Brothers near deal on Milwaukee races

The Wisconsin State Fair Park Board unanimously agreed Friday to work with businessmen Frank and Dominic Giuffre on a three-year contract to promote races at the Milwaukee Mile.

The new group is tentatively called the Historic Milwaukee Mile Operating Group LLC.

Craig Barkelar, the fair's interim executive director, said both sides hoped to finalize a deal in a matter of days. While details still have to be worked out, the Giuffres' group is expected to pay the fair $180,000 a year.

The Giuffres are well known to fair officials. The brothers, acting as GO Racing, promoted races at the track from 1983-'91. They have lobbied to return throughout several rounds of recent bidding for the racetrack lease.

Frank Giuffre said that, in addition to his brother, the group includes billionaire John Menard; John Kaishian, longtime owner of the old Hales Corners Speedway; the Decker family, owner-operators of the World Championship Snowmobile Derby in Eagle River; and local attorney Gordon Barrington.

The Giuffres' group replaces Historic Mile LLC, led by Tony Machi, which failed after several months of negotiations to come up with the needed funds to satisfy NASCAR and fair officials.

Assuming the deal passes muster with fair negotiators, the next step for the Giuffres is to complete arrangements to host NASCAR races next June 18 and 19.

''We have every reason to believe that we will be able to deal with NASCAR," Frank Giuffre said.

NASCAR included the Mile on its 2010 Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series schedules. Officials have said they want to return but won't do so until debts left by the previous promoter are satisfied. Wisconsin Motorsports LLC, a now-defunct race promotion group led by Claude Napier, left owing NASCAR upwards of $1 million for 2009.

Asked if he would make good on that debt, Giuffre said: "I don't know that we have to. We didn't cause the problem."

Napier also failed to pay the Indy Racing League for a 2009 race weekend, and the series decided not to return.

The Giuffre group would become the fourth promoter in six seasons, following State Fair Park, Milwaukee Mile Holdings (2006-'08) and Wisconsin Motorsports.

Still left unresolved is a long list of vendors who worked at the track with previous promoters. Those vendors have not been paid. Frank Giuffre said he has reached out to vendors to see if a settlement can be reached. So far, he said, no vendors have contacted him.

Giuffre has shown fair officials two letters from local banks that allow him to draw on $10 million if needed.

Fair board members say they want to find a way to keep high-level racing going and are anxious to generate revenue at the track that would be used to meet debt obligations for the grandstand.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.