Latest / BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show / Watkins Glen at 75: A Road Racing Legacy Forged in Passion

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Watkins Glen at 75: A Road Racing Legacy Forged in Passion · BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show

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  Brake Fix's History of Motorsports series is brought to you in part
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  by the International Motor Racing Research Center, as well as the
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  Society of Automotive Historians, the Watkins Glen Area Chamber of
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  Commerce, and the Argettsinger family.
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  Hey everybody, Crew Chief Eric here.
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  And on this edition of Too Long Didn't Read, we're joined by Kip Zeider
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  from the International Motor Racing Research Center to talk to us about
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  Cameron Argetsinger's dream to bring Grand Prix racing to the United States,
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  which got its start at Watkins Glen and has lasted for over 75 years.
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  1948 to 2023, 75 years of racing at the Glen.
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  It all started with one man, car, and a dream.
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  Cameron Argetsinger was the man.
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  And MGTD was the car and the dream was to hold a European style road race to the
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  streets and roads around Watkins Glen.
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  The obstacles Mr.
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  Argesinger faced were almost insurmountable, needing to get
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  approval from local, state, county officials to run the race.
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  Even having to stop the trains from running for a single day,
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  the race had to be sanctioned, and obviously, ultimately was, by the
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  fledgling sports car club of America.
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  A person with less passion and drive would probably have thrown up their
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  hands and walked away from the project, but Cameron was not cut from that cloth.
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  And on October 2nd, 1948, the first post World War II race in America
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  took place through the small village streets of Watkins Glen, New York.
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  It began with a curious crowd of spectators estimated at roughly
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  10, 000 to watch two races.
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  A Junior Prix of four laps and a Grand Prix of eight laps in length around a 6.
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  6 mile course of public roads that circled the state park.
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  The start finish line sat boldly in front of the county
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  courthouse on Franklin Street.
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  23 cars ran in Junior Prix and 15 cars competed in the Grand Prix.
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  Both races were won by Frank Griswold driving a 1938 Alfa Romeo.
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  The great American sportsman, Briggs Cunningham, finished second in each race.
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  Hargett Singer suffered a flat tire in the junior pre, but rebounded
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  to finish ninth in the Grand Prix.
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  This was a very challenging circuit composed of paved
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  roads, stone roads, dirt roads.
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  In 1949, the race state was moved to mid September and remained
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  there during the Street Ears era.
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  Two races were also held in 1949.
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  The Junior Prix was renamed the Seneca Cup.
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  It remained at four laps in length, but the Grand Prix was
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  increased to 15 laps in length.
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  Beginning in 1950 and through 1952, three races were held.
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  Each year, the crowd increased dramatically.
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  By 1951 and 1952, crowds are estimated in excess of 150, 000 people.
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  Racing through the streets was not without incident, of course.
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  Yes, straw bales.
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  We're pretty much the only thing separating the cars from the crowd.
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  The cars were obviously getting bigger and faster.
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  And with the increased number of spectators, it was only a matter of
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  time before something would happen.
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  In 1952, a crowd brushed the crowd and sadly a young boy was killed and
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  several other people were injured.
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  The days of racing through town ended precisely with that incident.
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  That race was never finished and they never raced through town again.
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  While the 1952 tragedy ended racing through town, it certainly did
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  not end the enthusiasm that racing had generated in Watkins Glen.
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  A circuit of roughly 4.
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  5 miles using town roads outside the village itself was utilized
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  in the years 1953 to 1955.
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  Itself a very challenging circuit.
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  One of the benefits was that it actually allowed the competitors a day
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  of practice before the actual races.
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  Something that was never able to be accomplished when they were
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  running through the streets of town.
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  The street races were all one day races, show up, race, go home same day.
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  Realizing that a permanent circuit was really necessary to take racing
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  to the next level, more professional level at Watkins Glen, several hundred
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  acres of land were purchased and a permanent circuit was built in 1956.
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  A teardrop shape, roughly two and a half miles in length, the goal was to have the
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  fastest road course in the country with lap speeds in excess of 100 miles an hour.
