MILWAUKEE MILE SITUATION RAPIDLY DETERIORATING
BAD NEWS IS UNRELENTING FOR
CENTURY-OLD STATE FAIR TRACK
"Only Serious Potential Operators" Feel Ignored;
They Include Giuffre Brothers and John Menard
CENTURY-OLD STATE FAIR TRACK
"Only Serious Potential Operators" Feel Ignored;
They Include Giuffre Brothers and John Menard
Special to the Readers of Milwaukeeworld
By Michael Horne
And The Milwaukee World Hound Dog Team
You wouldn't know it by visiting the "latest news" section of the Milwaukee Mile website, but the Wisconsin All-Stars race scheduled there for August 29th, 2009 won't happen unless promoter Roy Kenseth is paid his fee -- in advance. He said so himself.
That's just the most recent salvo in the multifaceted saga surrounding the 106-year old oval, the nation's oldest continually operating speedway.
Don Walker kicked off the latest round of bad news in a June 29th, 2009 story where he told us "the Milwaukee Mile's financial mess has NASCAR's attention."
Unfortunately, it was not good attention -- Wisconsin Motorsports, which took over promotion of the Mile in February, 2009 owes NASCAR $1,878,228 for a race held last month.
Milwaukee Mile Holdings, LLC, the previous operator, was removed from its position by the Department of Justice when it could not satisfy its commitments. The February press release announcing the new operators included this forward-looking statement:
"The new promoter agreement ensures the near-term and long-term future of auto racing at America’s Legendary Oval."
Well, maybe not so fast!
Journal Sentinel racing reporter Dave Kallmann wrote about the financial woes, "Sorry, but it's hard to see how this hit's survivable, unless someone out there thinks 106 years of history are worth saving and has a couple million to help do so."
Well, whaddya know? There are some folks out there who think the history is worth saving and have a couple million to help do so, but they are not getting much traction with the officials.
"BRING THE GIUFFRES BACK!"
"Bring the Giuffres Back!" is the first sentence in a letter Dominic Giuffre and his brother Frank Giuffre sent yesterday, July 1st, 2009, to Susan Crane, the Chairman of the Wisconsin State Fair Park Board, owner of the Mile.
The brothers, who ran the Mile from 1983 to 1991, are critical of the "inexperienced management; undercapitalized operators; and indifferent, if not inattentive supervisory structure" of the track, they write.
The brothers are certainly well capitalized. Their Mallory Properties firm controls over 3 million square feet of mostly industrial property in Milwaukee. Giuffre Bros. Cranes, Inc. is a large provider of construction cranes, with five nationwide locations. Other subsidiaries are involved in finance, particularly asset-based cash-flow solutions for contractors.
The Giuffre management team includes John Menard Jr., the Eau Claire billionaire and racing figure who is 132nd on the Forbes list of the World's wealthiest people, one step ahead of Rupert Murdoch.
The Giuffres came in second in the 2005 bidding for the contract to operate the track. They considered, but turned down, operating the track in January when the first group, headed by Craig Stoehr (now of Dubai) split, without paying the mortgage on his loft here.
The letter quotes the brothers saying, "The loss of prestige for the state of Wisconsin [if NASCAR leaves] is incalculable. The Milwaukee Mile is the laughing stock of race fans and the court of public opinion. ... Your board does not seem to have a plan, or indeed a mechanism, in place to see that this facility will continue to operate in the future. Yet you ignore our proposals. Is this how the Milwaukee Mile will end? Not with a bang, but a whimper?
"Here's our suggestion:
"Bring back the Giuffres, or give us a sign otherwise so that we may relax and go about our business."
=========
MILE SUBJECT OF LIVE CHAT WITH KALLMANN
Journal Sentinel Racing Reporter Dave Kallmann had an on-line chat today with readers. The Milwaukee Mile was a top concern.
Here is a sample exchange:
- Q: Dave, Waukesha,wi - Is there any hope for the milwaukee mile?
- A: Dave Kallmann - Sure. But very, very little.
- The only people remotely interested in running the Mile are brothers Frank and Dominic Giuffre. Whether they can do a deal that satisfies State Fair Park, NASCAR and IRL remains to be seen.
--Michael Horne



