Road America is one of the preeminent — if not the most preeminent — road course racetracks in the U.S. Virtually anyone who’s ever been anyone in American motorsports — including legendary racers like A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Roger Penske, Mark Donohue, Emerson Fittipaldi, and so many others — has competed on its more than four miles and 15 twisting turns.
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But something has been missing at Road America in Central Wisconsin, and it continues to be missing.
That’s right, the biggest racing series in the U.S. — NASCAR — is now in its second year of being absent from Road America (or simply “RA” as many fans like to call it).
And it’s looking like that absence is going to continue, although veteran NASCAR fans who loved watching stock cars racing at Road America are still hopeful that the sanctioning body will bring back the Cup and Xfinity Series soon.
More on that in a minute.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series competed at Road America for 14 straight years, from 2010 through 2023.
The premier NASCAR Cup Series raced at RA in 2021 and 2022 (as well as 1956, shortly after the track opened in 1955). Unfortunately for the Elkhart Lake, Wisc. Racetrack, its more current Cup tenure was short-lived, being replaced on the Cup schedule by the Chicago Street Race, which enters its third year in the Windy City this July.
In a recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel interview, Road America president and general manager Mike Kertscher spoke about the NASCAR void.
Kertscher told the Journal Sentinel that he hasn’t spoken to any NASCAR officials since running into a few of them in late January at the Rolex 24 Hours at the NASCAR-owned Daytona International Speedway.
But there were no negotiations about bringing NASCAR back to the track. Instead, it was simply “pleasantries,” Kertscher said.
He added, “I mean, they know who we are. They certainly understand what we’re capable of. There’s nothing to report. There’s nothing to hide either.
“So it’s just one of those things. If it works for them, it works for them. And we’re here. We’re also not waiting around. We’re moving forward. Our other events have grown, and our schedule is packed. There are no open dates here.”
By comparison, IndyCar has held 35 races at RA since 1982, and they have all been sellouts or near-sellouts.
It seems hard to believe RA couldn’t open additional dates or move schedules around to accommodate NASCAR if it wanted to return.
“I lobby all the time,” Kertscher said. “But ultimately, it’s their choice. It’s their series. They’ve got a lot of choices. A lot of people vie for a NASCAR date, many of which have never had one. And we were blessed with so many great years and two wonderful Cup races.”
What Potentially Might It Take to Bring NASCAR Back to Road America?
Now, about the previous “more on that in a minute” reference: this is the final guaranteed year of the original 10-year contract NASCAR signed with City of Chicago officials to play host to the Chicago Street Race.
That’s right, of the 10-year deal, only the first three years are guaranteed. That means NASCAR could — and we stress the word “could” — leave the Windy City after this year if ticket sales flounder or if inclement weather plays a significant factor as it has in the first two years.
If NASCAR were to leave downtown Chicago, it potentially could return to Chicagoland Speedway (CLS), a 1.5-mile oval about 50 miles outside of downtown Chicago. CLS hosted NASCAR for 19 Cup races, 24 Xfinity races, and 11 Truck races since the track first opened in 2001. Its last NASCAR race of any type was in 2019.
But because ticket sales at the 55,000-seat CLS significantly waned in the last few years of its agreement with NASCAR, it might once again be a hard sell to attract fans if the sanctioning body brought its race cars and trucks back to the track.
On the flipside, Road America — which seats around 70,000 — almost always had full- or near-capacity crowds whenever NASCAR came to town. In particular, the Xfinity Series races there were among the most popular and most well-attended races in the series.
Likewise, for the two recent Cup races.
While nothing appears imminent, Kertscher remains hopeful that the biggest racing series in the country will one day return.
“We’d love to see NASCAR come back,” Kertscher said. “It looks good here. It’s a nice product. Our success certainly isn’t defined by having it here. But we’d love to see it come back.
“… We’ll see what happens for the future.”
