Road America Already Confirmed for 2017

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief

The Verizon IndyCar Series has been confirmed that it will return to Road America next year on June 25.

Sunday’s race was the first time since 2007 that Indy cars had gone to the 4.048-mile road course, with a large turnout of fans that were treated to Team Penske’s Will Power holding off Chip Ganassi Racing’s Tony Kanaan in the final two laps to win in IndyCar’s return to the Wisconsin track.

Track president George Bruggenthies mentioned that it was one of, if not the biggest, crowds seen at Road America.

“We’d love to invite the series back and we’ve got a contract for June 25, 2017, so that’s really exciting to announce that right now,” Bruggenthies said.

“It was [bigger than expected]. You know, I know they probably exaggerated numbers in the early days, but I talked to a couple of my board of directors, and this is likely the largest event ever hosted by Road America, so that’s really something.”

Bruggenthies mentioned that with there were small advancements he would like to make to the site.

“Yeah, I think I’d like to expand the broadcast booth and the announcer booth,” Bruggenthies said. “I’m going to take a look at that. The engineer already has the plans for this building. We want to remodel this building somewhat. But we do something every year. We put $4-and-a-half million into the facility between October and May of this year.

“ As you can see, the new victory lane is outstanding. The retail store center, fan engagement center, the new entrance, just all things — we’ll always constantly try to improve the experience for the fans. This year we allowed 16 and under free with a paying adult. We’re trying to engage that other demographic to come and have fun at The National Park of Speed.”

About Joey Barnes 601 Articles
Joey Barnes is the Founder of Motorsports Tribune, an outlet that began with the goal of helping aspiring journalists break into and grow the industry. A regular on the racing scene since 2013, the journey for Joey started by covering a Grand-Am event at Circuit of The Americas in his home state of Texas. He has since primarily focused on the IndyCar Series, with appearances in the garages of NASCAR, paddocks of Formula 1, IMSA and World Endurance Championship, while also occasionally engulfing clouds of dust at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals and select Supercross rounds. With previous stops at Autoweek, IndyCar.com, Motorsport.com and RACER, among others, Joey evolved from the singular task as a freelance writer to advanced roles behind the copy desk and alongside some of the best editorial teams in the business. Recognized as a multi-time award winner by the National Motorsports Press Association, Joey currently resides in Dallas-Fort Worth with his trusty four-legged canine companion, Rocket.

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