How a Mid-Century Road Race was an Economic Engine for One Wisconsin Town

By Holly Beretto

It seemed outlandish at the time . But Elkhart Lake , Wisconsin was in a bit of a slump . While the 1950s may have been an economic boom in the rest of the country , this secluded spot outside Sheboygan , known for its lakeside resorts , wasn ’ t part of it . Factories may have turned Milwaukee and Green Bay into industrial powerhouses , but little Elkhart Lake had no such thing . In fact , a canning factory had shut down in 1949 .

Jim Kimberly with his crew , circa 1950s . Kimberly was instrumental in bringing road races to Elkhart Lake , turning the tiny village hamlet into a racing powerhouse that endures decades later .

What Elkhart Lake did have , however , was the lake . The village had been a vacation spot ever since the railroad added a stop there in 1873 . People from Milwaukee ( only about an hour south ) and Green Bay ( a bit further north ) and even from Chicago came to enjoy the village ’ s bucolic setting . The lake , one of the deepest in the state , offered all manner of boating and watersports . It was a place where city dwellers came to escape summer heat , and Elkhart Lake was proud of its tourism trade , which generated income for hotels , shops and restaurants .

But while fewer tourists had come during and just after the war , Elkhart Lake ’ s resort identity was about to turn this little place into one of the biggest spots on the map for car enthusiasts .

“ You had a lot of young men go off to war in World War II ,” said John Ewert , communications director for Road America . When those young men returned home from the European theater , they brought back a whole host of wartime souvenirs , including one that changed the face of sports in America .

“ Many of them literally imported their own cars , such as MGs , Jaguars , all sorts of other British sports cars , like Austin Healey and Morgans ,” continued Ewert . “ They brought them here to the United States because they could buy them cheaper overseas than they could here .”

And then , they started racing them . Throughout the late 1940s , places all over the country saw a rise in road racing . From Watkins Glen in upstate New York , to Lime Rock in Connecticut , to Sebring in southern Florida and all the way out to

32 FINANCIAL HISTORY | Fall 2024 | www . MoAF . org