I just checked online. I live just under four miles from the northern edge of State Fair Park. So, why did it sound like there was a car race a block from my house yesterday?

It seemed like all day long there was a constant, annoying loud thrum in the air. Oh, wait, that's right. There was.

That's because there was a race four miles away. And despite the impressive natural hill that separates my Milwaukee neighborhood from the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis (there's an entire municipality separating us, too), it sounded as if the race was taking place a block away.

Then, of course that hum -- like an advancing horde of locust -- was there in advance of race day, too. I'm not sure about you, but more than one of my neighbors commented about the racket and most wondered what it must be like to live on 76th Street between, say, Greenfield Avenue and I-94.

I'm all for a renaissance at the Mile and at State Fair Park and for the crowds and national media attention that the races draw. But, c'mon, fellas (and Danica), can't we tone it down a bit?

After all, I've known a couple people who've gotten tickets for driving with noisy mufflers. And I bet they were nothing compared to this.