Vintage Indy cars take center stage at Milwaukee Mile

WEST ALLIS -- Vintage Indy cars are the gems of racing, and dozens were on display and on the track at the Milwaukee Mile at State Fair Park.

"To be able to get on a track and hangout with the finest collection of early race cars in the world...it's really quite a special event," vintage car owner Bill Evans said.

Evans was one of about 60 owners who showed off their cars and took to the track.

"When you reference these cars to what we race now, it's just so alien," Indy car driver Hurley Haywood said.

Haywood has been racing since 1969. He traded in his modern car for a vintage, 1923 Indy car. Haywood says the vintage car has a power that is unmatched.

"You're really kind of one with the car. The side panel gets scalding hot. Your legs are burning up. The wind is blowing in your face," Haywood said.

Haywood said driving these vintage cars gives drivers a new respect for the drivers of yesteryear.

"The guys that drove these cars were crazy. When you think they raced these cars competitively at speed, with very little safety," Haywood said.

The drivers got two days worth of driving time on the track. It's a unique opportunity that has attracted people from all over the country for the past 18 years.

"The cars come here once a year.  We work on them all year long and get them ready for next year," organizer Dana Mecum said.

The event also commemorated the 100-year anniversary of the Vanderbilt Cup. The 7.8-mile race happened on gravel roads in Wauwatosa.  It attracted 80,000 people back in 1912.