A DeltaWing car races at Daytona International Speedway in January. A DeltaWing will race at Road America next weekend. Credit: Getty Images

One of the true highs for the whole DeltaWing program came a year ago at Road America when the revolutionary little concept car led a race for the first time.

There it was, that chrome, needle-nosed, Batmobile-looking thing, tooling around in the rain and then getting to the front on a drying 4-mile track. Victory was a long, long shot. But Katherine Legge and Andy Meyrick each led eight laps en route to fifth place, and a huge crowd watched history being made in Elkhart Lake.

"More than anything, it just kind of justifies that the program is actually a real program," team manager Tim Keene said Thursday.

"It's not just something (you do) just to do it. It can be a competitive package."

One of the true lows came three weeks ago at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park near Toronto, where a broken fuel filter led to a fire that took the latest version — a coupe, not the previous open-cockpit design — out of action. The team missed two rounds of the merged Tudor United SportsCar Championship, both there and last weekend at Indianapolis.

"It was disappointing, 1) because we were really fast and hopeful of a good result," Keene said. "And we had a $300,000 loss for the day."

One of two tubs in existence was destroyed, as were various electronic components. Because of the radical nature of the car, nearly every part is purpose built, either by the team or an outside supplier.

On the positive side, though, engineers and mechanics were able to improve on the way some pieces were designed, assembled and packaged. So in that respect for the DeltaWing that will race at Road America next weekend is a step forward from the one that last ran.

"I wouldn't say it's a scramble, no," Keene said. "We've had time to do it right, so that's what we're doing now.

The Continental Road Race Showcase weekend begins Thursday, and the 2 hour, 45 minute main event is set for 1:15 p.m. Sunday.

"They had a really good race there last year, so we're really hopeful for a good result," said Keene, a recent addition to the program.

"It's a work in progress. We're looking forward to coming back there because it's a proven track for us."

Old mo'

Action Express teammates Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa come to Road America with the championship lead in the premier Prototype class, and they've won at the two most prestigious tracks in the country, Daytona in February and Indianapolis last weekend.

Fittipaldi also heads to Elkhart Lake with a special place in his heart for the track. It was the site of his first victory in an Indy car 15 years ago.

"With these cars, maybe the straightaways are a little bit too long; in an Indy car everything happens a lot quicker, and the straightaways were just perfect," Fittipaldi said.

"We're racing a completely different car from what we were last year, and these cars are going to be probably about 5, 6 seconds a lap quicker. Maybe it's going to be more interesting."

For the merged series, revisions were made to the Daytona Prototypes that came out of Grand Am competitive with the ALMS P2 cars.

"I'm definitely looking forward to Elkhart Lake," Fittipaldi said. "I always ran very, very strong there in Indy cars. I had (two) podiums. Over there last year, we finished second.

Visitors

Ryan Hunter-Reay, the defending Milwaukee IndyFest and Indianapolis 500 winner and IndyCar Series champion, is scheduled for fan Q&A and autograph session next Friday at State Fair.

The event is part of the promotion of the ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 at the Milwaukee Mile at State Fair Park. The Q&A is set for 6-6:30 p.m. and autograph session from 6:30-7 p.m. at the Milwaukee IndyFest booth located outside of Turn 1 near Gate 2.

You can find a list of IndyFest-related driver appearances in the JSOnline.com racing blog.

Good news

In the aftermath of the Carl-Edwards-is-leaving announcement, fans of Roush Fenway Racing, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Trevor Bayne got a welcome boost Thursday. Mark Martin will return as driver development coach to the team he helped build, RFR announced.

Management change

Steve Einhaus, who as vice president often had been the face of the ARCA Midwest Tour, has left the organization after seven seasons, he announced this week. Einhaus said he doesn't know yet what his next step will be, but he expects to remain in or around the racing industry.

Send email to dkallmann@journalsentinel.com. Follow @davekallmann on Twitter. Read more at www.jsonline.com/blogs/racing.