Comments on: Milwaukee Preview

By: Oilpressure

Oilpressure — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 21:49:41 +0000

To be fair tho this poster…I was the one who added (another) to his name. I didn’t want anyone to think that this was my commentary. – GP

By: Ron Ford

Ron Ford — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 12:34:45 +0000

I don’t know what track this guy was at, but at the Milwaukee Mile there was plenty of things for fans to do and there were thousands of people there having fun, many of them with their children. In 60 years of attending races here I cannot remember another pre-race day with so many people in attendence. The Andretti group has done a wonderful job of promoting this race. Today there is rain predicted. Deja freakin Vu. Hopefully, it will hold off.

It is obvious to me that this pathetic “(another) george guy wrote an intentionally negative post that bears no resemblance to what took place yesterday.

By: (another) george

(another) george — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 03:31:56 +0000

Indy car whoes: Here’s what’s wrong, you get to watch practice and time trails for free, ya !, parking is $10 boo !, and if you want to go into the infield ( Carnival ) it cost $22 each double boo !, nobody there of course. there is nothing for the fan to do. even all the team souvenir shops are in the infield ? they should call it ghostfest lol !!

By: (another) george

(another) george — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 02:59:16 +0000

Great day, still no fans! Well it’s Friday so many at work, indy car needs to talk to the fans and react to that. shame on you tony george you really messed things up

By: Ron Ford

Ron Ford — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 17:38:25 +0000

As someone who lives in the greater Miiwaukee area and has been going to races at the Milwaukee Mile for over 60 years, I am happy to see that most of the regular commenters here recognize that Milwaukee is indeed a “microcosm for IndyCar’s struggle to remain relevant in the American sports scene. I will go even farther (further?) and say it is becoming harder to get young people interested in any sport. I am quite sure that some of the kids who will be at the race tomorrow will probably be texting throughout the race.

George is correct about the stands. The Wisconsin State Fair Park board did the new stands on the cheap. (The Fair Park overall is deep in debt). There are no luxury boxes like there are at LAMBEAU FIELD, so those potential profit opportunities are not available to a promoter. Aluminum seats get very hot. And there is no roof. Last year the stands were beginning to fill in nicely with fans when a torrential downpour occurred. At the time I did not see any way the race could be held. With no roof for cover and the outlook for a face dim, the stands emptied out and my guess is that few of them came back.

For as far back as I can remember, there was a fine 1/4 mile dirt track a short distance from West Allis in Hales Corners. The track featured both open wheel and stock car racing. It was very popular and the stands were full every Saturday night. Former Indy500 starter Duane Sweeney got his start flagging at Hales Corners.
Eventually the track closed and is now the site of a Menards’ store. The closing of this track has in my opinion contributed to the falloff of interest in racing in this area.

Of the 200 or so people that I work with each day, there are about a dozen of us who are racing fans and about half of those are open wheel racing fans. When I try to talk up IndyCar racing with other co-workers I mostly just get a blank stare. (At the same time, virtually all 200 workers are Green Bay Packer fans)

Well, enough said. I am on my way to the track to wander about and watch qualifying. Tomorrow I will be at the track with 4 guests. I think the Andretti group has done an outstanding job of promoting the race. They have created a very unique experience for an oval track race. Hell, they will even have the famed University of Wisconsin marching band there tomorrow. I am predicting a total crowd of about 25,000.

So George, you are in the midst of moving. What a flimsy excuse. Where are your priorities? Almost as bad as having to go to a wedding in Indiana the night before the 500.

By: billytheskink

billytheskink — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 15:59:44 +0000

Kind of, but you have to wait for (Bruce) walkup, general admission, and infield part pass numbers to get released to know for sure…

By: Tom G.

Tom G. — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 15:20:05 +0000

Is this like the Price is Right? If I guess closest to the number without going over, do I win a prize?

By: billytheskink

billytheskink — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 15:10:38 +0000

There’s a fellow on Trackforum who has been tracking ticket sales and says they’ve sold 15,300 reserved tickets as of early this morning.

By: Steve K

Steve K — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 14:56:24 +0000

Despite the penalties, I have to go with Power or Dixon for the win. They both made mistakes last week but they also got it to the front and stayed there.

By: Tom G.

Tom G. — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 14:46:20 +0000

Thanks. Sadly, looking at the ticketing page on the Milwaukee Fest website this morning (dreaming) I saw lots of available seats. Some sections of the main grandstand don’t have a single person in them. Unfortunately, unless they do a huge walkup business tomorrow, I’m estimating 15,000 tops.