North American Road Courses
There was a long tradition of road racing on real streets in North America. The term's definition has shifted over time, however, with the increasing dominance of Oval racing. Now the term road course often is used as a catch-all phrase for any racetrack that is not an oval, with even combined circuits (or Rovals as they are sometimes called) such as the 24-hour sports car version of Daytona being referred to as a road course. The most famous contemporary American road courses are purpose-built, but some where the original tradition evolved include: Riverside International Raceway at Riverside, California (closed since 1989), Watkins Glen International at Watkins Glen, New York, Road America at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and Sonoma Raceway at Sonoma, California.
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