IndyCar returns to the oldest operating race track in the world: What to know about the Milwaukee Mile

This weekend, IndyCar heads to a track it hasn’t visited since 2015: The Milwaukee Mile. But did you know that this 1.015-mile oval track in West Allis, Wisconsin is the oldest active race track in the world?

The Milwaukee Mile opened back in 1903 as a dirt track, and it’s one of the only circuits in the world that has hosted one auto race every single year since then — with the exception of a few years during World War II.

Milwaukee Mile: From fairgrounds to race track

This history of the Milwaukee Mile offers a slice of insight into the history of open-wheel racing in America as a whole. Our earliest records of the track list it as a private horse-racing facility back in 1876; in 1891, the Agricultural Society of the State of Wisconsin purchased the track to transform it into a permanent site for the Wisconsin State Fair.

But it wasn’t until 1903 that the Milwaukee Mile hosted its first auto race on a dirt surface initially designed for horse racing. That’s how many early American racing events got started; the easiest place to erect a car racing track is where horse racing used to take place. The venue would have had the infrastructure already in place to host fans and sell tickets — and it would have been converted back to a horse racing facility when the cars weren’t in use.

The first race that took place in 1903 wasn’t a huge affair; the program was comprised of a single five-lap race what was won by driver William Jones, who set the lap record at 50 miles per hour.

As technology improved and local audiences grew more interested in motorsport, the Milwaukee Mile began to increase its race distances by five-lap increments before, in 1907 and 1908, it decided to host a 24-hour event. In 1915 came the track’s first 100-lap event.

Before long, the race cars were outgrowing the facility, and changes needed to be made. In the 1920s, the wooden picket fences lining the track were replaced with concrete barriers, while the track surface would undergo specific preparation to harden the dirt for car racing. Larger grandstands were built in the 1930s, and the track was finally paved in the 1950s.

Racing has continued at the track ever since, with the exception of a three-year period while the United States competed in World War II.

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The track has played host to everything from American open-wheel cars to NASCAR machinery, but after it staged its 2015 IndyCar race, the track fell off the schedule due to sponsorship issues — and the Milwaukee Mile failed to stage any major racing events in 2017 and 2018 (though it did host smaller club racing events).

But the history of the track means a lot to motorsport fans, and the state of Wisconsin recognized that. It invested $3 million in refurbishing the Milwaukee Mile, and the effort has been rewarded with IndyCar’s doubleheader return this weekend.

The stakes for the event are high. Though Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing leads the championship with three races remaining, he’s never won on an oval before — and ovals are all that’s left for the IndyCar series in 2024.

Chasing him down for the title is Team Penske’s Will Power, an experienced driver who has not only raced on the Milwaukee Mile in the past, but who has won there.

Perhaps even more important, though, is the fate of the Milwaukee Mile overall. IndyCar fans have been calling for a return of the track for years — but will they turn up in great enough numbers to justify the continuation of the race? Or will a disappointing turnout leave the Milwaukee Mile scrambling to justify its legacy?

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