13 replies to this topic

[kozmo]

Hi,

 

Heading up to Road America to take in the Indycar race on June 26.   Haven't been to that circuit in 20 years so wondering if anybody has any tips/suggestions for the visit.  

 

Would appreciate favorite vantage points or insider knowledge about the venue.

 

Thanks in advance for the assist.

 

Regards

dg

Edited by kozmo, 20 June 2016 - 15:44.

[E1pix]

You may have to bushwhack your way down there from the outside of Turn 6, but the entry and apex of Canada Corner are AWESOME!

[SJ Lambert]

You lucky dog kozmo - I've never been to Road America, but reckon it would be fabulous - make it a multi day trip and explore!!!

 

Sounds like corners 4 and 5 are pretty good too.

 

And if 10 is called the Carousel, it can't be all bad either!!!

 

 

http://www.marshalsg...hp/Road_America

[SJ Lambert]

http://www.roadameri...Map_2016_NP.pdf

[SJ Lambert]

It all looks pretty good from this Jordan Judd perspective!!!

 

 

https://youtu.be/aumxAuzFzRo

[SJ Lambert]

Canada Corner

 

[SJ Lambert]

And with one of these on track, ANY CORNER would be Fab!!!

 

[E1pix]

You lucky dog kozmo - I've never been to Road America, but reckon it would be fabulous - make it a multi day trip and explore!!!
 
Sounds like corners 4 and 5 are pretty good too.
 
And if 10 is called the Carousel, it can't be all bad either!!!
 
 
http://www.marshalsg...hp/Road_America

Hate to tell you, but "corner 4" is the backstretch. ;-)

(Corner worker's Station 4)

Yes, 5 is fabulous... though was *far better* before CART's then-new CEO, Andrew Craig, apparently forced the track to line it with nasty fencing. It's nothing like it was.

Corner 8 is good, too, and should still be a clear view of heavy, downhill braking. The Carousel is slick (Yes, station 10), and you can camp there, but camping fees are quite a ripoff.

Really, not a boring turn on the track. Bring mosquito repellent and a hearty attitude in battling heat and excessive humidity. Best months there are May and September.

[jonpollak]

Take pics Kosmo... Wish I could go

[racinggeek]

You may have to bushwhack your way down there from the outside of Turn 6, but the entry and apex of Canada Corner are AWESOME!

 

No longer true, E1. Last year, a mostly paved cart path opened that runs from just behind the Briggs & Stratton kart track (a little down from exit of the Carousel) to the apex of Canada Corner, following along the stretch from the Kink. (There previously was a rocky so-called walking path, but that's a loong walk, although easier to find that figuring out which path to take down the hill from T6.) And this year, another paved cart path opened that goes inside the track from where the Mitchell Bridge used to be, at Turn -- er, Station 13 -- to the Canada apex, following along Thunder Valley. So, you no longer need native guides with loincloths and machetes to get there.

[E1pix]

Thanks for the info, RG!

I'll miss Kimbu, but his machete did rile up the Sheboygan sheriffs a bit. ;-)

Edited by E1pix, 03 July 2016 - 04:07.

[racinggeek]

Thanks for the info, RG!

I'll miss Kimbu, but his machete did rile up the Sheboygan sheriffs a bit. ;-)

 

Another sign of the times -- you know the concession shack right at the tunnel that goes under the front straight, on the outside of the track next to the media center? This year it's become a healthy/organic food stand. Does serve beer, though, so some things never change. And the St. John the Baptist and Gear Box stands still have their brats 

 

One thing, artistically, about getting in those cart paths -- When I have credentials (as I did for IndyCar), I always like shooting from anywhere between Canada and the Mitchell kink at Station 13, either side of the track. Now, if you shoot from the outside of the track a little way down into Thunder Valley, right down next to the track and about where the cars are starting to brake or turn in to 13, you don't get that blurred forest in the background -- it's just grayish-white wall, grass above that and spectator fence high up above it all. One less good place to the old-fashioned artsy shot -- the price of progress, I suppose.

[SJ Lambert]

Oh, to have been there for the F5000s in 1976!

[E1pix]

It was really special, SJ. Can-Am maybe slightly more so.

RG, since it's been a waaaaay tooooo looooong of a wait of 14 years, I may be shocked. Seeing 13 without Mitchell will just be the start, I imagine... "progress" almost never is, IMHO.