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  Appropriately enough, as both NASCAR and Watkins Glen celebrated their
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  75th anniversaries last year, the first actual professional race, i.
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  e.
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  people got paid, was a NASCAR stock car race in 1957.
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  NASCAR returned in 1964 and 1965 and returned permanently in 1986.
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  And it's become the biggest spectator event held annually at
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  the track, almost as soon as the permanent circuit was in place.
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  Cameron's goal became to bring the premier road racing series in the world.
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  The Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit to Watkins Glen.
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  The series had run without much fanfare at Riverside and Sebring previously.
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  Did not attract many people.
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  Did not get hardly any attention at all through the media, but with the same
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  tenacity that he used to bring racing to Watkins Glen in 1948, in 1961, the
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  Formula One United States Grand Prix came to Watkins Glen, beginning a glorious 20
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  year history of Grand Prix racing here.
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  Hosting the Formula One circuit for 20 years put Watkins Glen on
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  the world stage of motor racing.
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  It became the event of the fall and was run under either lovely warm Indian
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  summer type weather, the leaves are turning, the breezes are blowing, or
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  exactly the opposite with rain and snow and mud and just horrendous conditions.
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  Also during that 20 year period, in 1971 to be exact, the track length
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  was increased to its current 3.
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  377 miles.
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  As a section known as the boot was added speed of the cars again in the late
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  1960s, it increased to the point where the speed of the cars were starting
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  to outstrip the capabilities of the track and a longer circuit was needed.
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  The boot added more than a mile to the overall length of the original
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  circuit and was universally hailed by drivers as a challenging and very
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  new dynamic to the course today.
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  Formula 1 races.
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  In Austin, Texas, Miami, and in November of last year, they made their
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  actually second appearance in Las Vegas.
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  We all wish that would host another Formula 1 Grand Prix
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  from an economic standpoint.
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  That simply will never happen.
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  So they can have as many races in the United States as they'd like.
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  But the Glen is still and will always be the really rightful home
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  of the United States Grand Prix.
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  So, the last Formula 1 race was in 1980.
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  Sadly, the track had gotten into financial difficulties, largely due to
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  how they financed adding the boot in 1971, and the 20 year marriage ended.
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  They had actually not been able to pay the purse for the 79 race.
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  But they built up such good feelings among the Formula One community over the years
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  that they gave them a one year reprieve.
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  And sadly, when they came back in 1980, the finances were not any better
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  than they'd been the previous year.
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  So Formula One walked away in 1980, sadly never to return.
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  But from the first winner of the first race in Ireland in 1961, which ironically
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  was the only Grand Prix win of his career, to the last winner, Alan Jones,
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  in 1980, Which was the culmination of his world championship season.
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  It was truly a magical 20 years run, but the Glenn has paid host to
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  many other great racing series and notable drivers over the years, Ken
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  Miles driving the famous Cobra, Mark Donohue and Walt Hanscom in Mustangs,
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  Mark Donohue again, driving the all conquering Sunoco Camaro from 1968, the
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  great Parnelli Jones capping off his.
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  Championship winning season in 1970, Parnelli Jones, arguably one
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  of the toughest, meanest guys ever to slurp in behind a race car.
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  In my opinion, the greatest road racing series ever held was the original
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  Can Am or the Canadian American Challenge Cup series, which ran from
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  the late 1960s to the early 1970s.
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  Few rules, big horsepower, interesting drivers.
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  Great tracks, constantly changing ideas regarding aerodynamics.
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  And again, remember this was before the era of the computer designed car, big name
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  drivers, the series really had it all.
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  Let's look at the IMSA years.
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  Now IMSA still races to this day, but the International Motorsports Association was
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  founded by John Bishop, a former president of the Sports Car Club of America.
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  It ran its first race at Pocono Raceway in 1969, and has been a
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  dominant as an organization in sports car racing for 50 plus years.
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  Thank you.
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  The IMSA organization was always known for a large number of different cars.
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  Even today, that remains true.
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  They're on a roll.
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  They have their hypercars and three or four other series that IMSA is a very
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  strong organization in sports car racing.
