It looks like CART has made it official to run at the legendary oval at night this year.... Should be intersting. Who will be there? We should organize a meet if possible...

The only problem is the new grandstands designed fro all those NASCAR fans.. That was a bad move in my book.:mad:

Whats wrong with the grandstands? (I've never been there)

THey used to have a real nice canopy over the stands and now they don't. So if its a really sunny day, now you fry where before you were completely comfortable. That and it is a little too NASCARish, but then again it is an oval...:rolleyes:

I'll probably attend if you set up a meet. I've never been to a CART oval race.

Fred

Awesome! Qualifying is at night as well, Champ car qulifying at the mile was a blast last year so hopefully we will see the same excitement this year.

I will remember to post about this again sooner to actual race day. It should be a blast seeing as this is the first time they have run at night.

"The Milwaukee Mile
The Milwaukee Mile is known as "America's Legendary Oval. The speedway is located in West Allis, Wisconsin right outside of Milwaukee, and the track is in the Milwaukee State Fair Grounds. The first auto race was staged at the site on Sept. 11, 1903. William Jones of Chicago, driving a 30 horsepower Columbia, won the five-mile contest. Because of that, The Milwaukee Mile proudly claims a heritage as the oldest operating major speedway in the world. NASCAR's first visit to the track came in 1984, and in 1995 the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starting racing at the facility.
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RacingOne.com report
The oldest racing facility in the world is set to receive a major facelift.
The Milwaukee Mile, which first hosted auto racing in 1903, will undergo a $100 million renovation that will include the construction of a $25 million multi-purpose grandstand by the 2002 season.
"The race fans of Wisconsin deserve a facility from which they can better enjoy their favorite sport," said Milwaukee Mile President Carl Haas. "My organization is committed to providing premier racing events to showcase the `new’ fairgrounds and I’m looking forward to the continued alliance with State Fair Park to make The Milwaukee Mile the best place to watch short-oval racing in the world."
The current grandstand was built in 1936. Preliminary design work for the new grandstand is already in progress. Initial plans call for a multi-tiered, steel structure with brick façade consisting of approximately 25,000 seats topped with suites and press facilities.
Jim Melvin, The Milwaukee Mile’s General Manager, said the approximate 20,000 new bleacher seats in turns one and four will increase the tracks’ stadium seating capacity from 37,000 to 45,000.
In recent years, The Milwaukee Mile schedule has included the CART FedEx Championship Series, a NASCAR Busch Series/Craftsman Truck Series weekend and an ASA AC Delco Series race. All three events are expected to be back on the track’s 2001 slate."
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Carl Haas and Jim Melvin are not NASCAR and I don't think the Winston Cup (Grand National) cars have been there although they could have back when they went to Mosport and other wierd places back when there were 50+ races a year. The track wasn't paved until '54. To those of us not living in the shadows of the track it is best known for running champ cars the weekend after the 500 and less importantly, ASA. When I raced there in '87 it looked like it was 100 years old and needed work. I remember the roof being held up with hundreds of beams that must have been in the line of sight of most of the seats.
rz

Well said Randy. I do not believe Winston Cup has ever been at the mile. Many WC drivers have participated in the Busch Series and some WC teams use the facility for practice. I have been attending racing events at MMile since 1960 and have seen almost all of the champ car races since then as well as USAC Stockers, SCCA road racing, ASA, 1/4 mile dirt racing and raced Karts as well. The renovation was way past due and will be welcomed by all. I think I still have some splinters from the old bleachers. It's going to be great viewing for all events hopefully they will also remove the scoreboard in the middle of the infield as well.

Hey, thats the same track we are running at One Lap this year. Should be fun. Hopefully I wont hit a wall :eek:

Either way, I just thought it looked alot better the way it was. Granted it did need work but I would have liked to see it rennovated in a similar design as it was befor. IMHO it looks too NASCAR for me, but again its just my opinion.

I will agree that now there will be better views from most seats, it created much more seating and they do need to get rid of the giant scoreboard in the center of th track. Where do you put it where everyone can see it w/o it restricting someone's view???