Rounds 15 and 16, The Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s. West Allis, Wisconsin. Aug 31-Sep 1

[bjohnsonsmith]

Rounds 15 and 16, The Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s. West Allis, Wisconsin. Aug 31-Sep 1

After an 9-year hiatus, IndyCar returns this weekend to the Milwaukee Mile for a double-header, the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s.

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History
The Milwaukee Mile is the oldest operating motor speedway in the world and apert from World War II, has hosted at least one race every year since 1903.

Originally a private, horse racing track, the one mile oval has existed since 1876. In 1891, the Agricultural Society of the State of Wisconsin bought the site to create a permanent venue for the Wisconsin State Fair, which still takes place there. The infield was also the location for a football stadium and from 1934 through 1951 was home to the Green Bay Packers.

The first motorsports event was held on September 11, 1903. William Jones of Chicago won a five lap speed contest and set the first track record with a 72 second, 50 mph (80 km/h) lap.

Early races, weren't without their problems, as the venue was still essentially set up for horse racing, with only picket fencing around the perimeter. Improvements were gradually, made to make it more suitable for car racing. In 1920 a concrete wall replaced the picket fence, although horse racing continued. This kept the groundsmen busy, as they constantly had to loosen the surface for the horses and harden it again for the cars.

In 1954 the State Fair Board decided to concentrate on motor sport and the 1 mile (1.6 km) oval was paved and an infield road course was built. The half-mile interior dirt oval was retained for harness racing until 1959, while he quarter-mile dirt oval saw weekly sprint car races.

The first AAA sanctioned Milwaukee Mile, was a non championship race and took place on August 29, 1937. The race distance was shortened to 96 miles due to a scoring error and was won by Rex Mays. In 1939 the race became a AAA Championship round.

Due to World War II, there was no events from 1942-1945 but racing returned in 1946. From 1949 to 1987, two championship rounds a year were held, one in June, the other in August, with the June race remaining at 100 miles and the August race increasing to 200 miles.

In 1950 the June race was renamed 'The Rex Mays Classic', in honor of Rex Mays, former two-time AAA National champion and winner of the first AAA sanctioned race, in 1937. From 1961 to 1982 the August race was named 'The Tony Bettenhausen 200', in honor of Tony Bettenhausen, the two time National Champion in 1951 and 1958.

From 1983 onwards there has only been one race, except for 2004-2006, when the track hosted both CCWS and IRL rounds. The first IRL, IndyCar Series race was in 2004, with Dario Franchitti winning the inaugural event and the last Champ Car race was in 2006 and won by eventual series champion Sébastien Bourdais.

During the CART era the race distance increased in 1999 to 225 miles and again to 250 miles in 2003. Post unification, the distance reverted to 225 miles, increasing again to 250 miles in 2013.

2015, July 12th, was the last time IndyCar raced at the Milwaukee Mile. It was won by Sébastien Bourdais in a Dallara DW12-Chevrolet, driving for KVSH Racing.

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Some Trivia:
Driver with the most wins, Roger Ward 7: 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963.

Team with the most wins, Team Penske 9: 1978, 1980, 1988, 1989, 1984, 1994, 2005, 2008, 2014.

1963: Jim Clark got the first win for a rear engined car at AOWR event, in a Lotus-Ford.

1964: A.J. Foyt took the last win for a front-engined car.

1991: For the first time in the worldwide history of motorsport, three members of the same family finished 1–2–3. Michael Andretti won the race, second was his cousin John and third his father Mario.

1993: Reigning 1992 Formula 1 champion Nigel Mansell got his first oval win, on his way to winning the CART championship that year.

2004: Ryan Hunter-Reay led all of 250 laps to victory.

2015: Scott Dixon's 250th IndyCar start.

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Track Layout

1954 layout


Current layout since 2004


Length
CART: 1.032 miles - 1.661 km
IndyCar: 1.015 miles - 1.633 km
NASCAR: 1.000 mi - 1.609 km

In 1996, the track was resurfaced and the turns were slightly widened. This lead to the track being remeasured and it was discovered the 'Mile' was in fact 1.032 miles (1.661 km). This was the distance used by CART/CCWS. The track was measured again by the IRL in 2004, this gave the distance as 1.015 miles (1.633 km) and is the distance currently used by IbdyCar. Only, NASCAR sticks with the traditional length of exactly 1 mile (1.609 km).

Turns 4

Lap record
1.032 miles - 1.661 km. May 30th, 1998. Patrick Carpentier, 20.028 seconds, 185.500 mph (298.888 km/h). Forsythe Racing, Reynard 98i-Mercedes-Benz IC108E.

Last Race
ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 July 12, 2015
https://www.indycar.com/news/2015/07...-wisconsin-250

Pole
Josef Newgarden
Ed Carpenter Racing
Dallara DW12-Chevrolet

Winner
Sebastien Bourdais
KVSH Racing
Dallara DW12-Chevrolet

Laps: 250
Distance: 250.75 Miles (403.54 km)
Race Time: 1:56:46.8264
Average Speed: 130.373 Mph (209.815 km)

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Practice and Qualifications

Practice
Friday, Aug 30
3:35 PM - 6:00 PM ET

Qualifying
Saturday, Aug 31
2:15 PM - 3:15 PM ET

Qualifying consists of two consecutive laps, with Lap 1 deciding the grid for Race 1 and Lap 2 deciding the grid for Race 2.

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TV Coverage

Race 1, Saturday, Aug 31.
Peacock, 6:00 PM ET, 10:00 PM UTC
Sky Sports F1, 11:00 PM BST

Race 2, Sunday Sep 1
USA, Peacock, 2:30 PM ET, 6:30 PM UTC
Sky Sports F1, 7:30 PM BST