It’s easy when you follow a sport as big as IndyCar to forget about the small towns. The spectacle of The 500, the glamour of Long Beach, the history at Laguna Seca; these events pull attention and headlines. But for us at Rides & drives, it’s entirely true that there’s no place like home.
90 minutes northeast of our home in Madison, Wisconsin tucked away among cheese factories and rolling farmland, you’ll find one of this country’s greatest treasures: Road America, affectionately known as America’s National Park of Speed.
Why Elkhart Lake?
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin has always been a racing town. The track was born out of the town’s history of road racing, following World War II. But when the Wisconsin state legislature law banned racing on public roads after a 1952 incident left 8 spectators injured, racing enthusiasts, led by Clif Tufte, jumped right into fundraising, and purchased 523 acres of land to build their ode to motorsport.
The early days saw Road America hosting mostly sports car races. The first race at the track was held in September 1955 and featured what witnesses report was an epic battle between Phil Hill in a Ferrari 750 Monza and Sherwood Johnston in a D-Type Jaguar. Cart/Champ Car began racing here in 1982, and since then the list of Road America Grand Prix winners reads like a who’s who of IndyCar royalty: Andretti, Villeneuve, Sullivan, Fittipaldi, and so many others.
Over the decades and thousands of races, the 4.048 mile track configuration remains unchanged – all 14 corners today’s drivers speed through are the same corners navigated by past legends of the sport. The track has been repaved several times, most recently in 2023, but its layout and dimensions is identical to those that Tufte created when he walked this property in the spring of 1955.
All this love for Road America is nowhere near ancient history. You can’t throw a stone at the grid without hitting a driver who is on record waxing poetic about the track. This goes beyond Indy. Drivers from NASCAR, F1, WEC can’t agree on much, but they do agree this 4.048 mile road course is just plain fun to drive.
So why is that?
Well, there’s the speed, to start.
This year’s race winner, the inevitable Alex Palou, averaged just over 116 MPH. While that doesn’t sound much faster than other road courses, consider that we watched 10 laps under caution. Last year Will Power saw the top step of the podium after absolutely flying at over 126 MPH on average.
The track boasts three of the longest straights on the calendar, the main straight running a full 4,400 feet where the cars reach 200 MPH before hitting the binders in the braking zone for turn one. There are a few areas of hard braking, specifically into turns 1, 5, 8, and 12 (Canada Corner), and drivers often report entering several of the high speed corners without lifting, these include turn 7 and the infamous Kink.
Then there’s the passing. Those long straights set up excellent passing opportunities going into turn 1, turn 5, and Canada Corner, all three of which allow space for wheel-to-wheel action. The track never gets too narrow and there are no slow speed chicanes, you’re not going to see a parade of cars stuck behind each other. If you have the speed, you can make the pass at Road America.
And then of course there’s the intangible, indefinable nostalgia that makes our sport so compelling. Driving this track makes you a part of that history, an iconic course talked about in the same breath as places like Laguna Seca and Watkins Glen. If you’ve raced here, you’ve made it as a racer.
I could go on here forever, but Alex Palou pretty much said it all last year:
“(There’s) really fast, high-speed corners (and) slow-speed corners,” Palou told INDYCAR.com. “It has everything. Good overtaking spots, (it’s) good for strategies. So, yeah, just a proper track.”
OK, but I’m not a driver. What’s it like to watch a race here?
Well we’re going to recommend you get your step counter ready, because there is no shortage of vantage points on the track, each with its own unique benefit.
Let’s start with the most basic and probably popular need: Where can you go to see a long stretch of track with some corner to corner action? We recommend you cross the Sargento bridge and walk through a shady woods, where you’ll arrive at a rustic set of wooden grandstands on a grassy hill with a view of turns 6, 7, and 8. The view is enough of a stunner with nothing running around the track, but on race day you get enough time with each passing car to clearly read the number. The easier nature of the turns makes it especially great for spotting overtakes; you’ll get plenty of action here. And let me reiterate: they don’t lift through turn 7. They are flying.
But what if you’re more into high speeds, late breaking, and sharp corners? Lucky you, because your walk over to turn 5 is nice and short, and mercifully downhill (though you can walk to the grandstands on the other side of the track for high ground if you’d like). A crowd of fans gathers every race in the valley to watch cars dive downhill into the 90-degree left-hander, braking hard before shooting back up the hill under the Corvette bridge where the just brush the brakes before entering turn 6. It’s a quick sighting here, but it’s fast, loud, and some of the best wheel to wheel racing on the property.
And if mixing it up is exactly what you’re there for, start the race by turn 1. The long straight gives drivers time to build speed before getting racy with each other in the high speed first corner.
The Briggs (no relation) and Stratton Motorplex is the place to be for anyone who likes to really feel the speed. A well-laid out karting track built just outside turn 8 lets you live out your IndyCar driver fantasy. While you certainly can see Hurry Downs and Kettle Bottoms from the track, please remember to keep your eyes on your own road.
There are a few low points, though.
The start/finish line is excellent for the start/finish, but the bleachers don’t provide enough of a vantage point to really see much more than a few hundred feet either way. It would be nice for them to build in some way to see the cars coming over the hill toward the line if you aren’t a VIP in the front straight suites. The view is awe-inspiring and it would be nice if everyone could enjoy it.
