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Photo by Bill Freis of UMARA (United Midget Auto Racing Association)
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January 21st 2008 - NOTE: This was my first racing article. I put it together when I worked for the Dunn County News, Menomonie, WI. At the time, I was selling advertising, happened to go to the race that weekend in Milwaukee, and got busy with my pen. It was the first work I had published, and it was what helped to launch this site with my friend, Steve Burzynski of Indianapolis, IN.
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By Jim Gorecki/The Dunn County News
I guess I took it for granted growing up on Milwaukee’s Westside; didn’t every kid have a racetrack in his backyard? Or a Major League Baseball team just down the street? What about an Olympic speed skating rink only a quarter mile from his bedroom?
Well I did, and it is these roots in my formative years, which bring me back year after year to The Milwaukee Mile, located on the Wisconsin State Fair Grounds in West Allis. I come to see the brightly colored racecars, catch some rays, and smell the burnt exhaust of racing fuel. (Ah, the smell of methanol in the morning, nothing like it.) On July 23-25, 2004, The Milwaukee Mile hosted a full slate of weekend racing.
Represented by the Indy Racing League, Infiniti Pro Series, Silver Crown Sprint Cars, and the USAC Midgets. This was however, the first time I was ever at The Mile with full press credentials. My first race here was in 1967, and I never before had the opportunity to see the cars that close, and meet and speak with so many people involved in a race weekend. In all, it was a perfect weekend for me, great weather, great racing, over 100 racecars, 55,000 spectators, and over 500,000 brats served. Click here to read the full story |
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