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The Monsters of CART – Part 6: The National Park of Speed

After the high-speed challenge of Watkins Glen and its unforgiving blue steel guard-rails, our next stop takes us to a place that feels just as sacred, yet scales the velocity up to absolute extremes. We are moving from the historic hills of New York State to the legendary rolling hills of Wisconsin. Welcome to the sacred, high-speed asphalt of Road America.

Tucked away in the scenic countryside of Elkhart Lake, this legendary 4.048-mile, 14-turn asphalt monster has remained virtually unchanged since its inception in 1955. For the drivers of the CART IndyCar World Series, especially during the high-horsepower era of the 1980s and 90s, Road America wasn’t just another stop on the calendar. It was a brutal, high-speed test of nerves, aerodynamics, and mechanical endurance. It rightfully earned its nickname: America's National Park of Speed.

The Ultimate Technical Gauntlet: From "The Kink" to "Canada Corner"

What makes Road America so special—and terrifying—is that it rewards bravery like no other track. Unlike modern circuits redesigned with massive asphalt run-off areas, Elkhart Lake retained its old-school, unforgiving character.

The ultimate test of a driver’s courage happened at Turn 11, universally known as "The Kink."

In a turbo-charged CART machine, drivers approached this blind, right-hand bend at speeds flirting with 180 mph (nearly 290 km/h). Back in the day, The Kink was surrounded by dense treelines and a concrete wall that felt dangerously close to the track edge. There was no room for error. You either kept your right foot planted, trusted your ground effects, or tapped the brakes and lost crucial tenths of a second down the following straight.

But surviving The Kink was only half the battle. Immediately after executing that high-speed tightrope walk, drivers blasted down the Kettle Bottoms straightaway into a heavy compression, setup perfectly to destroy your focus for Turn 12: Canada Corner.

The Videogame Trap: Anyone who has ever raced Road America in a simulator or classic racing game knows the struggle. The sheer adrenaline rush and visual distortion of surviving The Kink completely disrupts your rhythm. By the time you realize you are approaching Canada Corner, you are on a brutal downhill braking zone. Miss your braking point by a fraction of a second, and you are sailing straight into the gravel trap.

A Battleground for Titans

Road America always produced legendary dogfights because its long straights and heavy braking zones allowed for slipstreaming and spectacular overtaking maneuvers.

The early 90s saw incredible, wheel-to-wheel warfare between titans of the sport. Legendary figures like Emerson Fittipaldi in the iconic Marlboro Penske and Al Unser Jr. in the Galles Valvoline machine would routinely scream down the front stretch side-by-side, refusing to give an inch.

It was also a place where master tacticians like Bobby Rahal thrived. In 1995, running his own Rahal-Hogan Racing team, Rahal piloted the unforgettable black and gold Miller Genuine Draft car. His smooth, calculating driving style was perfectly suited to managing tires and fuel while maintaining a blistering pace through high-speed sweeps like the Carousel.

The raw speed of CART at this venue is best cemented by history: during the peak of the 1000-horsepower manufacturer wars in 2000, Dario Franchitti clocked an official lap record of 1:39.866 at an average speed of 145.871 mph (234.79 km/h). To this day, that staggering historical milestone remains unbroken by modern IndyCar machinery in race conditions.

1995: The Grid Descends on Wisconsin

As the 1995 CART IndyCar World Series championship heads into its final chapters, Road America stands as a crucial junction. With its massive straights favoring raw horsepower and its demanding corners penalizing poor handling, the fast flowing hills of Wisconsin are ready to separate the contenders from the pretenders.

The engines are warming up in Elkhart Lake, and the green flag is about to drop.

🏁 Join the Conversation!

Now it’s your turn, fellow gearheads! Did you ever experience the ground-shaking roar of 1000-horsepower CART monsters screaming through the Wisconsin hills in person? Or maybe, just like us, you spent hours spinning out at Canada Corner in your favorite classic racing simulator because you pushed too hard through The Kink?

Drop your favorite memories of Bobby Rahal’s iconic black-and-gold Miller machine, the legendary battles between Emmo and Little Al, or your personal thoughts on why Road America remains the ultimate temple of speed in the comments section below!

🏁 Series Tracklist: Monsters of CART

  • 🟢 Part 1: Long Beach – The Art of Braking Under the Palms

  • 🟢 Part 2: Surfers Paradise – The Flight of the Chassis

  • 🟢 Part 3: Detroit Belle Isle – The Concrete Muscle-Flex

  • 🟢 Part 4: Cleveland / Burke Lakefront – The Airport Runway Madness

  • 🟢 Part 5: Watkins Glen – The Old-School Guard-Rail Myth

  • 🟢 Part 6: Road America – The Speed Cathedral (Current Post)

  • ⚪ Part 7: Mid-Ohio – The European Grass Trap (Coming Soon)

  • ⚪ Part 8: Portland – The Millisecond Slipstream Photo-Finish (Coming Soon)

  • ⚪ Part 9: Laguna Seca – Defying Physics at the Corkscrew (Coming Soon)

  • ⚪ Part 10: Milwaukee Mile – The Ancient Pie-Shaped Legend (Coming Soon)

  • ⚪ Part 11: Pocono Speedway – The Asymmetric "Tricky Triangle" (Coming Soon)

  • ⚪ Part 12: Michigan Speedway – The 900+ HP Draft War (Coming Soon)

  • ⚪ Part 13: Indianapolis Motor Speedway – The Aero-Precision Peak (Coming Soon)

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