Road America recently added a Beach area outside the track between the Carousel and The Kink. And while we like the idea, there is room for improvement. A small sandy enclave with palm trees and a tiki vibe sounds like a party within a party, but the track visibility is limited, there’s no large screen or speaker towers for greater context, and pretty minimal seating options, just a couple of stools surrounding the bar. If you want a chair in the sand, you’ll have to bring your own.
Walking tacos are a nice choice for food here, but honestly why isn’t the bar serving margaritas? And would some beach chairs or even a towel rental be too much to ask? If we’re not prioritizing viewing here why not bring in a band? They could even install a small wading pool to make it feel more like, well, a beach. What could be a super campy trip to a different world just feels like an afterthought. I think you can tell from the word count on this paragraph that this is my biggest disappointment at America’s National Park of Speed.
Get to your preferred corner early to park yourself in the shade, or if you’re like us and want to move around as much as the drivers, just pop from one vantage point to another every 10 laps or so. There is a shuttle service that’s free and easy to hop on. For more independence, the track rents golf carts, or we recommend bringing a bike or a scooter. Otherwise, you’ll be putting your pedometer to good use. We logged over 20,000 steps on our day at the track, walking nearly 10 miles in the 90-degree heat.
What kind of human fuel will I find?
Let’s talk about your personal pit stops. I’ll be candid here, coming to a small town in the Midwest for a sporting event and expecting anything beyond standard midwestern fare at concession stands is a little out of touch. But standard midwestern sports fare is not inherently a bad thing. Especially when there’s a well-staffed stand by nearly every viewing area – I don’t think we waited in a line longer than a single minute during any of our frequent water and food stops.
Breakfasts were made with real eggs and Sargento cheese in both the sandwich and burrito. A giant soft pretzel was hot and properly salty, with a little spice added to the violently yellow cheese sauce we all know and love. Bratwursts are mandatory for anyone visiting this track and they’re as good as you’ll find anywhere especially loaded with a full complement of condiments. We even found a walking taco (a food item so Midwest-Mex it feels like a parody, albeit a tasty one).
We were slightly perplexed by the “Sconnie Stuffer”, which was described as a one-pound baked potato stuffed with mac and cheese and pulled pork. With more than 60 years of Wisconsin residency between us the only part of that description that reads as homey to us is “cheese”, but hey, if mush on cheese on starch with a tangy sauce is your thing all the better.
How you feel about the pricing is going to depend on your perspective. The $8 Miller Lite feels rough when you consider you can buy a 6-pack for that amount at Kwik Trip, sure, but in comparison to the $12-15 you’ll pay for a beer at the nearby American Family Field it feels like a downright steal. Plus I know we keep talking about the heat, but it bears repeating – you’ll need less beer than usual. Food ran around $10-15 an item, which again feels fairly reasonable in the world of event prices.
The other option, and one that’s neither frowned on nor discouraged, is to load up a cooler and bring your food and refreshments in with you. All parking is inside the track so it’s not hard to schlep a wheeled cooler from your car to your favorite viewing area.
And where will we be staying?
Road America makes it easy to cruise in for the race and leave right after, but why not make a weekend of it?
There are pretty broad options in terms of accommodation, which means your race weekend can be whatever you’d like to make it. Camp at the track for a weekend-long party, though if you’re a tent camper bring every solar powered fan you have for those 90+ degree days in the sun, and we recommend getting your reservation in early to claim one of the few shady spots. A quieter camping experience can be had at a number of nearby state parks. For our money you can’t beat Kohler Andre for a relaxing night on the beach.
But it doesn’t have to be tents and communal showers. You can feel as glamorous as you like at the Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake and the American Club in Kohler. For a more family friendly experience, check out Siebkens Resort and Blue Harbor in Sheboygan. Any of these properties are going to provide top tier accommodation and amenities, plus they put you walking distance from restaurants and more bars than a non-Wisconsinite knows what to do with.
And if you’re staying in Elkhart Lake, grab a casual dinner at the Lake Street Cafe, or if you’re interested in something more upscale, the Paddock Club offers an excellent menu if you can get a coveted reservation on an IndyCar weekend. You’ll want to take the time to walk around town the night before the race. How else would you run into Alex Palou grabbing a quick ice cream at Gessert’s?
If you’re driving in the day of the race, you can breathe easily knowing that parking is a breeze. The wide open fields inside the gate let you keep your car near the action. Track staff provides plenty of instruction to keep traffic moving as well as it can. You will want to grab one more cold water on the way out, though, because the one drawback of parking here is the nearly complete lack of any shade. Our vehicle was well over 110 degrees when we got in, and we were lucky enough to be parked under a tree in the media row.
Takeaway? I love this place.
So this has been a pretty glowing review. I’ll freely admit I’m a homer when it comes to this track. I saw my first IndyCar race here. I did my first grid walk here. But I keep coming back for a reason. It’s the kind of track that makes you love racing; Fast cars, gorgeous scenery, tons of access, and passionate fans tossing Miller Lite to the drivers after the checkered flag.
For us at Rides & Drives, our home track is about as good as it gets.
