11 replies to this topic

[davegess]

Well the oldest race track in the world may have held it's last racing event. Considering the wide variety of stuff that has raced at the Milwaukee Mile in it's 106 year history it would be fitting that the last race was for professional snowmobilers! They ran the weekend before Christmas and as of now there is no promotor and no races scheduled for 2010. There is hope that racing of some sort will actually take place here in 2010 but it will most certainly not be any sort of major event.

A return to it's roots a venue holding only small time local events may keep the track alive long enough for someone to figure out how to make money promoting major racing again. The track itself is owned by the State of Wisconsin and is a major part of the Wisconsin State Fair grounds so it won't be turned into a shopping mall anytime soon so there is some hope.

It would be dam shame to lose it as it has staged racing every year, with exceptions for the world wars, since 1903 and no place else can match that run. It is likely that no place else can match the variety of racing machines that have competed here; if it ran in the USA it ran here.

[Henri Greuter]

Well the oldest race track in the world may have held it's last racing event. Considering the wide variety of stuff that has raced at the Milwaukee Mile in it's 106 year history it would be fitting that the last race was for professional snowmobilers! They ran the weekend before Christmas and as of now there is no promotor and no races scheduled for 2010. There is hope that racing of some sort will actually take place here in 2010 but it will most certainly not be any sort of major event.

A return to it's roots a venue holding only small time local events may keep the track alive long enough for someone to figure out how to make money promoting major racing again. The track itself is owned by the State of Wisconsin and is a major part of the Wisconsin State Fair grounds so it won't be turned into a shopping mall anytime soon so there is some hope.

It would be dam shame to lose it as it has staged racing every year, with exceptions for the world wars, since 1903 and no place else can match that run. It is likely that no place else can match the variety of racing machines that have competed here; if it ran in the USA it ran here.

Sickening thoughts.
Such a shame...


henri

[HistoricMustang]

Born and raised in the Confederate States of America (CSA) I was only able to attend one race at the Milwaukee Mile.

It was a USAC stock car race during the summer of 1965 and was very enjoyable.

http://www.ultimater....php?raceid=287

Henry

[davegess]

It will be shame to see it slowing sink. Some poor decisions were made over the last two decades involving the grandstands. I took far too long to decide to replace the old one and then they didn't build a structure that could generate revenue over and above the ticket prices. With the cost structure over the last ten years none of the promoters have actually turned a profit. Part of the blame for that falls on the promotor and part on the Fair Board but mostly it reflects how tough it has become to run a profitable race track. When NASCAR banned testing at tracks they raced at it was pretty much impossible for the mile to make any money. The testing was really keeping the place afloat.

We will see some small scale races and the State has a million bucks in debt service on the grandstand so they really need to do something to get fans into the seats to cover those payments so perhaps they will come up with a plan. With racing everywhere suffering from bad economy there are not a lot of tracks looking to add events so race dates are available.

[cdrewett]

Sickening thoughts.
Such a shame...


henri

Well, there's a surprise. In our insulated Brit way we always thought that Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb, started in August 1905, and in continuous use ever since apart from two world wars, is the world's oldest motor racing venue. Seems we need to revise all our records.
It's very sad that Milwaukee may not continue. Luckily, Shelsley goes from strength to strength and we would love to welcome our friends from across the pond, Milwaukians and otherwise, to come and visit.
Chris

[RA Historian]

Dave sums it up rather well. A lot of fault is there to be spread around, not the least of which is that of the Fair Board et al. The State owns the track, but there is way too much bureaucracy involved with levels of civil servants all sticking their noses into it. At times noboby knows who answers for what or who controls what. The fact that these people not only have little to no knowledge of racing, coupled with the fact that most have never had any real world business experience, makes the situation difficult, to say the least.

The promoter side has gone down hill also. The last promoter who knew what he was doing was Carl Haas. Haas apparently had the foresight in the early part of this decade to see what was coming and he got out when the getting was good. The state itself ran the track for two or three years, to no good effect, before a group won a contract to stage races, starting in 2006. While there were some good racing people in this group, they essentially were just investors, while the group's management was non-racing people. Apparently they were more interested in leveraging their race promotorship into acquiring Fair Park land for the construction of a hotel, restaurant, etc. (which never happened). The whole arrangement never really gelled, and came tumbling down at the start of this past season.

The baton was picked up by an individual who ran the two big weekends of 2009. But, as well meaning as this fellow may have been, he had no money and no backers. It seems to me that the Fair Park board gave him the concession without any due diligence, simply to get a 'warm body' in there who said he could run the year's events. At the conclusion of this past June's IRL and nascar events he closed up shop, leaving unpaid creditors, including the IRL and nascar, holding the bag.