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  Here's something that you wouldn't have thought would have raced here.
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  These are midgets.
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  The midgets race here actually on more than one occasion.
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  Now midgets we commonly think are on a dirt track or a paved oval.
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  Don't midgets only turn left?
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  Well, not when racing at Watkins Glen.
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  Specifically for midgets, it's interesting to note that six Offy midgets competed
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  in the 1959 International Formula Libre race against a field that included
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  Jaguars, Maseratis, and Lotuses.
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  That race was won by a Cooper Climax Formula car, but an Offy midget
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  actually ended up finishing second.
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  Another car that we normally associate with short track racing and only
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  turning left, and one of my favorite types of cars, is the Asphalt Modified.
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  Mods also are traditionally just associated with
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  circle tracks turning left.
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  Modified Tour races have run here, I believe, on at least
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  four different occasions.
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  Very exciting.
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  They're a little bit out of their element here, but they put on a great show.
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  The fans enjoy seeing them, if only for the novelty of it.
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  NASCAR.
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  I told you that NASCAR returned back in 1986.
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  Has been here ever since.
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  And IndyCars competed here on three different occasions.
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  IndyCars first competed here from 1979 to 1981, then 2005 to 2010,
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  and most recently, 2016 and 17, kind of as a replacement for the
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  ill fated Boston street racing circuit that never took place.
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  Now, while IndyCars put on a spectacular show here, their wicked fast.
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  Unfortunately, they always got weekends that were not good fan weekends.
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  The original contract in 2016 was supposed to be for three years,
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  but both sides mutually agreed to end it after the 2017 race.
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  We'd love to have them back.
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  Everybody from IndyCar loved coming here.
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  The problem now is simply trying to find a hole in their
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  schedule where they could run.
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  The weekend that was traditionally the Watkins Glen weekend is
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  now Portland Oregon race.
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  Formula 5000 followed the original K& M series.
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  Again, it was small block Chevy V8 motors, spectacular racing, Mario Andretti,
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  Brian Redman, all kinds of great drivers.
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  It was just a spectacular series.
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  It was actually sanctioned originally by USAC and USAC didn't really do it.
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  Any great favors in terms of publicizing it and everything, but it was a
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  tremendous series while it lasted.
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  And then finally, we come to 2023.
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  As I said, originally, IMSA is on a roll, both from the standpoint of
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  number of different car manufacturers that are entering these days, number
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  of different classes of cars that are running in their races, the big
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  IMSA race here is always the six hour race, which takes place in late June.
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  So from our original start through the streets of Watkins Glen
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  in 1948, to the current 2024, racing has gone on uninterrupted.
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  Racing just keeps getting bigger.
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  It's pretty cool to think that what started on the streets of a small
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  village in upstate New York way back in 1948 continues today at a state
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  of the art course up on the hill.
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  But everything that led to that state of the art course on the
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  top of the hill began down through the streets of Watkins Glen.
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  So there you have a very quick 75 year racing history of Watkins Glen.
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  Thanks for listening.
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  This episode is brought to you in part by the International
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  Motor Racing Research Center.
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  Its charter is to collect, share, and preserve the
• 11:18
  history of motorsports spanning continents, eras, and race series.
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  The center's collection embodies the speed, drama, and camaraderie
• 11:26
  of amateur and professional motor racing throughout the world.
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  The Center welcomes serious researchers and casual fans alike to share stories of
• 11:33
  race drivers, race series, and race cars captured on their shelves and walls and
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  brought to life through a regular calendar of public lectures and special events.
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  To learn more about the Center, visit www.
• 11:45
  racingarchives.
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  org.
• 11:47
  This episode is also brought to you by the Society of Automotive Historians.
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  They encourage research into any aspect of automotive history.
• 11:54
  The SAH actively supports the compilation and preservation of papers.
• 11:59
  Organizational records, print ephemera and images to safeguard, as well as to broaden
• 12:03
  and deepen the understanding of motorized wheeled land transportation through
• 12:07
  the modern age and into the future.
• 12:09
  For more information about the SAH, visit www.
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