Milwaukee Mile Bleachers available

cowboyhar69 · 3/13/16, 4:12 PM

http://www.wisn.com/sports/wisconsin...-mile/38446672

Not a surprise but sounds like this tracks days are numbered....but a good deal for a short track looking for bleachers. Bidding ends tomorrow but the fair manager says they will take a dollar for them if someone takes them down and hauls them away.

On a lighter note I remember going to a 100 lap midget race there in 1959 ( I was 8 years old) with my dad...Don Branson led for 99 and 3/4 laps when Tony Bettenhausen passed him coming off turn 4 for the win. We were sitting on the front straightaway at the finish line...and of course I never saw the finish because everyone stood up...lol

Stevensville Mike · 3/14/16, 10:16 AM

The bleachers for sale are off in Turn 4 and have been there for 13 years. But, the last line of the article might just say it all:

"There are no major league auto racing events at the Milwaukee Mile on the 2016 schedule."

This would be sad if it closed. I can remember as a kid watching the Indy Cars race there on TV in the 60s after the Month of May. There is a street along the backstretch and the houses faced the track. I always thought the people who lived in those houses had it MADE for they could sit on their front porch and watch the race without paying for a ticket.

Later, when going to to track, I realized the distance between the houses and track, and items blocking the sight lines, made my analogy as a youth quite far fetched, but that is what being young is all about.

racer-x · 3/14/16, 8:33 PM

I remember my Dad taking me too the Rex Mays classic in the early 70,s.. I think back then the race was a 200 mile race and I believe a week or 2 after the Indy 500. I also remember the wall of death were motorcycles rode around a wall and you looked down at them.. I think there was a fair going on then..
The modern generation kids will never have it as good as us in our 50's and up in age. Cheap gas, most all kids had a Dad, and a lot more racetracks and the best part no social media or cell phones!

Blackduce · 3/15/16, 1:22 AM

I am lucky seeing the Mile when it was dirt for a few races. Midgets Saturday, and Champ cars Sunday. Then paved. Not sure what year that was. College and Vietnam made me loose track of years. I remember Bettenhausen in the midget hiking the LF a good foot and a half in the dirt between 1 and 2. Lap after lap. Being green about this sport, I just thought the car was broke, but he sure was fast. And the place was packed. Any body else remember?

Lynn

PJ Wright · 3/15/16, 7:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by racer-x

The modern generation kids will never have it as good as us in our 50's and up in age. Cheap gas, most all kids had a Dad, and a lot more racetracks and the best part no social media or cell phones!

Agree 100%

Johnhunt · 3/15/16, 7:34 AM

Well, I'm glad I went I think 4 years ago or so when they had the IndyCar/USAC races. I think there were 7 races that weekend, and it was a fantastic event.

Tony74 · 3/15/16, 9:05 AM

Hate to think that I may have been at the last race ever there....

Stevensville Mike · 3/15/16, 9:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony74

Hate to think that I may have been at the last race ever there....

Maybe not, Tony. They put a lot of $$$ into re-doing the main grandstand a few years back. Maybe this selling of the bleachers is just to pare down there overall upkeep of the place. A lot of big NASCAR tracks have removed seats due to the economy and popularity explosion of the late 90s finally blowing over and coming full circle. I am hoping for the best.

It is too bad that promoters and series organizers cannot get together and revive something like the old Copper Classic. Phoenix and Milwaukee are the same size. A nice Silver Crown/Sprints/Midgets/Modifieds/Late Models event sometime in May, or so, to kick start the season would be great.

But, of course, that will take $$$.

And sense.

darnall · 3/16/16, 1:29 PM

It's a shame that there are no races scheduled at the mile in 2016.... last years indycar race there had me GLUED to my TV for the last 100 laps. Bourdais so dang fast that he lapped up to the top 6-9 or something, then pit strategy and an ill timed yellow took away the huge advantage he had. Rahal going through the pack like a madman the last stint and a half. Any track that can produce racing like that for the indycar series for sure needs to be on the schedule regularly. It was my favorite Indycar race of the year, even more so than the pack dance at Fontana