To me this is the best road course in America….Growing up in Central Wisconsin, Going to school nearby, watching numerous Can Am Races at the track, and having driven the course myself at speed it is amazing. With iconic names like Canada Corner and Kettle Bottoms it is an amazing natural terrain race track…beautiful scenery, rolling hills, and it should be great to see them race there again…we all need to make a trip to see this great track and race. The town of Elkhart Lake rolls out the red carpet for the teams as well…
IndyCar returning to Road America
After an eight-year absence, Indy racing will return to Road America next year. Located in Elkhart Lake, WI, Road America first opened in 1955. The 14-turn, 4-mile circuit has hosted numerous forms of motor racing over the years, including CART and the ensuing Champ Car series from 1982. The open-wheel race there has been won three times each by Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, and Emerson Fittipaldi, and twice apiece by Canadian champions Jacques Villeneuve and Paul Tracy.
The race is currently scheduled to take place the weekend of June 24-26, 2016. It will be one of two new events already confirmed for 2016, alongside the Grand Prix of Boston scheduled for September 2-4. They’ll be joined by returning events at St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Belle Isle (Detroit), and the road-course and oval races at Indianapolis. The rest of the calendar is still to be confirmed.
“I am really excited to see Road America back on the 2016 Indy car schedule,” said Sebastian Bourdais, who won the last Champ Car race there in 2007. “This place allows our cars to stretch their legs fully and show what the Verizon IndyCar Series is all about. It is our duty toward road racing to continue this tradition and I could not be happier that a new deal got penciled. For me, it is the best racetrack in North America…”
Bourdais is one of ten drivers on the grid this season who have raced at the circuit. The lap record is still held by Dario Franchitti, who set a 1:39.866 lap time in qualifying back in 2000. Next year’s race will be supported by all three classes of Mazda‘s Road to Indy program, and by the Pirelli World Challenge series. The name for the event has yet to be confirmed, but in its previous iteration was known as the Grand Prix of Road America.
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