I think this recap needs to start where the weekend began.  Almost 12 years ago, Meghan fell in love with the Lotus Elise (in Europe only at the time).  Ever since, she has been on the lookout for a cute Elise, and many others along those lines, for her fantasy garage.  We headed to Wisconsin for a weekend of watching wonderful cars on one of the most treasured tracks in America, and the following is what we found.

Of course, the first thing you notice is a sea of cars parked in the fields, and that is where we found the first of many cars to check out up close.

Not bad, but let’s get to why we are really here.

The American LeMans Series brings the excitement of 24-hour European LeMans-style racing to the US, albeit in a shorter format.  Each year Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI hosts a 4-hour race in the Series on their 4 mile track.  These races include competitors from five different classifications, all on the track at the same time.  The most identifiable class is GT, with cars such as the BMW M3, Chevy Corvette, Porsche 911, Ferrari 458 Italia, Ford GT, and Jaguar XKR.  A brief explanation of all 5 classifications can be found here: http://photos.americanlemans.com/files/2011/101/Classes_11.pdf

We started out the day at the edge of the woods, right next to the track at the exit of Turn 3, where the cars get their first chance to crank up their engines on their way to 180mph on a slight uphill.  The first time the field came around on their warm-up lap, I had a huge grin on my face from the sight of weaving cars, the blare of roaring engines, and the smell of race car fuel.  Wow.

Later we moved to Turn 8, where the racers come down a steep hill before taking a 90-degree left.  This is the only spot where a chain-link fence was in our way, for our own safety.  You always need to roll with the punches, and this was an opportunity for something different, as shown below:

This was a great place to get action shots of cars jockeying for position in the corner, and in LeMans racing the action is enhanced by the different speeds and braking strategies of each class of car. Meghan was able to snap action shots from many different spots around this corner.  The GT race was close between BMW, Corvette, and the red Ferrari all day long.

Here are a few shots of cars from the other classifications.

Closer to the Corvette Bridge, at Turn 7, we were able to capture a few more pictures as the sun began to disappear behind the trees and the car lights came on.

Then it was back to Turn 3 to get a different look at the cars for the last 30 minutes of the race.  Overall winner was the Muscle Milk Aston Martin prototype.

Lastly, it was not just about the cars on the track. We did find a couple more cars in the grassy lot that were camera-friendly.

Visit the American LeMans Series Photo Album for all of the photos from American LeMans Series – Road America 2011

I started out in the Hamann Rose Garden and Rotary Strolling Garden where they have beautiful flowers and wonderful statues that show the essence of a child.

As the sun was going down I decided to head out to take in the downtown area.  I caught a nice shot of the capital and then was able to catch a bit of the sunset in the Haymarket.

Here is my first try at it.


Once and a while I do an antique photo finish for cards. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to show my blog readers what this finish looks like. Isn’t he cute!!!

Back to a normal color photo…

The sun did come out Saturday afternoon and it lit this setting just perfectly.  These photos were to celebrate big sisters birthday.  We even went out for ice-cream after because they were so good!