Road America doesn’t expect more schedule adjustments
As much as the Road America season became a plan-as-you-go project, the track doesn’t expect any more significant changes to the rest of the calendar.
But, as president and general manager Mike Kertscher has said, if there’s been anything to learn this year in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic it is to be flexible and ready for anything.
“We’re here, and if we can help anybody out in any sort of way, we’ll do our best to accommodate,” he said.
After a successful and well-attended IndyCar weekend Sunday at the 4-mile course outside Elkhart Lake – rescheduled from June and turned into a doubleheader – Road America still faces a stretch of three of its biggest spectator events on consecutive weekends.
The WeatherTech International Challenge vintage weekend is scheduled for July 23-26, IMSA sports cars July 30-Aug. 2 and the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Trans-Am and Stadium Super Trucks from Aug. 6-8.
Remaining events include GT World Challenge Aug. 28-30 and the SCCA National Championship Runoffs Oct. 9-11. The Runoffs will draw hundreds of competitors and their crews from around the country.
“I think going forward we have a solid plan in place and our team here has been doing a fabulous job of working through the constant changes and all the new proper way of doing things and procedures,” Kertscher said Sunday.
“It’s always hard to prepare for stuff when you don’t know exactly what it looks like. Running this event this weekend, the REV Group Grand Prix, I think we have a pretty good understanding what an event of significance looks like at Road America, and we’re excited to push forward and finish out our season here.”
Details still need to be ironed out for the IMSA weekend, most importantly how many days the series will be on track. Additional series could be added to the weekend schedule, Kertscher said.
NASCAR finally confirmed last week the Xfinity Series would come to Road America as it announced a portion of its schedule. The series will be on track for only one day, Kertscher said, although the exact format has not been established. Stadium Super Trucks and Trans-Am will fill the weekend.
Road America announced Monday the concours events held in conjunction with the International Challenge vintage weekend, typically in downtown Elkhart Lake, will take place at the track. The historic race cars will be on display that Friday and sports cars Saturday.
In addition to moving the IndyCar weekend, Road America also added a MotoAmerica in June to help the series make up for dates lost to the pandemic. The track also has hosted lower-level vintage and club events open to spectators as the season ramped up.