Road America could get IndyCar testing dates

Wisconsin racing fans won't get the NASCAR Sprint Cup race they have craved and that had been rumored, at least not next year.

An IndyCar race at Road America looks highly unlikely, too. But at least there could be a consolation prize for IndyCar fans.

"We are hoping once they get their schedule set they might do a two-day test here that I could open to the public," said George Bruggenthies, president and general manager for the facility in Elkhart Lake.

"I don't have any dates because they don't have their schedule yet. I'm working with Derrick Walker — that would be fun — and then we'll work towards maybe a sports-car/IndyCar weekend for '15. That was the last conversation, but the dates just didn't work for us this year to put on a separate event (in 2014)."

Walker, a popular, longtime team executive and owner, was hired in May to be IndyCar's vice president of operations and competition.

Road America last hosted an Indy-style event in 2007, the final year for Champ Car, which was then rolled into IndyCar. Champ Car and the American Le Mans Series shared that weekend.

The schedule announced Friday for the United SportsCar Racing championship — a blending of ALMS and Grand-Am — puts Road America on its calendar Aug. 10.

"I don't want to place IndyCar a week or two after a sports-car event or my vintage event," Bruggenthies said. "There's not a lot of room in three months to try to get everything done."

IndyCar has said it is trying to compress its schedule next season to finish earlier and avoid competing with football for attention. Among the casualties of the scheduling pinch was the street race in Baltimore, an event that had gained traction in its second year and was becoming popular with fans and participants. JSOnline.com