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Road America is a road course racetrack located in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, one of two historical race landmarks in the United States, the other being Watkins Glen in New York.

Current track and facilities

The track is just over four miles long and consists of fourteen turns. The track has many elevation changes, along with a long front stretch where speeds approaching 200 mph may be reached. One of the best known features of this course is a turn on the backside known as "the kink." Many cars have prematurely finished their race on this section of road and solid concrete retaining wall.

Non-reserved grandstand seating exists for 10,000 people, but there are numerous hillside spots where crowds of more than 150,000 may be accommodated.

In addition to the main course, the facility includes a 0.8 mile go-kart track called the Briggs & Stratton Motorplex. The facility includes thirteen concession stands and allows camping onsite.

History of Racing at Elkhart Lake

Open Road Course

In the late 1940s, road racing was gaining popularity, owing to the post World War II economy, and the influx of sporting automobiles. The Sports Car Club of America was the main organizer of these races, and in 1950, the Chicago Region SCCA and the Village of Elkhart Lake organized the first road race at Elkhart Lake.

The 1950 circuit start-finish line was on County Road P. Competitors went north to County Road J, then South into the Village of Elkhart Lake, and West on what is now County JP (then called County Highway X), and reconnected with County Road P for a total distance of 3.3 miles.

For the next two races, in 1951 and 1952, a different course was used. It was 6.5 miles long, on County Roads J, A, and P. To date, one may still drive most of the original courses.

Private Road Course

After the tragedy at Watkins Glen in 1952, where twelve spectators were killed, the U.S. ruled to discontinue contests of speed on public highways. This was a major blow for competition auto racing and brought the end of a long-standing tradition. This did not permanently stop road racing, however, it did shift it to private courses. In 1955, Cliff Tufte started what is now known as Road America, in a configuration that has changed little over the past 50 years. The addition of Road America as a private track meant a transition from racing through the streets of tiny Elkhart Lake to racing on a big, wide, dedicated race track.

Racing at Road America

Many different racing series have had the occasion to race at Road America. The first was the Sports Car Club of America on September 10, 1955, but they were hardly the last. Other notable series have included NASCAR in 1956, CART from 1982 until the present , ALMS from 1999 to the present, USAC, CanAm, Trans-Am, IMSA, and AMA. Road America also holds a variety of vintage racing events, including the Brian Redman International Challenge.

2006 major events at the track

• June 4, AMA Superbike
• June 22 - 25, SCCA June Sprints
• July 16, Brian Redman International Challenge.
• August 20, American Le Mans Series
• September 21 - 24, Champ Car World Series

The Cristiano da Matta Deer Incident

On August 3, 2006, Cristiano da Matta, driver of Champ Car's RuSPORT team, was involved in a collision with a deer that had ran in front of him as he headed towards turn 6 during Champ Car open testing. He hit the deer with his right front tire, the deer then flew back and hit da Matta in the cockpit. He was unconscious when the safety crew extricated da Matta from the car and was airlifted to a local hospital, where he underwent surgery to remove a subdural hematoma.

Champ Car Race History

Season	Winning Driver	Chassis	Engine
1982	Héctor Rebaque	March	Cosworth
1983	Mario Andretti	Lola	Cosworth
1984	Mario Andretti	Lola	Cosworth
1985	Jacques Villeneuve	March	Cosworth
1986	Emerson Fittipaldi	March	Cosworth
1987	Mario Andretti	Lola	Chevrolet
1988	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lola	Chevrolet
1989	Danny Sullivan	Penske	Chevrolet
1990	Michael Andretti	Lola	Chevrolet
1991	Michael Andretti	Lola	Chevrolet
1992	Emerson Fittipaldi	Penske	Chevrolet-Ilmor
1993	Paul Tracy	Penske	Chevrolet-Ilmor
1994	Jacques Villeneuve	Reynard	Ford-Cosworth
1995	Jacques Villeneuve	Reynard	Ford-Cosworth
1996	Michael Andretti	Lola	Ford-Cosworth
1997	Alex Zanardi	Reynard	Honda
1998	Dario Franchitti	Reynard	Honda
1999	Christian Fittipaldi	Swift	Ford-Cosworth
2000	Paul Tracy	Reynard	Honda
2001	Bruno Junqueira	Lola	Toyota
2002	Cristiano da Matta	Lola	Toyota
2003	Bruno Junqueira	Lola	Ford-Cosworth
2004	Alex Tagliani	Lola	Ford-Cosworth

NASCAR Race History

Date	Winning Driver	Make/Model	Earnings
August 12, 1956	Tim Flock	1956 Mercury	$2,950

External links

• Road America Official Site
• Champ Car World Series
• NASCAR Track History at racing-reference.info
• Trackpedia guide to driving Road America

• Motor racing venues in the United States
• Motor racing venues in Wisconsin
• NASCAR tracks