Watkins Glen International

Location	Watkins Glen, New York, United States
Major events	NASCAR Nextel Cup, NASCAR Busch Series, Indy Racing League
Circuit length	5.43 kilometres (3.37 miles)
Turns	11
Lap record	(F1) 1'34.068 (Alan Jones, Williams-Ford, 1980)

Watkins Glen International (nicknamed "The Glen") is an auto race track located near Watkins Glen, New York at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. It was long known around the world as the home of the United States Grand Prix, which it hosted for 20 consecutive years (1961 - 1980), but it has been home to road racing of nearly every class for over 50 years, including: Watkins Glen is a village located in Schuyler County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 2,149. ... State nickname: Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York City Governor George Pataki (R) Official languages None (English is de facto) Area 141,205 km² (27th)  - Land 122,409 km²  - Water 18,795 km² (13. ... Watkins Glen grand prix race course File links The following pages link to this file: Watkins Glen International Categories: GFDL images ... The Nextel Cup Series is NASCARs premier stock car racing series. ... NASCAR Busch Series logo The Busch Series is a stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR. It is NASCARs second division, and is a proving ground for drivers who wish to step up to the organizations top level, the Nextel Cup. ... Indy Racing League Logo The Indy Racing League, better known as IRL, is the promoter of a predominantly oval based open-wheel racing series in the United States and, more recently, Japan. ... A kilometre (American spelling: kilometer, symbol: km) is a unit of length equal to 1000 metres (from the Greek words khilia = thousand and metro = count/measure). ... A mile is any of several units of distance, or, in physics terminology, of length. ... The inaugural Formula One World Championship was won by Italian Giuseppe Farina in his Alfa Romeo in 1950, barely defeating his Argentine teammate Juan Manuel Fangio. ... Alan Jones, b. ... WilliamsF1, formerly Williams Grand Prix Engineering, is a Formula One racing team formed and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head. ... The Ford Motor Company (often referred to simply as Ford; sometimes nicknamed FoMoCo, NYSE: F is an automobile maker founded by Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, and incorporated on June 16, 1903. ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... A nickname is a short, clever, cute, derogatory, or otherwise substitute name for a person or things real name (for example, Tom is short for Thomas). ... Watkins Glen is a village located in Schuyler County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 2,149. ... Seneca Lake is the second longest (at 38 miles (60 km) long) of western New Yorks glacial Finger Lakes and has the largest volume, estimated at 4. ... The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event which has taken place at various times since 1959 in several locations, at first as a part of the American Grand Prize series and later as a race in the Formula One World Championship. ... 1961 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Road racing can be a term involving road running, road bicycle races, or automobile races. ...

• Sports Car Club of America (SCCA)
• NASCAR Busch Series
• Formula Libre
• Formula One
• Can-Am
• Trans-Am
• Formula 5000
• International Race of Champions (IROC)
• Champ Car
• NASCAR Winston/Nextel Cup
• Endurance Sports car racing
• Indy Racing League

The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rally, and autocross in the United States It runs many different programs for both amateur and professional racers. ... The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. ... NASCAR Busch Series logo The Busch Series is a stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR. It is NASCARs second division, and is a proving ground for drivers who wish to step up to the organizations top level, the Nextel Cup. ... The inaugural Formula One World Championship was won by Italian Giuseppe Farina in his Alfa Romeo in 1950, barely defeating his Argentine teammate Juan Manuel Fangio. ... Cover of Car and Driver magazine, showing transparent diagram of CanAm racer The Canadian-American Challenge Cup or Can Am, was an SCCA/CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1974. ... The Trans-Am series was created in 1966 by the SCCA as the Trans-American Sedan Championship. ... Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an auto-racing series that ran in the United Kingdom from 1968 to 1976. ... International Race of Champions (IROC) is an auto racing competition, promoted as an equivalent of an All-Star Game or The Masters. ... Champ Car driven by Andrew Ranger in 2005 Champ Car, a shortened form of Championship Car, has been the name for a class of cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades. ... The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. ... The Nextel Cup Series is NASCARs premier stock car racing series. ... GTP sports cars racing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 1991 Sports car racing is a form of circuit racing, with purpose-built cars that nevertheless have enclosed wheel wells and often have closed cockpits. ... Indy Racing League Logo The Indy Racing League, better known as IRL, is the promoter of a predominantly oval based open-wheel racing series in the United States and, more recently, Japan. ...

