Motor car race
The 2015 ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 was an IndyCar Series event that was contested at Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin. The race served as the 12th race of the 2015 IndyCar Series season. The race was won by Sébastien Bourdais his second win at Milwaukee. As of 2023, it is the last time IndyCar has raced at Milwaukee, although the series is scheduled to return in 2024.[2]
Background
As the Milwaukee Mile is owned by the State of Wisconsin as part of the Wisconsin State Fair Park, the track is leased to promoter groups to organize races at the track. By 2009, the then-current promoter group, Wisconsin Motorsports, was heavily in debt, reportedly owing millions to IndyCar and NASCAR. As a result, both NASCAR and IndyCar dropped the Milwaukee Mile from their 2010 schedules.[3]
On September 10, 2010, IndyCar announced a return to the Milwaukee Mile with a new promoter group, a joint venture between Avocado Motorsports Marketing and BMG Event Productions.[4] The June 2011 race saw very poor attendance, blamed mostly on high ticket prices.[5] The race was dropped again for the 2012 season and the relationship with Avocado Motorsports Marketing was ended.
In March 2012, the race at Milwaukee was re-added to the IndyCar schedule, now promoted by Andretti Sports Marketing, a company owned by Michael Andretti.[6] ASM paid the State Fair Park a fee of $25,000 to rent the track.[7]
The event struggled to gain an audience as it switched from June to August in 2014, and then moved to July in 2015. Andretti Sports Marketing attempted to replicate the successes of street course events by holding concerts and a carnival-like midway with rides and attractions.[8]
Beginning in 2014, the Milwaukee event reached a two-year agreement with ABC Supply to serve as title sponsor.[9]
Report
Practice
The first practice session was held on Saturday evening. Josef Newgarden was the fastest car in the 45 minute session. Simon Pagenaud was second quickest, followed by Takuma Sato in third.[10][11]
Second practice was held on Sunday morning at 9:15 a.m. Again, Newgarden was fastest, followed by Helio Castroneves and Graham Rahal.[12]
Qualifying
Qualifying was held at 12:30 on Sunday. Josef Newgarden posted the fastest speed with a two-lap average of 170.223 mph to win his first career IndyCar pole position. Ryan Briscoe joined Newgarden on the front row with a speed of 170.086 mph, the only other driver to post a speed over 170 mph.[13]
Points leader, Juan Pablo Montoya posted the eighth-fastest speed. Montoya's Team Penske teammate, Helio Castroneves, was unable to make a qualifying run as his team was 10 minutes late in getting his car to the inspection line.[14]
Race
The race started at 4:40 p.m. local time. An estimated 12,000 spectators were in the stands, roughly one-third of the 37,000 capacity grandstands.[15] The command to start engines was given by Diane Hendricks, chairperson of ABC Supply.
When the race began, Josef Newgarden pulled away to a lead with Ryan Briscoe in close pursuit. The leaders made their first pit stops under green on lap 55. A malfunctioning air jack led to a lengthy stop for Ryan Briscoe and removed him from contention for the win. Newgarden resumed the lead, followed by Scott Dixon, and Sébastien Bourdais, who climbed from his 11th starting spot.
Dixon made his second pit stop on lap 100. Newgarden pitted two laps later. Once pit stops had cycled through, Dixon had taken the lead by around one second over Newgarden.
The first caution came out on lap 114 when James Jakes blew an engine and stopped against the wall in turn one. Dixon and Newgarden pitted under caution while Bourdais chose to stay on track and take the lead.
After a 16 lap cleanup, the race restarted on lap 130. Before one lap could be completed, Ryan Briscoe spun in turn three and collected Will Power. Both cars impacted the wall and retired from the race.[16]
Bourdais continued to lead until lap 171 when he pitted under green for tires and fuel. With fresh tires, Bourdais climbed through the field with ease. Bourdais retook the lead on lap 188 when Josef Newgarden pitted. On lap 184, Sage Karam impacted the wall with the right rear and entered pit road. He retired from the race, but did not bring out a caution.
As other cars pitted, Bourdais held a lap lead over the field as he made his final pitstop on lap 213. He was able to pit and maintain his lead.
On lap 222, Justin Wilson blew an engine and stopped in turn one, bringing out the third and final caution of the day. Bourdais, Montoya, and Ed Carpenter stayed out on track while all other lead lap cars pitted.
When the green flag returned with 19 laps remaining, Bourdais again extended his lead. On fresh tires, Helio Castroneves climbed to second place but was unable to catch Bourdais. Bourdais won by 2.237 seconds and earned his first win on an oval since Milwaukee in 2006. Castroneves was second, followed by Graham Rahal in third.[17]
Aftermath
The attendance of roughly 12,000 raised questions over whether the event would continue in 2016. It appeared that whether or not the event would return was a matter of extending the ABC Supply title sponsorship past their 2015 commitment.[18]
One month after the Milwaukee event, Andretti Sports Marketing filed a lawsuit against Andretti Autosport, alleging that the race team withheld funds intended for ASM in order to cover debts the race team incurred. United Fiber and Data failed to meet their sponsor obligations in 2014 for the car driven by James Hinchcliffe, leading to mounting debt for the team. It also sought to reinstate John Lopes as company manager who was recently released from the company.[19]
Michael Andretti called the suit "a disingenuous and self-serving attempt to benefit John Lopes and Starke Taylor (ASM Chief Marketing Officer) at the expense of Andretti Autosport and its 120 employees."[20]
A settlement for the suit was reached in mid-August when Michael Andretti agreed to sell his 60 percent ownership stake in Andretti Sports Marketing.[21] As ASM was dissolved, it left the Milwaukee 250 without a promoter group. Officials from Road America briefly considered promoting the event, but decided against it as Road America was added to the 2016 IndyCar schedule for the first time since 2007. When the 2016 schedule was released, it was confirmed the Milwaukee race would not return.[22] As of 2023, Milwaukee has not returned to the IndyCar schedule.
Broadcasting
In the United States, the race was broadcast by NBCSN. The booth announcers were Leigh Diffey, Paul Tracy, Townsend Bell, and David Hobbs.[23] A qualifying show was broadcast on NBCSN immediately prior to the race coverage.[24] In the United States, the race had a 0.36 television rating and was watched by 532,000 viewers.[25]
