NASCAR Nationwide to Road America

[GB Puck Fan]

With no racing at The Milwaukee Mile, the Nationwide race is going to Road America.

http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/sport...o-road-america

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: NASCAR Nationwide to Road America

Makes me wonder when they're going to turn the Milwaukee Mile into something more useful than an overflow parking lot for the Wisconsin State Fair.

[aparch]

Re: NASCAR Nationwide to Road America

Sucks for the Mile, but I'm glad that it's staying in the Upper Midwest for that weekend.

It's a shame that with the brand new grandstands and the renovations that took place, that the Mile's promoters went belly up. I'm surprised that John Menard didn't swoop in and rescue the facility.

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: NASCAR Nationwide to Road America

Sucks for the Mile, but I'm glad that it's staying in the Upper Midwest for that weekend.

It's a shame that with the brand new grandstands and the renovations that took place, that the Mile's promoters went belly up. I'm surprised that John Menard didn't swoop in and rescue the facility.

Considering his NASCAR connections, that is kind of shocking.

It's hard to imagine what they'll do with it if the auto sports thing dries up for good.

Try to get more races there (unlikely)?
Turn it into a soccer stadium (for the team that doesn't exist)?
Turn it into a football stadium (for the non-existant Marquette and UWM teams)?
Location for the next Bucks arena (have fun with that)?
Turn it into a horse racing track (hey, that actually might be cool)?

[dave29]

Re: NASCAR Nationwide to Road America

It is a shame to see a track lose races like this. However, it is a good opportunity for another track. Hopefully they will have success.

[crazytechfan]

Re: NASCAR Nationwide to Road America

This should be quite interesting. My dad's racing at Road America for the first time in awhile this year.

[Twitch Boy]

Re: NASCAR Nationwide to Road America

Just sack up already and go here:

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[SteveP]

Re: NASCAR Nationwide to Road America

Just sack up already and go here:

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+1. Driving the 'Ring is on my bucket list.

[GB Puck Fan]

Re: NASCAR Nationwide to Road America

The sad part is, if the Mile had done the renovations 10/15 years earlier, it might have gotten a Cup race instead of Chicago or Kansas City, considering the history at the track, etc. Instead they waited and boom passed them by.

According to Dave Kallman, the excellent motor sports writer at the Journal-Sentinel, Menard was the money behind one of the four promoter groups who tried to work out a deal this year with the State Fair Board.

Part of the problem was the last promoter left huge unpaid bills to both the IRL and NASCAR, and the new promoter was going to have to pay those before even thinking about getting a race in 2010. We all know Menard has the cash for that, but there's obviously just something wrong with the entire situation down there.

Yes, the track has been active longer than Indianapolis and just about anywhere else. But let's face it, most of the time the racing is simply booooooorrrrrinnngggg, especially in stock cars.

And, because of the design (the long straightaways) it's really impractical to ask the weekly drivers who race at Madison, LaCrosse, WIR or Slinger to take those cars to TMM and race without blowing up. And since the ASA went away, there's no good stepping stone up in cars to get the state drivers there. I know Kenseth's dad has tried, but it just hasn't worked.

OK, that's the bad. The good news is RA is an outstanding course. Will draw from both GB and Milwaukee, not to mention the automatic fan base the Nationwide Series will bring in. RA has been hurting since the loss of IndyCars (and why they dropped RA I'll never understand; they used to get 70,000 for a race!) and this will be a great addition. Hopefully NASCAR's Grand Am series follows.

I think it would be a great venue for F1, but no one wants to pay Bernie's ransom to make that happen. Maybe, though, the Nationwide race goes well and leads to a Cup race. Many say Watkins Glen is not their favorite track, so who knows.

As for the Mile's future, someone will try again with racing.

[Timothy A]

Re: NASCAR Nationwide to Road America

Myself being a seasoned open wheel guy, I love the track, but I think alot of crapcar fans will be disappointed if they go up there. They are used to seeing the cars all the way around the track or at least the majority of the track, but like any roadcourse, you only see a corner or 2 from any one viewing point.

I sure do miss the Indy cars up there. That was always an awesome experience. We'd get a weekend pass, and go up all 3 days. Saturday was awesome because first there'd be the Indy practice and qualifying, then the Trans Am race. I can smell the fumes in the air and hear the gear changing in the distance and the cars roaring up the main straight right now.