Since that time there has been at least three prospective promoters in the picture, all deciding not to go forward at one point or another in the negotiations. Public statements have generally been tight lipped, along the usual lines of not having sufficient backing, unable to work out terms, etc. The closest to the truth probably was the second prospective promoter to walk, the Giuffre Brothers, who said that the terms offered by the Fair Park board were unrealistic and that the Board had no concept of either racing or business dealing. They also vehemently objected to the terms of an agreement being altered without their consent or knowledge. The last prospect took a couple weeks to look at it, then departed simply saying that there was not any way that a profit could be made.

My opinion? Racing is dead unless the Fair Park board wakes up and realizes that no promoter will come in and run races as long as they terms of the deal preclude that promoter making a profit. As it stands now, the overpriced and underbuilt grandstands carry a multi-million dollar debt that the state insists be paid for by any incoming promoter. As the Giuffre Brothers pointed out, the grandstands are a capital improvement owned by the state, so why should an incoming promoter pay for it? As long as the state tries to saddle a promoter with $22 million in debt before that promoter sells ticket one, no promoter with an ounce of business sense will touch it.

Small disclaimer: most of the dealings detailed above took place out of the public eye and my knowlege of them is from what I read in the paper and what I have been told by a couple of the participants.

The whole thing is one sorry mess and yet another example of what you get when the government becomes involved. Read into that what you will.

Oh yes, at the moment it appears that there will be two motorsports events at the Mile next season, both on a rent the track for the weekend basis. An SCCA regional in June, and the Millers at the Mile in July. But that is also the definition of small potatoes.

Tom

[davegess]

It is nice to hear that there are two races scheduled for next year. In a way it is a return to the roots of the track because for the first 4 decades large scale national races were few and far between. It wasn't until after WWII that championship races became yearly events.

I don't think it fair to really blame the Fair Board. they are pretty much volunteers who are responsible for a successful State Fair and only have the race track as a remnant of the days when horse racing was a big part of the fair. The real reason for the serious decline in the track was the collapse of USAC and the beginning of CART. USAC stock cars generated more revenue for the track than did the Indy cars. Because the track paid well and held two or three stock races during fair week, along with a champ car event, all the top Indy stars races stocks at the mile. It was far safer than running a sprint car or midget on some bullring and paid well. When the Indy stars stopped racing stocks a major source of revenue was lost. Tom Marchese was basically retired and no one else really understood what was happening and what to do about it. I like to think that Tom may have gone after NASCAR back then when the track was certainly good enough to attract them. By the mid 80's NASCAR had gotten so big that the simple facilities and small grandstand would have been unable to hold a race. NASCAR may well have always been impossible as NASCAR had bad experiences with Fair Boards and did not like to stage races at those kind of tracks. I promotor as solid as Marchese may well have been able to pull it off but no one else would have been able.

By the time Carl Haas ran the place it may have already been too late. Trying to make money on 40,000 paying customers seems like it would be almost impossible as costs have gone up way faster than the fans willingness to pay. Having to pay for grandstands that did not include money making amenities , I understand that a restaurant was planned for under the stands but the local fire marshall refused to approve the location, was the last straw. It is right that the race promoter pay the cost as they are really only user of the seats. The Guiffres contention that the promotor should not pay is simply not true IMHO. Those guys were really a last gasp and even if they had signed a deal it would likely have ended as badly as there fist attempt to run the track. When they had it the ASA folks refused to work with him and promoted races on there own. Dealing with the Fair Board requires political finesse and subtlty. No one since Tom Marchese has had that to the detriment of the track.

[RA Historian]

By the time Carl Haas ran the place it may have already been too late. Trying to make money on 40,000 paying customers seems like it would be almost impossible as costs have gone up way faster than the fans willingness to pay. Having to pay for grandstands that did not include money making amenities , I understand that a restaurant was planned for under the stands but the local fire marshall refused to approve the location, was the last straw. It is right that the race promoter pay the cost as they are really only user of the seats. The Guiffres contention that the promotor should not pay is simply not true IMHO. Those guys were really a last gasp and even if they had signed a deal it would likely have ended as badly as there fist attempt to run the track. When they had it the ASA folks refused to work with him and promoted races on there own. Dealing with the Fair Board requires political finesse and subtlty. No one since Tom Marchese has had that to the detriment of the track.

