Road America 500
 |
|
| Venue | Road America |
|---|---|
| Corporate sponsor | Continental Tire |
| First race | 1950 |
| First USCC race | 2002 |
| Duration | 2 hours, 40 minutes |
| Previous names | Elkhart Lake Road Race Road America 500 Grand Prix of Road America |
| Most wins (driver) | Augie Pabst (3) Chuck Parsons (3) Geoff Brabham (3) |
| Most wins (team) | Briggs Cunningham Racing Team (4) |
| Most wins (manufacturer) | Porsche (10) |
The Continental Tire Road Race Showcase (formerly the Road America 500) is a sports car race held at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The event began in 1950, and in 1951 was added to the SCCA National Sports Car Championship. 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 a permanent circuit 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. In 1988, IMSA shortened the race to 500 kilometres (310 mi), 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 United SportsCar Championship after the merger of the American Le Mans Series and the Rolex Sports Car Series.
Porsche has won the event nine times, most recently in 2007. Augie Pabst, Chuck Parsons, and Geoff Brabham have each won three times as drivers.
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