Road America Pre-Repave
Road America Pre-Repave Notes:
Road America claims to be the "World's Fastest Permanent Road Course," with a whooping speed average of 95 mph, and there are not many other raceways able to object to that. It was paved in April 1955 in 640 acres (260 ha) of rolling hills in the Kettle Moraine, on Elkhart Lake, 60 miles north of Milwaukee. Clif Tufte, a highway engineer, came up with the idea of building a road course after Elkhart Lake's authorities banned street racing in the early 1950s. The 4.04-mile track with 14 turns he designed and built is a staple part of many high-profile motorsports series such as WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, IndyCar, NASCAR Cup, NASCAR Xfinity, MotoAmerica, the American Le Mans, and many others. The combined audience of these events is over 800,000 spectators every year.
The humid continental climate of Wisconsin means there's mild summer with lots of rainfall and cold, snowy winters with temperatures under 30 °F. Nevertheless, motorsports never stop in Road America, with more than 400 events a year like the famous Winter Autocross Series, taking place no matter who harsh climate conditions are. The track's layout is optimal for high speeds, with long straightaways and sweepers featuring spectacular elevation changes like the one nearing the final line, which looks like a vertical wall from the driver's seat.
Pre-Repave Notes:
Road America's Pre-Repave configuration preserves the circuit layout and surface characteristics that defined Wisconsin road racing from 1995 through October 2022, featuring the identical 6.472-kilometer 14-turn geometry used today but with aged asphalt developing unique grip patterns, patched sections, and rubber buildup that created specific reference points internalized by three decades of drivers before the 2022 complete resurface. This historical configuration maintained founder Clif Tufte's 1955 original vision with minimal geometry changes across 67 years, but surface evolution through 27 years without major repaving created worn brake zones, bumpy sections, and grip variations corner-to-corner that experienced Road America regulars exploited for competitive advantage before October 2022's milling, grinding, and new asphalt installation reset those characteristics completely.
The Pre-Repave layout's significance lies in surface evolution rather than geometry differences from current configuration. Turn 5's off-camber Carousel, the Kink's 240+ kph compression, Turn 12's hairpin, and Canada Corner's final complex maintained identical layouts, but 27 years of racing created patched repairs, worn surfaces in heavy-use areas, and rubber accumulation in racing lines that the 2022 repaving eliminated. Lap time records, magazine comparison tests, IndyCar races, IMSA championships, and MotoAmerica Superbike events from 1995-2022 all occurred on this Pre-Repave surface, making it a distinct 27-year historical chapter. Wisconsin's continental climate interactions with aging asphalt—freeze-thaw cycles, summer heat expansion, moisture absorption—created familiarity that decades built into institutional knowledge among Midwest road racing community. The October 2022 repaving's new surface texture, fresh asphalt compounds, and modern grip levels fundamentally changed Road America's driving character despite preserving Tufte's original geometry. The Pre-Repave configuration represents completed era where 1995 resurfacing lasted 27 years until 2022 modernization created the 'National Park of Speed' descriptor celebrating new pavement quality. This historical surface hosted some of North America's most memorable road racing moments before transformation to current smooth characteristics.
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