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A Great Weekend In Elkhart Lake

Downtown Elkhart Lake. [Photo by Jack Webster]

Downtown Elkhart Lake. [Photo by Jack Webster]

This past weekend we attended the HAWK at Road America. This event has certainly become a “must attend” for many race fans from around the country. Presented by Brian Redman, the HAWK had something for everyone – from small sedans to TransAm, F5000, F1 and CanAm cars, and the entry of over 400 cars was outstanding.

We started the weekend, as one must when you go to Road America, by going to downtown Elkhart Lake on Friday night for the race car concours. This annual event, where a large number of the race cars are paraded from the track to town, was jammed packed with spectators and an outstanding variety of racing machinery. We certainly enjoyed the atmosphere and the drinks at Siebkens.

Saturday and Sunday were quite full, with racing starting early in the morning and continuing until late in the day. Saturday started off with pretty heavy rainstorms early, but the weather gods shined on Road America as the skies cleared and the weather for the rest of the weekend was picture perfect.

We spoke with our host, Brian Redman, at the CanAm drivers autograph session and he was quite pleased with both the turnout of cars and spectators for the event. Brian does a great job hosting the HAWK and he was literally everywhere in the paddock all weekend, moving from event to event, race to race, even handling podium duties after each race. With Brian’s enthusiasm and leadership, this event will only continue to grow and prosper in the future.

In addition to the racing action and all of the outstanding cars throughout the paddock, there were other delights at Road America as well. We even tried the zip line – an outstanding quick trip from the top of the hill by turn 6, which ends some 1200 feet later near turn 14. The ride was fantastic and the view tremendous. We highly recommend this to anyone who goes to Road America.

And one can’t mention being at Road America without mentioning the food. Ah, the food. Road America has, without doubt, the best race track food in the country. From the famous Brats, to the Egger to the soft serve ice cream – they have it all, and we tried it all.

Of course, Burt Levy was on hand at Elkhart with a new book in the “Last Open Road” series of novels (The 200 MPH Steamroller Book II). Burt has become quite an attraction and fixture at Road America himself, as he has been selling his novels there since the early 1990’s. He was in his usual fine form, entertaining the public with his stories and moving lots of books. As a matter of fact, it is most likely that the rarest copies of Burt Levy’s books are the ones that are NOT signed by the author!

Vendor row at the HAWK was also outstanding, with a great variety of merchandise from artists and vendors from around the country. If you were a race fan and couldn’t find something to take home from Road America, you weren’t shopping hard enough. From artwork by Randy Owens and Steve Petrosky to books, videos, art and diecast from People Kars and the Motorsport Collector, Road America had it all.

So, the HAWK was a great event. Much more than a race, this annual event is a gathering of like-minded racers who appreciate the spectacle and history of this great sport. We certainly look forward to coming back for many years in the future.

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