Beginnings

The first races in Watkins Glen were initiated by Cameron Argetsinger, whose family had a summer home in the area. With Chamber of Commerce approval and SCCA sanction, the first Watkins Glen Grand Prix took place in 1948 on a 6.6-mile course over the local roads. For the first few years, the races passed through the heart of the town with spectators lining the sidewalks, but after a car left the road in the 1952 race, killing one spectator and injuring several others, the race was moved to a new location on a wooded hilltop southwest of town. Chambers of commerce are business advocacy groups which are usually not associated with government. ... The SCCA could be considered the grass-roots level of auto racing in the United States. ... The Watkins Glen Grand Prix is an annual automobile road race. ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1952 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The new 4.6-mile course for 1953 also used existing roads. The Watkins Glen Grand Prix Corporation was formed to manage spectators, parking and concessions. This arrangement lasted three years before a 2.35-mile permanent race course was constructed on 550 acres (2.2 km²), overlapping part of the previous course. It was designed by Bill Milliken and laid out by several engineering professors from nearby Cornell University. Along with the annual SCCA race, the track hosted its first professional race (NASCAR Grand National Division) in 1957 and became truly international when the Formula Libre race attracted some of the best road racing drivers in the world, including Jack Brabham, Stirling Moss, Phil Hill and Dan Gurney from 1958 through 1960. 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... For other uses of the name Cornell, see Cornell (disambiguation). ... 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jack Brabhams 1961 Cooper-Climax, the car that began the rear-engine revolution at the Indianapolis 500 Sir John Arthur Jack Brabham, OBE (born April 2, 1926) is an Australian racing driver who was Formula One champion in 1959, 1960 and 1966. ... Sir Stirling Moss OBE (born September 17, 1929 in London) is a British auto racing driver. ... Philip Toll Hill Jr. ... Daniel Sexton Gurney (born April 13, 1931) is one of the most important figures in the history of American auto racing. ... 1958 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Home of the United States Grand Prix

1973 Watkins Glen grand prix ticket

After two less-than-successful US Formula One events in 1959 (Sebring, Florida) and 1960 (Riverside, California), promoters were looking for a new venue for an American Grand Prix in 1961. Just six weeks before the scheduled date for another Formula Libre race that fall, Argetsinger was tapped to get Watkins Glen ready to host the final round of the Formula One World Championship instead. While many of the necessary preparations had already been made for the Formula Libre race, new pits were constructed for the F1 Grand Prix according to the European style of pit boxes with overhead cover. Seven American drivers participated, and the race was won by British driver Innes Ireland with American Dan Gurney second. The sole disappointment of the weekend was that newly-crowned American World Champion Phil Hill appeared only as the event's Grand Marshal, not on track in his shark-nosed Ferrari, as the team was still mourning over the death of Count Wolfgang von Trips at Monza the previous race. Ticket for the 1973 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen race course This work is copyrighted. ... Ticket for the 1973 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen race course This work is copyrighted. ... The inaugural Formula One World Championship was won by Italian Giuseppe Farina in his Alfa Romeo in 1950, barely defeating his Argentine teammate Juan Manuel Fangio. ... 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sebring is a city located in Highlands County, Florida. ... 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Riverside is the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. ... Georges Boillot winning the 1912 French Grand Prix in Dieppe, France Grand Prix motor racing has its roots in organized automobile racing that began in France as far back as 1894. ... 1961 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Innes Ireland (1930–1993) was a Scottish military officer, engineer, and race car driver. ... Daniel Sexton Gurney (born April 13, 1931) is one of the most important figures in the history of American auto racing. ... Philip Toll Hill Jr. ... The Ferrari Gestione Industriale badge on the front of a 330 GTC Ferrari is an Italian manufacturer of racing cars and high-performance sports cars formed by Enzo Ferrari in 1929. ...

The United States Grand Prix at The Glen quickly became a fall tradition as huge crowds of knowledgeable racing fans flocked to upstate New York each year amid the spectacular fall colors. The race was also among the most popular on the global Grand Prix calendar with the teams and drivers because its starting and prize money often exceeded those of the other races combined! The race received the Grand Prix Drivers' Association award for the best organized and best staged GP of the season in 1965, 1970 and 1972. State nickname: Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York City Governor George Pataki (R) Official languages None (English is de facto) Area 141,205 km² (27th)  - Land 122,409 km²  - Water 18,795 km² (13. ... 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (link goes to calendar). ... 1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ...

One fixture of the USGP at The Glen was the starter for the races, "Tex" Hopkins. Wearing a lavender suit, clenching a big cigar in his mouth, and giving the job everything he had, Hopkins was the most recognizable starter in Grand Prix racing. Once the cars had taken their places, Hopkins strode across the front of the grid with his back to the field, turned, and jumped into the air, waving the green flag to start the race. At the finish, he would meet the winner in similar fashion, this time waving the checkered flag as the car crossed the line.