Having the incoming promoter pay for permanent improvements to the physical plant that are not owned nor built by said incoming promoter is not right. The race track area can and has been used for many other events, including daily and evening shows during the annual Wisconsin State Fair. The grandstands are used for more non-racing events than they are used for racing. A racing promoter should not be obliged to pay for pemanent infrastucture fixtures on the Wisconsin State Fair grounds period; further, he should not have to pay for said improvements that are used for other things than racing. Beyond that, it is simple economics; saddling a promoter with $22 million in debt before a single ticket is sold dooms said promoter to failure.

I agree with the statement that the Giuffres were a last gasp. They had promoted racing at the Mile roughly from 1984 through 1991 and had contentious relationships not only with the Fair Board, but also with all the sanctioning bodies. But at the stage of the game faced this past fall, the Giuffres were the only viable candidate. They had experience, such as it was, but more importantly they had backing, both from knowledgeable individuals (including John Menard) and sufficient financial reserves and bank lines of credit to make it work. No, they were not the best option, but at that point they were the only option. Of course, it all came tumbling down due to the astonishing ineptitude of the Fair Board. Yes, they may be volunteers, but they proved themselves to be completely incompetent in this matter, both with knowledge of racing and knowledge of business.

The Marcheses did promote races for a long time, but I am afraid their time had passed. Modern racing requires modern businessmen to make it work. What the Marcheses did in the 1940s and 1950s would not have worked in the 1990s. Wisconsin Auto Racing, which promoted the track from the Marcheses' retirement to their losing the contract to GO Racing in 1984, was a short track promoter in the big time. Well meaning, but a bit over their head. GO Racing, the Giuffres, we have mentioned. Carl Haas, from 1992 to 2003 or thereabouts, was by far the ablest and best promoter the track had in the 'modern era'. How able and shrewd was Carl? He knew when to get out!

Renting the track out for two weekends next year, for a non-spectator SCCA club event and for the Millers at the Mile exhibition, is not going to do anything for the bottom line. The only income from racing that one can see at this time is the renting out of the track for testing. When nascar changed its rules last year, ruling out testing at tracks that had nascar events, the Milwaukee Mile suffered a very significant loss of revenue, which contributed to the financial swamp that exists today.

Tom

Edited by RA Historian, 02 January 2010 - 16:09.

[Lotus23]

Yeah, I too am saddened to see Milwaukee implode. It was on my Bucket List for a number of years, but looks like it won't happen in this lifetime.

I've renewed my determination to get to others on the BL asap. Winchester, IN; Williams Grove, PA; Eldora, IA; Mont Tremblant; Donington; and Monza are right up there.

As usual, when one has the money, there's no time, and vice versa!

[RA Historian]

As if things were not bad enough already, more bad news this weekend.

Those who have been at the Mile a long time ago will remember that a small stream used to meander through the infield, entering the track from the south and exiting to the north. Around 1964 or so the stream was covered over, with the water flow conducted through large sewer type pipes. All well and good, until now.

The old pipes have deteriorated to the point where there is major leakage. This of course has caused the soil around the pipes to erode and the area above the pipes in the north end of the track grounds is in imminent danger of becoming a large sink hole. If nothing is done, a whole section will collapse. Repairs, consisting of excavation and repair, are estimated to cost in the several hundred thousand range.

The State says that the repairs will be made at some time. It remains to be seen if the Fair Park Board, in its continuing bumbling and incompetence, will try to add the cost on to the contract of any (?) prospective promoter, as they have done with all infrastructure costs in the past several years.

One more nail into the coffin...

Tom

[Aero426]

I find it sad that I can not find one quote from an elected official offering even tacit support of the Mile. Be it the mayor of West Allis, the Milwaukee County Executive (it is The Milwaukee Mile), or the Governor of the State of Wisconsin. With all the state and local budget deficits, The Mile at this point is a political hot potato that nobody really wants to touch, and many wish would go away. The Fair Board wasted precious time with potential promotor Tony Machi and seems to have wanted the subsequent Giuffre deal to fail from the start. Although the Giuffre's were not ideal in the eyes of the Fair Board, their group was the only alternative and they had the money to do it.

[RA Historian]

Although the Giuffre's were not ideal in the eyes of the Fair Board, their group was the only alternative and they had the money to do it.

Absolutely right. As it has been reported, the Giuffres had an agreement in prinicple to take over the promotion of the Mile. But at the 11th hour the Fair Park Board arbitrarily changed the language of the agreement, so the Giuffres walked away as the changed agreement left the Giuffres facing the certainty of financial loss. Although the Giuffres may not have been the ideal candidate to be the promoter, they were the ONLY viable candidate. Then, of course, the Fair Park Board fouled up (for want of a stronger term) the whole deal.

Tom