The
Milwaukee Mile is a 1.032 mile (1.619 km)-long
oval race track in West Allis,
Wisconsin
that seats about 40,000 spectators. It
operated as a dirt track until 1953. The track was paved in
1954.
The Milwaukee Mile’s premier distinction is as the oldest operating
motor speedway in the world, hosting at least one auto race every
year since 1903. The track is located at the grounds for the
Wisconsin State Fair. The track
has held events sanctioned by major sanctioning bodies, such as the
American Automobile
Association,
USAC,
NASCAR,
CART/
Champ Car World Series, and the
IndyCar Series. There have also been
many races in regional series such as
ARTGO.
Racers who have competed at the track are a Who's-Who of racing
history:
Barney Oldfield,
Ralph DePalma,
Parnelli Jones,
A.J.
Foyt,
Al Unser,
Bobby Unser,
Mario Andretti,
Bobby
Rahal,
Jim Clark,
Darrell Waltrip,
Alan Kulwicki,
Emerson Fittipaldi,
Bobby Allison,
Davey
Allison,
Nigel Mansell,
Michael Andretti,
Alex Zanardi,
Harry
Gant,
Rusty Wallace, and
Walker Evans, as well as current racing
stars
Danica Patrick,
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.,
Dario Franchitti,
Jeff Gordon,
Tony
Kanaan,
Scott Dixon,
Hélio Castroneves and many
others.
History
Dirt track history
The track started out as a one-mile (1.6 km) private horse racing
track on or before 1876. In 1891, the site was purchased by the
Agricultural Society of the State of Wisconsin to create a
permanent site for the
Wisconsin
State Fair (which it still is).
The first motorsports event was held on
September 11,
1903. William
Jones of Chicago won a five lap speed contest, and set the first
track record with a 72 second, lap. There were 24-hour endurance
races in 1907 and 1908. Louis Disbrow won the first event in 1915,
averaging .
Barney Oldfield's success at The
Mile helped make him a legend. He set the track record in 1905 and
raised his speed in 1910 to in his "Blitzen Benz".
In 1911, Ralph DePalma won the first Milwaukee Mile
Championship Car race, four years before his Indianapolis
500
win. Oldfield drove a gold car built by
Harry Miller that completely enclosed the driver (called the
"Golden Submarine"), and in June 1917 he beat DePalma in a series
of 10 to match races.
The race usually credited as being the first Champ Car event at the
track was held on July 17, 1933. The show was rained out.
Wilbur Shaw and the other drivers convinced the
track promoters to run the race the following day and the term
"Rain Date" was born.
Huge new grandstands were installed in the 1930s, with seating for
14900 people. They replaced the original grandstands that were
built in 1914. A roof was placed over the grandstands in 1938.
These grandstands stood until new aluminum grandstands were
installed in September 2002.
The 1937 Champ Car event was best known for running 96 laps
(instead of 100) due to a scoring error. It was won by
Rex Mays, who continued his domination throughout
the 1940s by winning in 1941 and the next race (after World War II)
in 1946.
The tradition of hosting the "race after the Indianapolis 500"
began in 1947.
The Milwaukee Mile held more national Championship midget, stock
and Indy car races than any other track in the country between 1947
and 1980.
Open Wheel
In 1954 the track was paved, and an infield road course was
created. The 1/4 mile dirt infield track was kept for weekly
programs during the 1950s and 1960s.
In 1963
Jim Clark won the first victory
for a rear-engined Indy Car in his
Lotus-
Ford.
In 1964
A.J. Foyt
dominated in what was to be his final race in a roadster. The
rear-engine began dominating races in the 1960s, replacing the
front-engine roadster, but not before one unexpected race. In 1965
A.J. Foyt had to
tow his front-engine backup dirt car from Springfield because his
primary car and crew wouldn't make it to Milwaukee in time for
qualifying. He prepared the car himself for pavement, and put the
car on the pole with a speed of . He led for 16 of 200 laps, and
finished second.
The track was repaved before the 1967 season. By 1967 both the 1/4
dirt track and 1/2 mile road course were closed to accommodate the
pit area.
In the 1983 CART race,
Tom Sneva finished
first by 10 seconds. Post race inspection found an improper ground
clearance on the side mount skirts, so second place finisher
Al Unser was given the win. On appeal, the
decision was overturned, and Sneva was awarded the win two weeks
later. Sneva would repeat the win one year later in a new 200
kilometer race.
