A New Trail Offers Great Views of the Carousel Turn, Palm Trees and a Tiki Bar Are on the Beach, and More
By Jeff Olson
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Nurburgring has a Carousel. So does Circuit of The Americas. And Sonoma, Mid-Ohio and, yes, Road America.
The difference among them? Road America’s Carousel turn now has a breathtaking viewing trail built from pieces of the track itself.
The Carousel, a sweeping, circular right-hand section that includes Turns 9 and 10, now features an expansive viewing and walking area overlooking one of the track’s most entertaining sectors.
The trail consists of ground-up pieces of the previous track pavement replaced as part of a $4 million repaving project completed in November. The trail required an expansion of the track property.
“We’ve wanted to do something like that to improve the viewing area, but we didn’t own enough land to push back in there,” said John Ewert, Road America’s communications director. “We were fortunate enough to work with the county and purchase some land.”
Once the land was purchased, the plan to reuse old pavement came into play.
“It fell into place perfectly with the repave,” Ewert said. “Once we repaved the facility, we used the re-grind that we took out for the repave. We used that extra material to make the Carousel trail.”
Just down the track from the Carousel is the Beach, a sandy viewing area popular with fans. New to that area are palm trees, bleachers, a Tiki bar, Adirondack chairs and a food truck.
The new view of the Carousel is a hit.
“People just love it,” Ewert said. “It offers an incredible perspective as far as the speeds and the beauty and pageantry of this place. It’s something fans have looked forward to for a long time. Back in the day, you had to wander through the brush and make sure you had tons of mosquito repellant. We were able to clear that out.”
The trail is one of several new improvements to the iconic 68-year-old circuit. Among the other changes fans will notice this weekend at the IMSA SportsCar Weekend are:
Paddock lighting. An LED lighting system in the paddock provided by Wisconsin Lighting Lab will brighten the pit lane and paddock area after dark, providing safety and sustainability.
Wood carvings. Artist Ben Buschke of Manawa, Wisconsin, has added several wood carvings to the 640-acre grounds, including bears, eagles and wolves that capture the spirit of the Wisconsin wilderness.
App. Real-time updates, live cams, an interactive map and historical circuit information are included in the track’s new downloadable app, which features a user-friendly interface and other comprehensive features.
The most significant change at Road America, though, is the repaving of the 14-turn, 4.048-mile circuit, an extensive offseason renovation that had the attention of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Friday during opening practice sessions.
“It’s just very different from the Road America we knew,” said Sebastien Bourdais, who had the fastest lap in the first practice session in the No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R. “I think it’s going to be tricky in traffic. There is a high amount of grip on the line and on the inside, and in the braking zones, it’s low. We’ll sort it out.”
Qualifying for all five WeatherTech Championship classes will begin Saturday at 2:15 p.m. ET, with a livestream available on Peacock and IMSA.com/TVLive. USA Network’s live coverage of the race begins Sunday at 11 a.m.