRL cost the family too much money. Numbers have been reported that come in between $600 to $700 million in 13 years. Mom said, "enough Tony".
Yesterday it was reported that Tony George was stripped of his precious Imitiation Racing League. After last month's firing, Mom allowed Tony to save face and resign as CEO of the IRL and to stay on the various family boards. But, don't make any mistake - Tony is grounded and can't come out to play. He might be allowed to to play on Sundays with his Vision Racing Team - if he saves his allowance & behaves.
This is good news for IndyCar racing. The Hulman-George family could have hired a monkey to do a better job than Tony did. OK. I'll try to be fair. In the nearly 20 years that Tony has been in charge he has done a few good things. He started the Brickyard 400. He brought F1 back to the US and built the road course at IMS. I don't think he can be blamed for losing the USGP. MotoGP now races at Indy. These are good things that bring The Speedway closer to that original plan of Mr Fisher's over 100 years ago. But, Tony's temper tantrum resulted in a 13 year fight over Indy Cars eclipsing all of the progress.
Once it was announced that Tony George no longer controlled the purse strings or the series, the ugly truth was once again openly discussed. Kevin Kalkhoven of KV Racing and former ChampCar owner, "Clearly, we have a problem right now with boring races and old technology so we need new cars and engines as soon as possible." Sure. Now you speak up. Thanks for nothing Kalkhoven. The fans of American Open Wheel Racing knew this last year!
Tony's resignation & dismissal came, at the very least, 18 months too late. ChampCar could have been saved! Heck, the IRL could have been saved. ChampCar and the IRL could have merged on better terms. The Hulman-George family reports that they remain committed to the IndyCar Series as they do all of their companies. But something is up. If Mari's daughters are tired of paying for Tony's folly then why would they remove him only to keep paying for it? I don't believe they will. The former CFO of ChampCar, Gene Cottingham, is currently doing a top to bottom examination of the Hulman-George properties. I'm sure he is to report back on what is worth salvaging. Tony's IRL is eating money even after the 'merger' and the Hulman-George family is tired of paying. Someone needs to step forward and drive IndyCar into its second century.
My hope is that there are more team owners and manufacturers that feel the same way that Kalkhoven feels. Maybe they will step up to save IndyCar. I still have hope for the Indy 500 to return to true greatness by 2011.
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