The last
sports car race was held
on the infield road course on
June 16
1984. The track had deteriorated. It was
repaved before October 2004.
In the 1985 CART event,
Mario
Andretti won the pole on his way to his fourth career track
win. His son
Michael won the next
two races in 1986 and 1987.
Al Unser Jr. won the 1990 CART race
after
Michael Andretti ran out of
fuel with two laps to go. The victory was the ninth for the Unser
family (father
Al Unser, Sr. and uncle
Bobby Unser each have four).
The 1991 CART event, however, was dominated by their archrival
Andretti family. For the first time in the worldwide history of
auto racing, three member of the same family finished 1-2-3.
Michael Andretti won the race, second went to his cousin
John, and third to his father Mario. Michael's
brother
Jeff finished 11th.
Milwaukee was in danger of losing its CART date in 1992. To save
the date, the Fair Board hired
Carl Haas
to organize all track activities.
The 1992 CART event was again won by Michael Andretti. In 1993,
reigning
Formula One champion
Nigel Mansell got his first oval track win on
his way to winning the CART championship. In 2000,
Juan Pablo Montoya gave
Toyota its first CART win. History was made again
when
Ryan Hunter-Reay led all of
250 laps to the victory. The final
Champ
Car race was held in 2006, with eventual champion
Sébastien Bourdais winning.
The
Indy Racing League IndyCar Series came to the mile in
2004.
Dario Franchitti won the inaugural event.
His team,
Andretti Green
Racing has won three out of six races at the mile with the
other two being won by
Penske Racing
drivers
Sam Hornish Jr. in 2005 and
Ryan Briscoe in 2008 and
Chip Ganassi Racing driver
Scott Dixon in 2009.
NASCAR Nationwide Series/Craftsman Truck Series
NASCAR held two
Nationwide Series stock car races at
Milwaukee in 1984 and 1985. The 1984 field was full of NASCAR
legends:
Alan Kulwicki (2nd),
Dick Trickle (3rd),
Bobby Allison (4th),
Davey Allison (5th),
Dale Jarrett (6th), and
Darrell Waltrip (25th). The 1984 race was
won by
Sam Ard.
On July 3, 1993, the NASCAR Nationwide Series returned to
Milwaukee. The event was won by
Steve
Grissom. In 1996 Wisconsin native
Dick
Trickle was passed with four laps to go by
Buckshot Jones, who nosed out
Mike McLaughlin and won the race from the
furthest starting spot (32nd) and by the closest margin of victory
in race and NASCAR Nationwide Series history (.002 seconds). The
Nationwide Series has run every year since 1993. Five drivers that
won the NASCAR
Nationwide Series
race at Milwaukee went on to win the Busch Series championship in
the same year (
Steve Grissom-1993,
Randy LaJoie-1997,
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.-1998,
Jeff Green-2000,
Greg Biffle-2002). Biffle became the first
repeat winner when he scored back-to-back victories in 2001 and
2002. Despite Trickle having come the closest previously, the last
two NASCAR Nationwide Series races have been won by Wisconsin
natives (
Johnny Sauter/Necedah-2005
and
Paul Menard/Eau Claire-2006). Menard
also became the third driver to make the NASCAR Nationwide Series
race at Milwaukee his first career NASCAR Busch Series win, joining
Buckshot Jones in 1996 and
Casey Atwood in 1999.
The NASCAR
Camping World
Truck Series (CTS) began racing at Milwaukee in its inaugural
season in 1995.
Mike Skinner
won the event. The 1996 event featured 17 lead changes. The CTS has
returned every season since 1995.
Ted
Musgrave became the only repeat winner as he followed up
victory in 2001 with a second triumph in 2004, both behind the
wheel of the #1 Mopar Performance Parts Dodge for Jim Smith and
Ultra Motorsports. Musgrave is also the only Wisconsin native to
have won the race. Two drivers have the distinction of having won
both a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race and a NASCAR Busch Series
race at Milwaukee.
Ron Hornaday won in
Truck race in 1996 and the Busch race in 2004, while Greg Biffle
won the Truck race in 1999 and the Busch race in 2001 and
2002.
The track was resurfaced after the 1995 season.
In 2003 temporary
Musco lights were
brought in for the Champ Car World Series event. The temporary
lights were also used for the CTS and Busch Series events in 2005
and 2006. The following is a map of Milwaukee Mile:
2008 Events & Results
2009 Schedule
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