Could the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series return to the Milwaukee Mile?
After the relationship between State Fair Park and promoter Bob Sargent broke down in 2024, the parties are in contact once again, he said.
Sargent, who brought racing back to the fairgrounds oval in West Allis with the Midwest Tour in 2019, soured on State Fair Park when he was blindsided, he has said, by the park’s IndyCar scheduling. The return of the NTT IndyCar Series in 2024 landed one week after his Craftsman Truck Series race, and then the ’25 date of Aug. 24 date was in direct conflict despite Sargent saying he had a contract.
Sargent has said he worked with NASCAR to find an alternate date for 2025 but was unable due to other tracks’ date equity, television windows and other events at State Fair Park. The Wisconsin State Fair and its setup and teardown consume a significant portion of July and August.
Consequently, Track moved its ASA STARS National Tour Father’s Day date to Slinger Speedway and the ARCA Menards Series event that had shared the Mile weekend with NASCAR to Madison International Speedway.
In conversations over the ASA STARS weekend June 13 at Madison and June 15 at Slinger, Sargent said Track and NASCAR are amenable to coming back to Milwaukee as soon as 2026. Last year NASCAR announced its schedules in late August.
IndyCar’s contract with State Fair Park includes a 2026 race, Penske Corporation President Bud Denker said on race weekend. The series returned after an eight-year absense with a doubleheader weekend but will hold just one race at the Mile in 2025.
For the first time since 1992, none of NASCAR’s three national series are racing in Wisconsin in 2025.
After issues with a promoter at the Mile, NASCAR moved its second-level Xfinity Series (then Nationwide Series) to Elkhart Lake’s Road America in 2010, where it raced until 2023. The trucks returned to Milwaukee after a 13-year hiatus in 2023.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Could NASCAR trucks return to race at the Milwaukee Mile in 2026?
Reporting by Dave Kallmann, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
