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Round 9: Xpel Grand Prix of Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. June 20 - 22

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Round 9: Xpel Grand Prix of Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. June 20 - 22

The season is just over halfway through, with only 2 drivers having won every race, so far.

Sunday's race will be the 10th running of the Grand Prix of Road America, since becoming part of the IndyCar race calendar. Will someone other than Alex Palou or Kyle Kirkwood win?

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History
The very first race to be held at Elkhart Lake was in 1950 and was organized by the Chicago Region and Milwaukee Region of The Sports Car Club of America. It was the first of three races from 1950 - 1952, which were held on courses laid out on public roads. However, after a fatal accident at Watkins Glen in 1952, it was decided to discontinue motor racing on all public roads and move the event to a private, purpose built road course.

In October 1954, Local highway engineer Clifton Edward ''Clif'' Tufte, got together with the Chicago Region of the Sports Car Club of America, as well as local citizens and formed Road America, Inc., a small company of shareholders, to develop and build a permanent racecourse that simulated country roads, 60 miles north of Milwaukee, at an estimated cost of $175,000. In April 1955 a bulldozer broke ground and on September 10, 1955, Road America held its first SCCA national race weekend.

Since then, the track has hosted many major American motorsport's series, including the American Le Mans Series, CART, NASCAR and the United States Road Racing Championship.

From 1982-2007, the race had been a perennial event on the CART/Champ Car calendar, with the innaugural race, the Road America 200 held on September 11, 1982. It was won by ex F1 driver Héctor Rebaque driving for Forsythe Racing, in a March 82C-Ford Cosworth DFX. The exception was 2005, when the race was dropped due to sponsorship issues.

The last Champ Car race was the Champ Car Generac Grand Prix of Road America, on August 12, 2007, which was won by Sébastien Bourdais, driving for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, in a Panoz DP-01-Cosworth XFE.

With the unification of Champ Car and the IRL in 2008, the race was subsequently dropped from the calendar. However, on August 8, 2015, it was announced Road America would return after an 8 year hiatus as the Kohler Grand Prix of Road America, the 9th round of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season.

In 2020 the race was originally scheduled for June 2 but due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was initially postponed. However, it was re-scheduled for July 11–12 as The REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR Doubleheader, hosting the 3rd and 4th rounds of the revised calendar, in order to bring the 2020 season back up to a 17 race schedule, as a number of races had been cancelled. From 2021 onwards the event has reverted back to a single race.

On June 9 last year, Mike Kertscher, president and general manager of Road America, announced a multiyear partnership extension with IndyCar.

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Track
The track itself has undergone a number of upgrades, including the installation of gravel traps, as well as the enlargement of run-off areas, particularly at Turn 1 and the removal of the bridge at Turn 13, at the end of 2006 season. However, despite this, the actual layout has hardly changed, apart from a chicane that was installed for AMA motorcycle races at The Kink.

Track layout



Length: 4.048 miles (6.515 km)
Turns: 14

Lap record:
Dario Franchitti, August 19, 2000. 1:39.866, 145.924 Mph (234.84 Km/h).
Team KOOL Green,
Reynard 2KI-Honda HR-0.
CART FedEx Championship Series.

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Some trivia

The driver with the most wins: 3.
Michael Andretti: 1991, 1992, 1996.
Emerson Fittipaldi: 1986, 1988, 1992
Mario Andretti: 1983, 1984, 1987.

The team with the most wins: 10.
Newman/Haas Racing: 1983, 1984, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2007.

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Last Year's Race

https://www.indycar.com/news/2024/06/06-09-nics-race-ra

Pole
Linus Lundqvist
Chip Ganassi Racing
Dallara IR18-Honda HI23TT V-6.

Winner
Will Power
Team Penske
Dallara IR18-Chevy Indy V 6.

Laps 55
Distance 220.55 Miles (354.94) Km
Race Time 1:45:00.0267
Speed 126.154 Mph (203.025 Km/h)

Fastest lap:
Scott Dixon - Chip Ganassi Racing
Lap 53, 103.1076 sec,
140.149 Mph (225.548 Km/h)

Cautions 3
Laps: 6

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Practice and Qualifications

Practice 1,
Friday, June 20. 4:30 PM ET
FS2
Sky Sports F1, 9:00 PM BST

Practice 2
Saturday, June 21. 11:10 AM ET
FS1
Sky Sports F1, 4:00 PM BST

Qualifications
Saturday, June 21. 2:30 PM ET
FS1
Sky Sports F1, 7:30 PM BST

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TV Broadcast
Sunday, June 22.
Fox. 1:30 PM, 5:30 PM UTC
Sky Sports F1, 6:30 PM BST.

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