IndyCar returns to Milwaukee Mile on Sunday

Associated Press

WEST ALLIS, WIS.

It’s a gritty 1-mile oval with its share of rough edges, set in the middle of a modest neighborhood just west of downtown.

No, the Milwaukee Mile isn’t the prettiest or most polished racetrack around. And it nearly slipped off the motorsports map for good last year, when financial problems left it without a viable promoter or a date on the NASCAR or IndyCar schedules.

But the Mile does have a history — a fact that isn’t lost on the IndyCar drivers who will lead the return of big-time racing to the track this weekend. Graham Rahal, son of Indy icon Bobby Rahal, said it “just didn’t seem right” for the series to miss Milwaukee last year.

The Mile hosted its first auto racing event in 1903, predating even the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And Milwaukee once was directly linked to the Indianapolis 500, traditionally hosting a race the weekend right after Indy.

The Milwaukee area was a hotbed during Indy-style racing’s popularity peak in the 1980s and early 1990s. But the track hit hard times in recent years, with attendance sagging and multiple promoters falling by the wayside with financial problems.

NASCAR hasn’t returned and now it remains to be seen how big a draw IndyCar will be with a race date that falls on Father’s Day; the track’s recent announcement of a wide-ranging two-for-one ticket deal is a win for fans, but also could be an indication that demand isn’t surging.

“I’m glad to be back,” said Tony Kanaan, who won at Milwaukee in 2006 and 2007.

Fans should be in for a good show.

Drivers say the track surface is still in decent shape — although pit lane is a different story — and Milwaukee should be, as it always was, a great place to race.

Unlike high-speed, high-banked ovals, where car setup and pit strategy determine the winner as much as driver skill, Milwaukee is seen as a track where a driver can make the difference.

“There’s always risk versus reward, but here more than anywhere you get rewarded for pushing that little extra bit,” Rahal said. “You can push hard and find that extra little bit of speed and you can get something for it.”

With so many cars on such a short track, even the leaders will constantly have to weave through slower traffic. And because there’s more than one fast lane to run in, drivers can experiment with different lines around the track.