For the last few months numerous stories have led us to believe that racing - IndyCar or otherwise - was likely to never again appear at the oldest speedway in the country. That too much corruption, mishandling, or plain old bad finances had done in the famed and historic Milwaukee Mile. That the track was going the way of an old, insignificant character in a Monty Python film.


The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not dead.
The Dead Collector: 'Ere, he says he's not dead.
Large Man with Dead Body: Yes he is.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not.
The Dead Collector: He isn't.
Large Man with Dead Body: Well, he will be soon, he's very ill.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm getting better.
Large Man with Dead Body: No you're not, you'll be stone dead in a moment.

The latest round of "not dead yet" focuses on YET ANOTHER group of promoters who have been tentatively approved to take over promotions at the trouble facility, this time including not only promoters who handled the track in the '90s, but also billionaire John Menard.

The Wisconsin State Fair Park Board unanimously agreed Friday to work with local businessmen Frank and Dominic Giuffre on a three-year contract to promote races at the Milwaukee Mile.

The Giuffre group would become the fourth promoter in six seasons, following State Fair Park, Milwaukee Mile Holdings (2006-'08) and Wisconsin Motorsports.

Still left unresolved is a long list of vendors who worked at the track with previous promoters. Those vendors have not been paid. Frank Giuffre said he has reached out to vendors to see if a settlement can be reached. So far, he said, no vendors have contacted him.
(MORE from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

To misquote Hamlet, "therein lies the rub". Prior promoters piled up quite a bit of debt and ill-will, not just with N****R and the IRL but with "a long list of vendors". As much as you or I would wish for it to be so, hanging YET ANOTHER sign that says "Now under new management!!!" doesn't make all of those unpaid bills magically go away, and it doesn't make any racing series still owed money come back to your track. It's all about the Benjamins, baby.

Perhaps The Milwaukee Mile is the Keith Richards of motorsports, a cockroach-like entity able to withstand such toxicity as to be nearly immortal. Or perhaps it dies tomorrow. As a race fan I certainly hope for the former, but I'm not holding my breath.

I'm not going to jump to conclusions, but, well, the way this is worded it sure looks like despite finding even more people to try to run the facility, those in charge of The Milwaukee Mile just gave the IRL a big fat "whatever".

It seems a resolution is near for YET ANOTHER series of folks to take over handling and promoting the facility, which is controlled by the Wisconsin State Fair Park Board. The latest deal will call for smaller payments to The Board with the option to defer some of the initial ones in an effort to offset the money currently owed to the IRL and N****R for licensing their most events.

But here are the uncomfortable parts, which are worded at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in such a way as to seem as if only tin tops may be racing there in the future.

The proposed agreement with Historic Mile appears intended to give the new group as much help as possible to stage races at the track. In return, Historic Mile also agreed to pay for improvements that sanctioning bodies such as NASCAR and the Indy Racing League might require in the future.

In anticipation of the new group reaching agreement with State Fair, NASCAR scheduled a June 18 Camping World Truck Series at the track, followed the next day by a Nationwide Series race.

However, NASCAR and the IRL are collectively owed an estimated $2 million from previous unpaid sanction fees. Asked if his group had satisfied that debt, Machi said: "We made NASCAR happy." He declined to provide further details.

(MORE from JSOnline)

OK then.