Historic Cars, Open Pits, And Racing Legends At Road America Vintage Weekend

Warm and humid mid-July weather greeted the annual Road America Vintage Weekend. Over 15,000 fans migrated to Elkhart Lake, WI, to enjoy four days of vintage car racing. The 242 cars were divided into 13 (lucky number) groups, with several large groups requiring individual classes. With this considerable number of cars, it is no surprise that the drivers came from 31 states and four countries to meet the challenge of this scenic and historic road course.

John Spiers of London, England, pushes his 1967 Mustang hard out of Turn 5 (note front end listing to the left) as a 1968 Corvette is in hot pursuit.

Road America Vintage Weekend

Road America was the vision of civil engineer Clif Tufte, who 1955 carved a 4.04-mile road course out of 523 acres of WI farmland.  The track quickly became one of the most celebrated in the world, hosting major SCCA events, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can Am, and Formula 5000 races. These events drew drivers such as F1 Champion Phil Hill, LeMans Champion Carroll Shelby, and four-time Indy 500 Winner Al Unser (to name a few). Many current-day racing series are run at RA, and this year marks the track’s 70th Anniversary.

This 1972 Lola T290 increases speed into Turn 7. The driver Walt Vollrath, is based in  Elkhart Lake, WI.

In keeping with tradition, the town of Elkhart Lake hosts a ‘street’ Concours d’Elegance Friday and Saturday night.  The main street through downtown is blocked to display the cars, which entice several businesses and residential homes along the route to host front yard parties. Friday is the ‘race car’ concourse with all entries participating in the vintage races earlier in the day.  Saturday’s concourse is for sports cars, prewar through 2007. All cars are grouped by class and reviewed by a panel of judges who award a first-place trophy in each class. The guests of honor were retired professional race car driver David Hobbs and Edsel Ford, great-grandson of Henry Ford.

The Friday night race car concourse was a huge draw and a chance to see the competition cars up close.

This event is always a ‘must attend’ if you are a race fan: Vintage or otherwise. All pits are open, and most drivers and crew members are happy to answer questions (when not busy).  The 14-turn course provides multiple viewing spots, and a continuously running shuttle will drop you anywhere around the course. In addition, there are many spots around the track to grab a bite, and I would be remiss if I didn’t recommend a locally produced grilled brat with your favorite beverage!   

Doug Mockett pilots his 1976 F1 Penske PC4 into Turn 3 at over 120MPH. This car won the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix.

 Vintage racing is not so much about who wins, but about how much fun you derive from driving your car in a good-spirited competition. I saw several ‘teams’ staffed by family and friends, which promotes camaraderie (most of the time!). However, this year I did notice more private semi-trailers hauling cars and equipment.  Recreational racing at this level is expensive and the technicians that have the knowledge to work on these older cars are retiring.  If you appreciate watching what it was like to race ‘in the day,’ strongly suggest you take the easy drive to Road America before these cars are ‘retired’ from our view.

Unfortunately, this 1976 Ralt RT1 experienced catastrophic engine trouble exiting Turn 7 and retired for the day. Pride was the only injury.