The event began in 1950, in 1951 was added to the SCCA National Sports Car Championship and was contested for the final time on the roads around the village and lake of Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

Following a spectator death at the 1952 Watkins Glen Grand Prix, racing on open roads was discouraged, and the race went into hiatus until 1955, when Road America was opened.

It was revived once again in 2000, by the Grand American Road Racing Championship, to a 500-mile distance.

In 2014 the race joined the schedule of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship after the merger of the American Le Mans Series and the Rolex Sports Car Series contested at IMSA's standard sprint race duration of 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Augie Pabst, Chuck Parsons, Geoff Brabham and Lucas Luhr have the most victories as drivers with three each.