There’s no break for the IndyCar series. After a chaotic race that saw all three Team Penske drivers out as well as Kyle Kirkwood and Pato O’ward close the championship gap; this week sees the series travel to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America.
Last Year’s Race
Last year’s race didn’t fail to produce an exciting event. Rookie Lundqvist started on pole but caused the first caution period of the race when teammate Armstrong tapped him, causing them both to spin out. Whilst there were only two caution periods totaling 6 laps under caution, there was a lot of on track action. We saw a record number of overtakes with 444 and only two drivers retired: Chip Ganassi drivers Simpson and Armstrong.
Although McLaughlin led the most laps, it was his teammate Power who got the win, ending a 2-year winless streak. Strategy was key at Road America with the overcut proving more powerful, which saw drivers go long on their tyres and some fuel saving to manage the stints. Team Penske dominated the race and subsequently filled the podium. The full top ten last year was:
- Will Power (Team Penkse).
- Josef Newgarden (Team Penkse).
- Scott Mclaughlin (Team Penkse).
- Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing).
- Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti Global).
- Colton Herta (Andretti Global).
- Romain Grosjean (Juncos Hollinger Racing).
- Pato O’Ward (Arrow McLaren).
- Marcus Ericsson (Andretti Global).
- Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing).
2025 XPEL Grand Prix of Road America
Known as America’s National Park of Speed, Road America is a driver and fan favourite. With a fast and flowing track layout, you never fail to see overtaking and it’s a place where strategy and fuel management dictates the race. Alex Palou has described it as a, “Proper track”, detailing that, “It has everything. Good overtaking spots, good for strategies.”
The track itself is the longest we will go to at 4.048 miles (6.515km), consequently having the shortest lap count of 55 – a total race distance of 220.77 miles (358.304km). A short and sweet race will see 4 of the current drivers (Palou, Power, Newgarden, and Dixon) battle for a third win at the track, equaling the likes of Mario and Michael Andretti as well as Emerson Fittipaldi.
You can see the track map below:
The schedule for this race weekend is as follows:
(All times are in CEST)
Practice 1: 20th June 22:30
Practice 2: 21st June 17:00
Qualifying: 21st June 20:30
Warm Up: 22nd June 16:00
Race: 22nd June 19:30
The XPEL Grand Prix at Road America rejoined the IndyCar calendar in 2016, and in 2024 it signed a new multi-year extension deal. Being a race that’s known for its strategy, we are ready for a thrilling weekend. One thing is certain, don’t miss it!