The fence has been climbed. The empty bottles have been collected. The guy with the “Free Mammograms and Pap Smears” sign in the Coke Lot has gone home. Until we meet again next year, Indy is officially over.

This week our attention turns to THE Milwaukee Mile, the self-proclaimed oldest track in racing. Milwaukee has hosted race since 1903 because that was about the time enough cars had been invented to race, and when the committee of white guys in derbys were trying to determine where they should race they probably concluded in about 8.2 seconds that they needed to race where the beer was.

And so it is that history has determined Milwaukee to be an excellent place to watch an automobile race. You’ve got a track that’s small enough that most fans can see the entire circuit. You’ve got tight enough turns that require drivers to actually lift off the throttle and drive. And most of all – you have a section of the stands that for a mere $50 will provide for you all of the Famous Dave’s BBQ and Beer that you can possibly consume. That, my friends, is what America is all about.

And now that I’m hungry, thirsty and stuck with $50 burning a hole in my pocket here in Arizona, here are a few other things to pay attention to for the 2009 ABC Supply/AJ Foyt 225 at THE Milwaukee Mile:

- If you watched last weekend’s Indy 500, you’ll notice that Townsend Bell, who finished 4th, is out. Will Power, who finished 5th, is also out. As is the race’s Rookie of the Year winner, Alext Taglianai. So is the most over-discussed man during May, Alex “Pink” Lloyd.

- Tomas Scheckter is back again this week, only instead of driving for Dale Coyne he’s racing for Dreyer & Reinbold. He’ll be the third driver in five races to take the helm of the #23, after Darren Manning and Milka Duno. D&R has a sign-up sheet and a POS terminal set up outside their transport truck for anyone else interested in driving the car during the ’09 season.

- Also back driving but for a different race team is Paul Tracy. From the first days of the split to the bimergification a dozen years earlier, there were two marquee names consistent throughout for each league. Driver Paul Tracy in CART/Champ Car and Owner AJ Foyt in the IndyCar series. Today they will not only be paired together as driver and owner, they have been speaking glowingly enough of each other to think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. It probably won’t be a lengthy one though since the two are a combined 114 years old.

- After missing the season opener in St Pete, Helio Castroneves will be gunning for a second straight win. Not only was his Team Pesnke teammate Ryan Briscoe the winner here last year, but Helio was nearly a half lap ahead in ’07 before his rear wing made Roger Penske reversed engineered from an alien spacecraft folded up on him and sent him into the wall. Helio will have the car, he will have the momentum, and he might even have clearance from Milwaukee security to climb the fence.

- As part of his revloving sponsorships, Dario Franchitti will be sporting a green car with GPS leader “TomTom” on his sidepods. Am I over-thinking this or does anyone else think that a GPS sponsor might be better suited for a street course than a one-mile oval? “In one quarter mile, turn left…then turn left again…stay left, then turn left…”

- First Danica busts out Bunnies & Rainbows on us, and now she’s baking cookies??? What the HELL just happened!?!?!?!?!?! Two years ago at Milwaukee she was arm-wrestling Dan Wheldon and now all of a sudden she’s like June Cleaver in a swimsuit. It’s like there’s been a Stepford abduction in the Hospenthal household.

- Lastly, we have a Tony Kanaan update: the hair is gone, but the pain remains. I guess this means I have to toss my unfinished Chia Head and go back to making Kanaan dolls out all of these Mr Potato Head toys my kids have.