Milwaukee 1996 PPG Indy Car World Series

Race No. 7
The Milwaukee Mile

©1996 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc.
By Jim DeFord


As we approach mid-season the question is; Can anyone stop Vasser's luck in his Target/Ganassi, Firestone-shod/Honda-powered beast in the quest for the PPG Championship?

Milwaukee might be the place where the Mercedes can claim its first victory of the season. Paul Tracy is the defending champion at Milwaukee and is driving a Penske/Mercedes.

So far, it's Honda 5; Ford 1; Mercedes; 0.

The Ford/Cosworth teams had a very rough weekend at the U.S. 500, with blown engines, to electrical problems, to blown CV-joints.

June is the turning month for the IndyCars. Four races in five weeks is tough on the teams, the drivers and the budgets. From Wisconsin to Detroit. From Portland to Cleveland.

In June, the IndyCar season accelerates from 6 races completed with 10 to go, to 10 races completed with 6 to go. From ovals, to streets, to the first natural road course at Portland, to The Airport in Cleveland.

And Milwaukee is the first step to the mid-season march to The Cup.

The infamous Milwaukee Mile is newly repaved. It's both smooth and fast, and now asphalt, rather than the bumpy concrete circuit of the past umpteen years.

Several teams tested here during the off-time during the U.S 500. The drivers say they will miss it, but that the repaving was overdue.

With that in mind, safety may be an issue, or is it just that the drivers need to adjust their driving skills to the new track surface?

"We had to repave it because the old surface was basically coming apart," said Michael Andretti. "So it was becoming a safety issue. But, me personally, I'm going to miss the old surface because that was part of the character of this place, and it was also a natural speed reducer."

When you went out there and it was bumpy," Andretti continued, "that slowed you down, and also the surface itself would rip the tires apart in a couple laps. You'd be slipping and sliding and you automatically slow down two seconds a lap, and I thought that was also a nice safety thing. Now, we're going to be going that much quicker in a race, so it's not going to be quite as safe as it was."

As scary as slippin' n' sliding on a track that's ripping your tires apart, Bobby Rahal has a different view.

"It is much smoother, but I don't think its going to change the nature of the race itself," Rahal said. "In fact, maybe it'll be a bit more aggressive because there should be a bit more grip in the track. It should make it an even more competitive race than what's been in the past."

Faster, with more grip and more competitive.

That's what we will see at The Milwaukee 200, this weekend.