Before the 1971 race, the course underwent its most significant changes of the Grand Prix era, as it was extended from 2.35 miles to 3.377 miles by the addition of four corners in a new section called the 'Boot' or 'Anvil.'. The new layout departed from the old course near the south end into a curling downhill left-hand turn through the woods. The track followed the edge of the hillside to two consecutive right-handers, over an exciting blind crest to a left-hander and back onto the old track. In addition, the circuit was widened and resurfaced, and both the pits and start/finish line were moved back before the northwest right-angle corner known as "The 90." 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ...

Despite the improvements, the circuit began a slow decline in the 1970s as a few horrendous, sometimes fatal accidents and increasingly rowdy segments of the crowd began to tarnish its image. Financial difficulties and the inability of the circuit to safely handle the increasingly faster and stiffer ground effect cars of the era led to its exit from the Formula One calendar after Alan Jones won the 1980 race for Williams. It would be another 20 years before the United States Grand Prix would be held on a natural road course. Ground effect (or Wing In Ground effect) is a phenomenon of aerodynamics where the flow of air around part of an aircraft or a racing car is interrupted by the ground. ... Alan Jones, b. ... WilliamsF1, formerly Williams Grand Prix Engineering, is a Formula One racing team formed and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head. ...

American road racing Mecca

The Glen hosted a variety of other events throughout the Grand Prix years: from Can-Am, Trans-Am, IROC and Endurance Sports car racing to Formula 5000 and the CART series, these races strengthened the circuit's reputation as the premier road racing facility in the United States. From 1968 through 1981, the "Six Hours at The Glen" endurance race featured top drivers like Mario Andretti, Jacky Ickx, Pedro Rodriguez and Derek Bell. Different races were sometimes featured together on the same weekend (e.g., Six Hours and Can-Am) and drew sizable crowds, but without a Formula One race, the circuit struggled to survive. It finally declared bankruptcy and closed in 1981. International Race of Champions (IROC) is an auto racing competition, promoted as an equivalent of an All-Star Game or The Masters. ... Note: A cart may also be short for cartridge, particularly in the radio industry, where precursors of 8-track cartridges (and later CDs and zip drives) were used. ... See also: 1967 in sports, 1969 in sports and the list of years in sports. General sporting events 1968 Summer Olympics takes place in Mexico City, Mexico United States wins the most medals (107), and the most gold medals (45). ... See also: 1980 in sports, other events of 1981, 1982 in sports and the list of years in sports. // Auto Racing Stock car racing: NASCAR Championship - Darrell Waltrip Richard Petty won the Daytona 500 CART Racing - Rick Mears won the season championship Indianapolis 500 - Bobby Unser Formula One Champion - Nelson... Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an American racing driver, arguably the most successful US citizen in auto racing. ... Jacky Ickx, (born January 1, 1945 in Brussels) is a Belgian racing driver known for his success in Formula One and the 24 hours of Le Mans. ... The Grand Prix motor racing driver Pedro Rodriguez was born January 18, 1940, in Mexico City; his younger brother and racing partner Ricardo was born 2 years later. ... Derek Bell (born 31 October 1941 in Middlesex, England) was a Formula One driver who raced for the Ferrari, McLaren, Brabham, Surtees and Tecno teams. ...

Reincarnation

For two years, the track was not well maintained and hosted only a few SCCA meets without spectators. In 1983, Corning Enterprises, a subsidiary of nearby Corning Glass Works, partnered with International Speedway Corporation to purchase the track and rename it Watkins Glen International. 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Corning Glass Works (NYSE: GLW) is a U.S. manufacturer of glass, ceramics and related materials, primarily for technical and scientific applications. ...

The renovated track, with the chicane at the bottom of the Esses removed, reopened in 1984 with the return of IMSA with the Camel Continental I, which would be conducted until 1995, with the last two years under the name "The Glen Continental" after Camel's withdrawal from IMSA. (The event was numbered with Roman numerals.) 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 1986, the top NASCAR series returned to Watkins Glen after a long layoff, holding one of only three road races on its schedule (two beginning in 1988), using the 1971 Six Hours course, raced when the new section off the Loop-Chute was not finished in time. As the cars come off the Loop-Chute, instead of making the downhill left into Turn 6, the cars shot straight through the straight and headed towards Turn 10, as was the case from 1961 until 1970. 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

NASCAR Busch Series action would arrive in 1991 with a 150-mile race on the weekend of the Camel Continental, won by Terry Labonte, who would be a master of the circuit during its Busch Series races, winning the inaugural race, and winning three consecutive races from 1995 until 1997. The 1995 race would be the first conducted as a 200-mile race, and became the first Busch Series race to be televised on broadcast network television, as CBS broadcast the race live for three years.

Only twice -- 1998 and 1999 -- did a Busch Series regular driver win the race. The first seven races were won by Winston Cup Series regular drivers, sometimes referred as "Buschwhackers," during their off-week. In 1998, the race went against the Cup race in Sonoma, California, eliminating the idea, and stayed that way until 2000. In 2001, the race was run the day after the first Saturday in July.

