After a grueling stretch through Indianapolis, Detroit and the St. Louis market, IndyCar gets a week off of racing before making the first of two visits to Wisconsin on Father’s Day weekend.
Defending race winner Alex Palou, who has won the past three series championships and four overall, leads the field of NTT IndyCar Series drivers coming to Wisconsin for the first time in the 2026 season for the XPEL Grand Prix on June 21 at Elkhart Lake’s Road America.
If you want to go to the event – or watch it on TV – here are some important tips for newcomers and updates for veterans:
Road America is Wisconsin’s largest racetrack, an internationally known 4-mile road course on 640 acres near Elkhart Lake in rural Sheboygan County.
In addition to IndyCar, Road America hosts a major event for IMSA sports cars (July 31-Aug. 3), several vintage weekends and the SCCA National Championship Runoffs in 2026 plus a full schedule of club events and track days.
The main entrance is off Hwy. 67, less than 5 miles north of downtown Plymouth and 3 miles southeast of Elkhart Lake, but fans are encouraged to consider alternate gates on race morning to minimize traffic.
Open-wheel, open cockpit cars that race in the Indianapolis 500 run at other tracks around the country and internationally on various types of ovals including the Milwaukee Mile, street courses such as downtown Detroit and natural-terrain road courses such as Road America. The schedule this season includes 18 races.
The sport has had various governing bodies over the years. IndyCar is the latest. The NTT IndyCar series has raced at Road America since 2016 following CART and Champ Car from 1982-2007.
The sanctioning body also runs Indy NXT, a steppingstone series that runs in conjunction with most NTT IndyCar Series races.
Admission purchased through June 10 is $35 Thursday, $45 Friday, $75 Saturday and $85 Sunday, or $165 for the weekend through roadamerica.com. Anyone 16 and under gets in for free with a paid adult admission. Paddock admission is included.
Fans can attend IndyCar testing June 9. Those who purchase weekend passes at that time are eligible for free preferred parking, a $35 value, although supplies are limited.
Carry-ins are permitted at Road America.
Concession stands offer a wide variety of choices, as well.
There is no right place or right way to watch races at Road America. Part of the beauty of going there is the ability for fans to roam the sprawling facility. Traditionally, the most popular spectator areas have included Turn 5, a 90-degree left at the bottom of a long hill, and Canada Corner (Turn 12). Recently more areas have been opened up at the Carousel (Turn 9-10), a long right-hand sweeper, and the Kink, the high-speed right that follows it.
Shuttles run from place to place around the grounds from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
for the IndyCar XPEL Grand Prix at Road America?
Thursday: Some support series will be on track for testing throughout the day.
Friday: Activity includes a driver autograph session at 12:30 p.m. in the fan village and the first round of IndyCar practice at 3 p.m., as well as practice and qualifying for support series.
Saturday: IndyCar Series practice at 10 a.m. and qualifying at 1 p.m. are the highlights, but all series are on track.
Sunday: The green flag for the XPEL Grand Prix is scheduled for 1:20 p.m. after a warmup at 10 a.m. USF 2000, USF Pro 2000 and Indy NXT race before IndyCar and Radical Cup is scheduled to race after the main event.
The XPEL Grand Prix is scheduled for 55 laps (220.770 miles). Depending on cautions, that should take about 90-100 minutes.
, streaming or radio?
All IndyCar races are available over the air on Fox (Channel 6 in Milwaukee). Practice on Friday is scheduled for broadcast on FS2, and further practice, qualifying and warmup sessions for FS1.
The IndyCar Radio Network will provide audio coverage of all sessions. The only Wisconsin affiliate is WCUB (980 AM / 97.1 FM) out of Two Rivers. The broadcast is available via SiriusXM satellite radio (Channel 218) and the IndyCar app.
Alex Palou won at Road America in 2021, ’23 and ’25 and went on to win the series championship each year. While Palou’s victories have come with Chip Ganassi Racing, a powerhouse Honda team, he also scored impressive finishes of third and seventh for Dale Coyne Racing in the 2020 doubleheader before he hit the big time. Palou has won four of the nine races so far in 2026 and leads the standings.
Christian Lundgaard broke through for a victory on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and finished second to Palou at Barber Motorsports Park, the only other race on a natural terrain road course on which the series has raced so far this season. The 24-year-old Danish driver has yet to crack the top five at Road America, though.
Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist has run hot and cold in terms of results at Road America. It was the site of his first IndyCar victory six years ago and he was second to Palou last year.
Josef Newgarden has won twice at Road America (2018, ’22), had a third victory slip away due to a parts failure and was second in 2017, ’23 and ’24. His past 11 wins, though, including the series’ most recent event June 7 at World Wide Technology Raceway, have come on ovals.
Will Power has two wins (2016 and ’24) at Road America but save for a podium on the new street course in Arlington, Texas, has struggled for results in his first year with Andretti Global. His teammate Kyle Kirkwood is second in the standings but has yet to win on a natural terrain road course.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Road America IndyCar preview: tickets, schedule, TV, drivers, track
Discover more from NAIRAVOICE.COM.NG
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
