Milwaukee Mile
The Milwaukee Mile is a racetrack found in West Allis, Wisconsin, USA. It has been one of the main venues for American motor sports since 1903, holding at least one race a year. It is officially the oldest operating motor speedway throughout the world, with Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning eight years later in 1911. The Milwaukee Mile has played a large part in determining the face of auto racing during the past century.
Before 1953 the Milwaukee Mile was operated as a dirt track, but was paved in 1954, leaving the dirt infield track for weekly programs that took place during the 50’s and 60’s. It was repaved again once the 1967 season came to a closure and by 1970 the quarter mile dirt track and the half-mile road course were converted to accommodate the pit area.
The Legendary Oval has a list of past winners that are part of racing history, including names such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Barney Oldfield, Parnelli Jones, Rex Mays, A.J. Foyt, the Unsers and the Andrettis. The track is also known for being the only track to hold races for the Indy Racing League, NASCAR and the Champ Car World Series. NASCAR used Milwaukee for two Busch Series stock car races in 1984 and 1985. In 1993 the NASCAR Busch Series went back to Milwaukee where Steve Grissom won the event. Since then the Busch Series has been running every year from the Milwaukee Mile. Similarly the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series began its course in Milwaukee in 1995 and has returned every season.
After hosting NASCAR and IndyCar Series races for many years, it was announced at the end of 2009 that the Milwaukee Mile would not be hosting any events for these two sanctioning bodies in 2010. Instead the races traditionally held in Wisconsin will be hosted by Road America. Nevertheless, this legendary oval will no doubt continue to play a role in hosting other auto racing events.