However, the race was eliminated from the schedule after the 2001 season, only to return in 2005 as an undercard to the Nextel Cup race.

A pair of incidents took place in 1991 resulted in a massive overhaul of the circuit's safety. During the IMSA Camel Continental VIII, Tom Kendall's prototype crashed in Turn 5, severely injuring his legs. Seven weeks later, NASCAR driver J.D. McDuffie died in an accident at the same site. Track officials added a bus stop chicane to the back straight in 1992 . The Ford chicane on Le Mans A chicane is a sequence of tight serpentine curves (usually an S-shape curve) in a roadway, used in auto racing and on city streets to slow cars. ... 1992 was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ...

In 1996, the Glen Continental reverted back to a six hour format, and was once again called the Six Hours At The Glen with the IMSA format, and stayed there until a split in sportscar racing in the United States. In 1998, the race became an event sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America under their United States Road Racing Championship. In 1999, the FIA GT series staged a 500km race after the USRRC canceled the rest of their season before their event at the track. The following year, the 6 hour race returned once again with the newly-founded Grand American Road Racing Association (Grand-Am) sanctioning the event. 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rally, and autocross in the United States It runs many different programs for both amateur and professional racers. ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday Anno Domini (or the Current Era), and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The Grand American Road Racing Association or Grand-Am is an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize endurance road racing competitions in North America. ...

In 1997, International Speedway Corporation became the sole owner of the historic road course, as Corning Enterprises believed they had completed their intended goals to rebuild the race track and increase tourism in the southern Finger Lakes region of New York State. 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... International Speedway Corporation (NYSE: ISCA) is a corporation whose primary business is the ownership and management of NASCAR race tracks. ... A tourist boat travels the River Seine in Paris, France Beaches make popular tourist resorts Tourist redirects here; for the album by Athlete, see Tourist (album) Tourism can be defined as the act of travel for the purpose of recreation, and the provision of services for this act. ... New Yorks Finger Lakes The Finger Lakes are glacially formed lakes in upstate New York, mainly linear in shape, each lake oriented on a north-south axis. ...

The circuit annually hosts one of the nation's premier vintage events, the Zippo U.S. Vintage Grand Prix. When the 50th anniversary of road racing in Watkins Glen was celebrated during the 1998 racing season, this event was the climax, returning many original cars and drivers to the original 6.6-mile street circuit through the village during the Grand Prix Festival Race Reenactment. A vintage car is commonly defined as a car built between the start of 1919 and the end of 1930. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

Major-league open wheel racing will return to the speedway after a 25 year layoff, as the Indy Racing League added the circuit to the 2005 schedule, one of three road courses added to the schedule. In preparation, the circuit was overhauled again. Grandstands from a speedway in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, which had closed, were installed, the gravel in The 90 was removed and replaced with a paved runoff area, and curbing was cut for the Indy Racing League event. Previously, the high curbing in the chicane had become a place where NASCAR Nextel Cup cars would bounce high off the curbing, creating an ideal opportunity for cars to lose control, and to slow cars. Indy Racing League Logo The Indy Racing League, better known as IRL, is the promoter of a predominantly oval based open-wheel racing series in the United States and, more recently, Japan. ...

Argetsinger remains as an advisor to the circuit, and the track named the Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix trophy in his honour.

Current races

• Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series - Sahlen's Sports Car Grand Prix
• NASCAR Nextel Cup Series - Sirius at The Glen
• Sportscar Vintage Racing Association - Zippo U.S. Vintage Grand Prix
• Indy Racing League - Title TBA

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. ... The Nextel Cup Series is NASCARs premier stock car racing series. ... The Sirius at The Glen is a NASCAR Nextel Cup stock car race held at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. ... Indy Racing League Logo The Indy Racing League, better known as IRL, is the promoter of a predominantly oval based open-wheel racing series in the United States and, more recently, Japan. ...

See also

• List of Formula One circuits
• List of NASCAR race tracks

The following is a list of circuits which have been used for Formula One Grands Prix since 1950. ... The following is a list of race tracks used by NASCAR as part of its Nextel Cup Series, Busch Series, and/or Craftsman Truck Series. ...

References

• Watkins Glen International
• Short History of Road Racing at Watkins Glen
• GP Encyclopedia, Circuits: Watkins Glen

External Links

• Watkins Glen International Official Site
• Watkins Glen International Page on NASCAR.com
• Watkins Glen Grand Prix Fest
• USGP at Watkins Glen
• Maps and aerial photos
  • Street map from MapQuest or Google Maps
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
  • Satellite image from Google Maps