SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix
| IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship | |
|---|---|
| Venue | Road America |
| First race | 1950 |
| First IMSA race | 2014 |
| Duration | 6 hours |
| Previous names | Elkhart Lake Road Race (1950–1951) Elkhart Lake Cup (1952) Elkhart Lake's Road America Road Race (1955) Road America 6 Hours (1956) Road America 500 (1957–1968) Pabst 500 (1979–1983) Budweiser 500 (1984) Löwenbräu Classic (1985–1987) Miller High Life 500 (1988–1989) Chicago Tribune presents the Nissan Grand Prix of Road America (1990) Nissan Grand Prix of Road America (1991–1992) Piggly Wiggly Grand Prix 500 Kilometers (1993) Sargento Road America 500 (2000–2001) Road America 500 presented by the Chicago Tribune (2002–2004) Generac 500 (2005–2008) Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase (2009, 2011) American Le Mans Series powered by eStar (2010) Road America Road Race Showcase (2012) Orion Energy Systems 245 (2013) Continental Road Race Showcase (2014–2018) Road Race Showcase at Road America (2019) IMSA SportsCar Weekend (2020–2021, 2023–2024) IMSA Fastlane SportsCar Weekend (2022) Motul SportsCar Grand Prix (2025) Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix (2026) |
| Most wins (driver) | Augie Pabst Chuck Parsons Geoff Brabham Lucas Luhr Ricky Taylor (3) |
| Most wins (team) | Briggs Cunningham Racing Team Team Penske (4) |
| Most wins (manufacturer) | Porsche (11) |
The Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix is a sports car race held at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
History
[edit]The event began in 1950, in 1951 was added to the SCCA National Sports Car Championship and was contested for the final time on the roads around the village and lake of Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Following a spectator death at the 1952 Watkins Glen Grand Prix, racing on open roads was discouraged, and the race went into hiatus until 1955, when Road America was opened. In 1963, the race shifted to the new United States Road Racing Championship, until the USRRC's demise in 1968.
After an 11-year hiatus, the IMSA GT Championship revived the event in 1979. After running as a 500 mile event beginning in 1957, IMSA shortened the race to 500 kilometres (310 mi) in 1988, and again in 1991 to 300 kilometres (190 mi). The race was shortened to 2 hours in 1992. After a return to a 500-km distance, the race was cancelled in 1994. It was revived once again in 2000, by the Grand American Road Racing Championship, to a 500-mile distance. The race was an American Le Mans Series event from 2002 until 2013, run at varying race distances of either 2 hours and 45 minutes or 4 hours.
In 2014 the race joined the schedule of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship after the merger of the American Le Mans Series and the Rolex Sports Car Series contested at IMSA's standard sprint race duration of 2 hours and 40 minutes. In 2026, the race was extended to a 6 hour endurance race and become part of IMSA's Michelin Endurance Cup.[1]
Winners
[edit]Elkhart Lake road circuit
[edit]| Date | Overall winner(s) | Entrant | Car | Distance/Duration | Race title | Report | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-championship | |||||||
| 1950 | Ferrari 166 MM | 100 miles (160 km) | Elkhart Lake Road Race | report | |||
| SCCA National Sports Car Championship | |||||||
| 1951 | Cunningham C-2R | 200 miles (320 km) | Elkhart Lake Road Race | report | |||
| 1952 | Cunningham C-4R-Chrysler | 200 miles (320 km) | Elkhart Lake Cup | report | |||
Road America
[edit]- ^A Race scheduled for 500 miles (800 km) but ended at 460 miles (737km) due to heavy rain and track flooding.
- ^B Scheduled for two 250-kilometer heats, the first heat was cancelled due to heavy rain.[2][3]
- ^C A 300-kilometer GTP/Lights race and 200-kilometer GTO/GTU/AAC race were held, totaling 500 kilometers.
References
[edit]- ↑ "Road America to Become Six-Hour Enduro in 2026 – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. March 13, 2025. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
- ↑ Road America 500 Kilometers 1990, Racing Sports Cars, retrieved November 14, 2009
- ↑ History for Fond du Lac, WI, Weather Underground, retrieved November 14, 2009
External links
[edit]- United SportsCar Championship official site
- World Sports Racing Prototypes: SCCA Nationals archive
- World Sports Racing Prototypes: USRRC archive
- World Sports Racing Prototypes: IMSA archive
- World Sports Racing Prototypes: Grand-Am archive
- World Sports Racing Prototypes: ALMS archive
- Racing Sports Cars: Road America archive
- Ultimate Racing History: Road America archive
- Audi Allroad Archived February 23, 2025, at the Wayback Machine