NASCAR Cup Series race coming to Road America next year

The highest level of professional stock car racing competition is coming to Sheboygan County next year.

NASCAR announced today that it will add a race at Road America to its top-division Cup Series in 2021.

The historic road course near Elkhart Lake will host a July 4 race as one of 36 stops on the 2021 Cup Series schedule, NASCAR announced Wednesday.

Since it opened in 1955, Road America has hosted elite racing competition and some of the biggest names in auto racing, but mostly in the open-wheel Indy car competition. The top stock car racing circuit only competed once at the track, in 1956 when it was known as the Grand National Series.

However, the 4-mile-long, 14-turn track has been an annual stop on NASCAR’s Xfinity Series, its second highest level of competition, for the past 11 years.

Now with NASCAR bringing a Cup Series race to Road America, area auto racing fans will have a chance to see the top drivers in stock car racing compete locally.

“Since we welcomed the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2010, our fans have been asking for the NASCAR Cup Series, and we are very proud to make it happen on the Fourth of July,” said Mike Kertscher, president and general manager at Road America.

Kertscher encouraged fans to purchase tickets and campsites early for four full days of motor racing events. Tickets are now available through Road America’s website.

Road America’s track is the longest of the 36-race Cup Series. The 640-acre venue attracts 800,000 visitors annually with hundreds of events each year, generating more than $100 million dollars in economic impact to the area, according to Road America’s website.

Races and other events have brought fans to Road America all summer despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Road America says it has implemented a number of health and safety protocols through the facility such as increased cleaning and hand sanitizing stations, sneeze guards and staff training, according to its website.