Road America owns a reputation as one of the nation’s foremost road courses yet hasn’t hosted NASCAR’s premier Cup Series since the 1950s.

That changes on the Fourth of July in a coup for a Wisconsin track that bills itself as “America’s national park of speed” but until this year couldn’t land a Cup date. NASCAR drivers can’t wait for the opportunity to race Sunday at Elkhart Lake.

Road America, which opened in 1955, is located on 640 acres about halfway between Milwaukee and Green Bay. The course is just over 4 miles long, features 14 turns and is surrounded by about 1,600 campsites.

For all its history, Road America only hosted NASCAR’s premier series once before, when Tim Flock won a rainy Grand National event back in 1956. The track wanted the top series back but could not get one of the elusive 36 race dates.

The track also benefited from NASCAR’s decision to add more road courses and variety to the Cup Series schedule. NASCAR had three road courses on its Cup Series schedule from 2018 to 2020, and never had more than two in any year before that.

This year’s schedule has seven.