Round 7: Xpel Grand Prix of Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. June 7 - 9.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Round 7: Xpel Grand Prix of Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. June 7 - 9.

This weekend's race will mark the end of three weekends in a row of racing, on three completely different tracks: the Indianapolis 500 oval, the Renaissance Center street circuit in downtown Detroit and the road course at Road America.

-

History
The very first race to be held at Elkhart Lake was in 1950 and was organized by the Chicago Region and Milwaukee Region of The Sports Car Club of America. It was the first of three races from 1950 - 1952, which were held on courses laid out on public roads. However, after a fatal accident at Watkins Glen in 1952, it was decided to discontinue motor racing on all public roads and move the event to a private, purpose built road course.

In October 1954, Local highway engineer Clifton Edward ''Clif'' Tufte, got together with the Chicago Region of the Sports Car Club of America, as well as local citizens and formed Road America, Inc., a small company of shareholders, to develop and build a permanent racecourse that simulated country roads, 60 miles north of Milwaukee, at an estimated cost of $175,000. In April 1955 a bulldozer broke ground and on September 10, 1955, Road America held its first SCCA national race weekend.

Since then, the track has hosted many major American motorsport's series, including the American Le Mans Series, CART, NASCAR and the United States Road Racing Championship.

From 1982-2007, the race had been a perennial event on the CART/Champ Car calendar, with the innaugural race, the Road America 200 held on September 11, 1982. It was won by ex F1 driver Héctor Rebaque driving for Forsythe Racing, in a March 82C-Ford Cosworth DFX. The exception was 2005, when the race was dropped due to sponsorship issues.

The last Champ Car race was the Champ Car Generac Grand Prix of Road America, on August 12, 2007, which was won by Sébastien Bourdais, driving for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, in a Panoz DP-01-Cosworth XFE.

With the unification of Champ Car and the IRL in 2008, the race was subsequently dropped from the calendar. However, on August 8, 2015, it was announced Road America would return after an 8 year hiatus as the Kohler Grand Prix of Road America, the 9th round of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season.

In 2020 the race was originally scheduled for June 2 but due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was initially postponed. However, it was re-scheduled for July 11–12 as The REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR Doubleheader, hosting the 3rd and 4th rounds of the revised calendar, in order to bring the 2020 season back up to a 17 race schedule as a number of races had been cancelled. From 2021 onwards the event
has reverted back to a single race.

-

Track
The track itself has undergone a number of upgrades, including the installation of gravel traps, as well as the enlargement of run-off areas, particularly at Turn 1 and the removal of the bridge at Turn 13, at the end of 2006 season. Despite this, the actual layout has hardly changed, apart from a chicane that was installed for AMA motorcycle competitors at The Kink.


Track layout:



Length: 4.048 miles (6.515 km)
Turns: 14

Lap record:
Dario Franchitti, August 19, 2000. 1:39.866, 145.924 Mph (234.84 Km/h).
Team KOOL Green,
Reynard 2KI-Honda HR-0.
CART FedEx Championship Series.

-

Some trivia:
The driver with the most wins: 3.
Mario Andretti: 1983, 1984, 1987.
Emerson Fittipaldi, 1986, 1988, 1982.
Michael Andretti: 1991, 1992, 1996.

The team with the most wins: 10.
Newman/Haas Racing: 1983, 1984, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2007.

-

Last Year's Race:
https://www.indycar.com/news/2023/06/06-18-ra-nics-race

Pole:
Colton Herta,
Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian,
Dallara IR18-Honda HI23TT V-6.

Winner:
Álex Palou
Chip Ganassi Racing.
Dallara IR18-Honda HI23TT V-6.

Laps 55
Distance 220.55 Miles (354.94) Km
Race Time 1:50:04
Speed 120.335 Mph (193.660 Km/h)

Fastest lap:
Will Power - Team Penske.
Lap 45, 102.8921 sec,
140.442 Mph (226.019 Km/h)

Cautions 4
Laps: 10.

-

Practice and Qualifications

Practice 1, Friday, June 7.
4:00 PM - 5:15 PM ET

Practice 2, Saturday, June 8.
11:10 AM - 12:10 AM ET

Qualifications - Round 1, Group 1
Saturday, June 8. 3:25 PM - 3:35 PM ET

Qualifications - Round 1, Group 2
Saturday, June 8. 3:50 PM - 4:00 PM ET

Qualifications - Round 2
Saturday, June 8. 4:15 PM - 4:25 PM ET

Qualifications - Firestone Fast 6
Saturday, June 8. 4:40 PM - 4:55 AM ET

-

TV Broadcast
Sunday, June 9.
NBC, Peacock. 3:30 PM, 7:30PM UTC
Sky Sports Mix, 8:30 PM BST.