Milwaukee Mile Mismanagement

My daily search for irritating topics proved fruitful today. Marcus Lemonis recently stepped down from his position on the Milwaukee Mile board of directors. According to him, he left because he was not comfortable with the financial stability of the track, nor the direction the owners were taking. This, in conjunction with recent reports of cash flow problems has sparked concern from those who live near the countries oldest race track.

The track resides on the State Fair grounds and is owned by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. In 2006 a group of investors formed Milwaukee Mile Holdings LLC and took over promotional operations. Currently, the investment group is responsible for covering 1 million dollars annually of the tracks expenses. Everything else is covered by the State.

It is safe to say that the track will not close it's doors due to a lack of funding. The State Fair reported in its 2008 audit a profit for the first time in years. The total of tax-payer funds allocated to the track was 1.1 million. Even with these expenses, the State Fair profited approximately 1.3 million.

So if the nations oldest race track is closed, it will be for political reasons. This makes me wonder what the deal with Lemonis was. Was it really for the reasons he stated? Since when do government partnerships suffer from shaky financial futures? I am no business genius so I will quit barking up that tree, but something just doesn't sound right.

Did I mention that Lemonis is the current CEO of "Camping World/Freedom Roads"? You know, the new sponsor for the NASCAR Truck Series. He was quoted as saying "our brand will not be back at the Milwaukee Mile."

He sounds pretty bitter for a guy who just had a few differences... is it me or does it seem like there is more to this.