Schweinefiletring, also known as the Indiana Nürburgring, is a 180 mile loop that is very similar in shape to the famous publicly accessible road in Germany called the Nürburgring. Schweinefiletring’s most northern point is about an hour south of Indianapolis where the outstanding loop of Indiana roads starts. The Schweinefiletring gives you a bit of all of the greatest roads east of the Mississippi. If you’ve joined us on SEM PCA drives to the Triple Nickel or Tail of the Dragon you will quickly be harkened back to the driving pleasure you experienced there. The undulations feel reminiscent of the Triple Nickel and the tight and blind corners bring back part of the thrill of the Tail of the Dragon. The Schweinefiletring isn’t just the greatest hits of those roads, it has its own thrill and beauty to explore.

The 2025 SEM PCA overnight trip to the Schweinefiletring started on Friday, August 1st in Ann Arbor. Twelve cars met at Zingerman’s to caravan down to Columbus, IN. We also had Chris Randolph, a photographer from C.A.R. Visuals, traveling with us this year for the first time. The weather was great all weekend with sunshine and highs around 80°F. We stopped for lunch at a British Restaurant called Payne’s in Gas City IN.

The food was great and the large statue of Garfield was entertaining. We arrived at our hotel later in the afternoon. In what is now a tradition, we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner as they seem to always be next to the Holiday Inns that we stay at. On Saturday, August 2nd, eighteen cars gathered at 9 a.m. to start the Indiana Nürburgring.

We divided into three groups to ensure a safe and fun event. The weather was mostly cloudy in the morning that gave way to partly cloudy skies in the afternoon with a high of 80°F. After a very short drive through town, we were immediately out on the back roads. The first driving segment had us heading southwest on the east side of the ring. The roads on the east side of the ring are like the 555/ Hocking Hills. This year was the first time we were able to run IN-135 S without interruption. Elevation changes with tight and also sweeping turns greeted us with great forest views. We skipped the Shoals Overlook this year and instead stopped at a Marathon gas station in Bedford, IN with more space and better amenities. After leaving our first stop we again headed southwest. US-50 gave us a nice break from the tighter twisties with very long elevation changing sweepers alongside the Martin State Forest.

Unfortunately, the road surface was recently stripped and covered with loose gravel and this slowed our progress down a bit. We headed back northeast on IN-450 towards our lunch stop. The route is similar to the backroads around the Tail of the Dragon. As we continued on, the next stop was at the William Covered Bridge. Unfortunately, this year we were not able to do the photoshoot at the bridge. A large truck had parked in front of the bridge so we turned the group around and completed a short hop to lunch. Our lunch stop was at Smokin Jim’s BBQ. The reason the Schweinefiletring is promoted by the locals is to get you to stop at one of these BBQ joints. The food was once again excellent. Leaving the BBQ joint we headed northwest to complete the west side of the ring. The IN-43 soon turned tight and twisty with steep inclines and declines. At this point we are driving through Bloomington with a stop at a Shell gas station before we head east back to the hotel. The roads after Bloomington continued to be curvy as we ascended to the next stop at Bean Blossom Overlook.

Unfortunately, the road surface was also recently stripped and there was more loose gravel, but at least the gravel ended before the overlook. The overlook gave us a bird’seye view of the area we had been driving all day. We continued on and descended down through a tourist trap town called Nashville. It was packed with people on the sidewalks and had a bit of traffic. We beelined back to the hotel as soon as we cleared the traffic. At the conclusion of the Schweinefiletring, every participant had a smile on their face. It was a great day of driving excellent roads with great scenery.

Thank you to all who participated and made this a great event A special thanks to Howard Gilson, Bobby Tarchinski, and Jim Williams for their support as leads during this event. 

Words: Chris Bohr

Photos: Jeff Boes, Chris Bohr, Chris Randolph, Bobby Tarchinski, Eric Wecker