IndyCar drivers lobby for Elkhart Lake

WEST ALLIS, Wis. — If IndyCar drivers had a vote when it came to finding a track to replace the series’ recently canceled race in China, plenty of them would be happy to head back to Wisconsin later this year.

Several drivers in town for Saturday’s race at the Milwaukee Mile mentioned Road America in Elkhart Lake as a potential replacement venue for the China race, which was canceled earlier this week.

“Elkhart," Marco Andretti said. “Elkhart Lake, for sure."

The picturesque four-mile road course is a little more than an hour north of Milwaukee, and drew huge crowds when the now-defunct CART racing series ran there in the 1980s and ‘90s.

Road America already has other races scheduled for the weekend that IndyCar was supposed to run in China, but driver James Hinchcliffe hoped there might be a way to make it work.

“We’ll race on Friday," Hinchcliffe said. “I don’t care. I mean, we’re in a difficult situation, you know? We’ve got to make the best of it. I think it’s a good weekend, I think it’s a good racetrack."

Contractual provisions with the Milwaukee event would prevent IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard from speaking to Road America promoters until after this weekend’s race at Milwaukee. It’s not clear if the track is under consideration. More from AP Story