FUMES

Monday

Jul182011

Monday, July 18, 2011 at 09:54AM

July 20, 2011

A mid-summer's dream.

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

Elkhart Lake. Maybe it's the fact that the race track is so inexorably linked with the town. Maybe it's because the lazy cadence of summer blends so seamlessly with a time long since past in the bucolic setting that time seems to stand still, even if it's only for a weekend. Maybe it's the feeling that this place allows us to experience a slice of Americana that seems to be slipping away with each passing year, and that if we drink it in and savor it once more the inevitable march of time will somehow be kept at bay just a little longer.

Maybe it's all of that. And more.

I've tried to explain it to other car enthusiasts who scoff at the notion that the huge mid-summer vintage weekend at Road America and Elkhart Lake is even in the same solar system as the car week in Monterey and Pebble Beach, California -- that dazzling array of car events in that glorious setting -- but it is, and I'll tell you why.

It has a lot to do with context and a sense of place.

The unequivocal link between Road America and Elkhart Lake has been there since the early 50s, when races on the surrounding city streets and county roads -- with as many as 130,000 spectators in attendance -- gave way to the permanent road course laid out by Clif Tufte, who personally walked the land in the heart of Kettle Moraine country just south of town on foot, devising the magnificent 4.048-mile circuit whose original layout remains untouched to this day.

People often mention the Goodwood Revival race meeting and its attention to period detail. Well, the entire town of Elkhart Lake is in period, and despite some modern touches the basic setting remains just as it was 60 years ago. And thanks to historical preservation efforts by some visionary citizens, you can drive the very roads circling the town that made up the various open road racing circuits that defined Elkhart Lake for generations of enthusiasts to come.

It could be said that Elkhart Lake is a state of mind as much as anything else, but as I was sitting outside at the intersection of Lake Street and County Roads "A" and "J" at the Off The Rail cafe at 6:30 a.m. one morning, a lone Porsche Speedster motored by, its silvery sheen bathed in the warm ethereal glow of a searing sunrise. And for a fleeting instant, time really did come to a halt.

I'm not denigrating the weeklong orgy of car events in Northern California, it remains spectacular and a must-see for every car enthusiast. But there's something going on in Elkhart Lake and at Road America that the glitzy displays in Pebble Beach and Monterey just can't compete with.

It's about time. And place. And with a palpable sense of history thrown in for good measure.

And ultimately, what this car thing that consumes all of us really means.

See other photos from Elkhart Lake's Road America and the Kohler International Challenge weekend from Road & Track here. Enjoy!

Publisher's Note: As part of our continuing series celebrating the "Glory Days" of racing, we're proud to present another noteworthy image from the Ford Racing Archives. - PMD

(Courtesy of the Ford racing Archives)
Jackie Stewart and Ken Tyrrell pose alongside the 1970 Tyrrell 001-Ford Formula One car at its introduction. It was a different, simpler time and a different era to be sure.

Publisher's Note: Like these Ford racing photos? Check out www.fordimages.com. Be forewarned, however, because you won't be able to go there and not order something. - PMD

See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" with hosts John McElroy, from Autoline Detroit, and Peter De Lorenzo, The Autoextremist, and guests this Thursday evening, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv.