Earl, there’s Kiwi history up in them hills

A village in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States, back in the 1950s became known for hosting road races on public county roads. Some folk didn’t like it and the state legislature then banned any racing on public roads.

So a man called Clif Tufte called a group of influential local citizens together and along with leaders of the Chicago Region of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) they planned to build a permanent road course. Tufte chose a 525-acre farm outside the Village of Elkhart Lake which was to become the track we now know as Road America.

September 10, 1955, the track’s first SCCA national race meeting was held. Now revered as one of the world’s finest and most challenging road courses, the 4.048 mile track with 14 turns is virtually the same today as it was when it was first laid out.

The Canadian-American Challenge Cup (Can Am) featured at the track from 1967 to 1974 and those early years were dominated by McLaren cars winning five years in a row. Denny Hulme won in 1967 in a McLaren M6A Chevrolet and went on to win again in 1968 with Bruce McLaren second, both driving the McLaren M8B Chevrolet. The following year the positions were swapped with Bruce leading Denny home.

More Kiwi history was created in the short-lived SCCA’s Formula 5000 series when Graeme McRae won the Road America Grand Prix in July 1972 driving a McRae GM1 (#OO1). Interestingly the prize money back then was $US20,000.

IndyCars have created the biggest events in the track’s history with the first CART event held back in 1982. Scott Dixon won the KOHLER Grand Prix in 2017, the 27th IndyCar race at the track.

Road America - 4.048 mile track with 14 turns — Road America – 4.048 mile track with 14 turns

This weekend Earl Bamber competes in the latest round of the IMSA Spsortcar Championship with his Porsche GT Team driving a 911 RSR in the GTLM class. He has an opportunity to add to the Kiwi history at Road America, the birthplace of American sports car racing.

The uniqueness of Road America is that it is the only North American permanent road course which retains its original layout. There are no short courses, added loops, revised corners or chicanes. The road course that McLaren, Hulme and McRae raced on is the same track that is in use today.