The Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America (formerly the Road America 500) is a
sports car race held at
Road America
Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Champ ...
in
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Elkhart Lake is a village in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States, located within the northwestern part of the county within the Town of Rhine. The population was 967 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Sheboygan, Wisconsin Metropolit ...
. The event began in 1950, and in 1951 was added to the
SCCA National Sports Car Championship. Following a spectator death at the 1952
Watkins Glen Grand Prix, racing on open roads was discouraged, and the race went into hiatus until 1955, when a permanent circuit was opened. In 1963, the race shifted to the new
United States Road Racing Championship, until the USRRC's demise in 1968. After an 11-year hiatus, the
IMSA GT Championship revived the event in 1979. In 1988, IMSA shortened the race to , and again in 1991 to . The race was shortened to 2 hours in 1992. After a return to a 500-km distance, the race was cancelled in 1994. It was revived once again in 2000, by the
Grand American Road Racing Championship
The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...
, to a 500-mile distance. The race was an
American Le Mans Series event from 2002 until 2013, run at varying race distances of either 2 hours and 45 minutes or 4 hours. In 2014 the race joined the schedule of the
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship after the merger of the
American Le Mans Series and the
Rolex Sports Car Series.
Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
has won the event nine times, most recently in 2007.
Augie Pabst,
Chuck Parsons
Charles W. "Chuck" Parsons (February 6, 1924 – January 3, 1999) was an American sports car racing driver. Parsons drove in SCCA and USSRC competition, then became a driver in the Can Am series. Like many drivers of the era, he participated in mul ...
, and
Geoff Brabham have each won three times as drivers.
Winners
Elkhart Lake road circuit
Road America
* Scheduled for two 250-kilometer heats, the first heat was cancelled due to heavy rain.
* A 300-kilometer GTP/Lights race and 200-kilometer GTO/GTU/AAC race were held, totaling 500 kilometers.
References
External links
United SportsCar Championship official siteUltimate Racing History: Road America archive
{{United SportsCar Championship races
Recurring sporting events established in 1950
1950 establishments in Wisconsin