More muddle at The Mile

[pchall]

Bill from NASCAR past due
Mile promoter says group hopes to settle issue

By Don Walker of the Journal Sentinel

The race promoter for the Milwaukee Mile owes NASCAR money stemming from the races last weekend, and the Indy Racing League won't say whether it has been paid yet for its event in May.

The Mile hosted the Camping World Truck Series Copart 200 and the Nationwide Series NorthernTool.com 250 last Saturday. Claude Napier, head of Wisconsin Motorsports, did not disclose attendance numbers Friday but said the turnout for the truck race was low. As for the Nationwide Series race, Napier said it was in excess of 35,000 fans.

Napier acknowledged that the track would lose money this year. The Legislative Audit Bureau, which recently completed an audit of Wisconsin State Fair Park, said in its report that the Mile would lose money this year, putting added fiscal pressure on the fair.

"The sanctions fees are part of an overall deal," Napier said Friday. "We have been working closely with NASCAR in resolving these issues."

Asked for details, Napier said: "I don't want to get into specifics about what we owe and what we don't owe. We are working very closely with NASCAR and in particular we are working on the future."



MKE Journal Sentinel (http://www.jsonline.com/sports/autoracing/49286867.html)

The IRL date must be killing them. At least they get a sizeable crowd (35K) for the NASCAR trucks and cabs, jr. and I don't hear anything about Marlboro Red Hats and massively discounted [$3] tickets being sold for those races.

[pchall]

The current promoter has closed the offices and admits he had no investors.


Is Milwaukee Mile facing its final red flag?
By Dave Kallmann and Don Walker of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: July 2, 2009

The Milwaukee Mile office is closed, and all 12 staff members have been laid off at least temporarily. Whether the oldest auto racing facility in the country lives to see its 107th birthday is in grave doubt even among its biggest boosters.

"It depends totally if I'm able to get some investors," promoter Claude Napier said Thursday in a telephone interview from Texas.

"I knew I was going to be short of money."

Napier, president and chief executive officer of Wisconsin Motorsports, admitted to the Journal Sentinel for the first time that he had no other financial backers when he entered into a deal in February with State Fair Park, where the track is located.

Napier's organization owes NASCAR nearly $1.9 million for staging two races in June and owes the Indy Racing League an undisclosed amount for its weekend in May. The organizer of a spectator event in August - the track's final opportunity for a significant payday this season - said this week that he is ready to walk away from his commitment.

The Mile held its first automobile race in 1903, eight years before the first Indianapolis 500, and its infield served as the site of the 1939 National Football League championship game.

"I've got a hunch it's over," said Dominic Giuffre, a former promoter with his brother Frank. "It's too late."

The Giuffres, promoters at the Mile from 1983-'91, have expressed interest in returning to that role...



More at jsonline.com (http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/49777762.html)

[Don Quixote]

Its sad, considering the history. But let's face it, those ****boxes never did that place justice.

[pchall]

Its sad, considering the history. But let's face it, those ****boxes never did that place justice.

CART did them no favors towards the end, either. When CART racing needed a new chassis/aero specification and engine formula the owners were too busy beating up on each other on the track to earn their ¥en from Toyota and Honda to get it done. The more cynical me still believes that as individuals the owners thought that it was not in their personal best interest to fix the aero package for better racing on ovals and road courses since if they got a car into P1 with a great pitstop they could expect a safe unpassable drive home.