Watkins Glen Raceway
Above - 2011 Rolex Sportscar Series action at Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen - Photo credit to Brian Cleary/Grand Am.
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – The birthplace of American sports car racing – Watkins Glen – will once again welcome the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series to its hallowed grounds when Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen takes place over the weekend of June 3-4, 2011. This six-hour endurance race brings back the magic associated with the history of sports car racing in the U.S. and marks the mid-point of the 12-event 2011 Rolex Sports Car Series, considered the most competitive sports car series in North America.
Historical Perspective:
After World War II ended in 1945, U.S. servicemen returned home from Europe enamored with the smart looking two seat sports cars that they had seen while overseas. They became the first buyers of MGs, Jaguars, Alfa Romeos and other European sports cars that were imported to meet the demand and it wasn't long before these new sports car drivers were clamoring to race these cars on the road as was done in Europe. The timing was ripe for Cameron Argetsinger, a young man who had spent his boyhood summers in the small hamlet of Watkins Glen and who had a love of fast cars. Argetsinger had bought a sports car in 1947, and, looking for a place to race it around town, initiated the Watkins Glen Grand Prix for amateur racers.
In October of 1948 Argetsinger’s dream came true when 15 sports cars took the green flag to race the 6.6 mile course on public roads – including the main street of town – that had been closed for the event. The first road race in America after the war, the eight-lap (52.8 mile) Watkins Glen Grand Prix marked the revival of road racing in this country and was won by Frank T. Griswold in his 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B. Over the next few years thousands of enthusiastic spectators were drawn to Watkins Glen, lining the streets to see great American sportsmen such as Briggs Cunningham drive the treacherous road course in cars of his own design and construction. Cunningham, who had finished second to Griswold in the inaugural road race at the Glen while a hired driver placed third in another of his cars, had started a pattern of success that would see his cars repeatedly finishing as class and overall winners at the Glen.
Ultimately, safety issues forced the immensely popular race off public roads. In 1956 a permanent race circuit was constructed, known today as Watkins Glen International. While the race format went through several evolutions over the years, the current six-hour endurance challenge was first run in 1968 and for 13 years was a summer race tradition. The event then went on hiatus and through several subsequent incarnations before being returned to its historic format in 1996, and in 2000 the Six Hours of the Glen became part of the Rolex Sports Car Series.
And although it is the sport of motor racing which has made Watkins Glen famous, many extraordinary features of this region have attracted visitors for decades to its location on the southern tip of Seneca Lake, one of western New York's Finger Lakes. Watkins Glen State Park, located on the edge of the village, is a major tourist attraction with a hiking trail that climbs up through the gorge, passing over and under waterfalls. Perhaps the most conspicuous attraction within the village, however, is Seneca Lake itself. As the largest of the glacial Finger Lakes it is deep enough to have been a testing site for submarines, and is also considered the lake trout capital of the world and its unique macroclimate has led to the establishment of numerous wineries in the area.
To say Watkins Glen has had a glorious past is an understatement. Today the original road course is listed on the New York State Register and the National Register of Historic Places, and names like Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Dan Gurney, Phil Hill and Jackie Stewart still resonate through its streets where shop windows are adorned with racing memorabilia and even the street signs are shaped in the form of racing cars. The specter of those motorsports legends can still be felt when one visits local haunts such as Seneca Lodge or the Glen Motor Inn. Race fans can experience the magic themselves when the racing action at the track combines with all the energy the historic village has to offer during Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen.
Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen – Mid-Point of the 2011 Rolex Sports Car Series:
In June when the cars roll off their transporters for Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen, the same excitement that thrilled fans all those years ago will permeate the air once again. World-class teams with drivers like Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, Darren Law, David Donohue and J C France will race wheel-to-wheel looking for that split second per lap that will give them the advantage over the rest of the field.
The 2011 season has been incredibly exciting thus far. At the front of the grid the Target Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates team has been the one to beat. Drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas have set the bar as high as it will go by winning the first three races of the year after winning the closing three races of the 2010 season. The drama will continue during Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen as both drivers will pull out all the stops – especially knowing the entire field is out to beat them. Hoping to stop their winning streak, Grand-Am had posted a $25,000 bounty to be awarded to the first team to score an overall victory in the Rolex Sports Car Series. "I think it’s a great idea and a great promotion and it points out how serious people are to beat us," said team owner Chip Ganassi. Unfortunately for Ganassi, his hope that the bounty would not be paid out for a while ended in mid-May. Action Express pocketed the reward at the Bosch Engineering 250 in Virginia, putting an end to Ganassi’s six-race winning streak and widening the field of contenders for the 2011 Rolex Sports Car Series title.
For more information on Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen visit: http://www.theglen.com/Tickets-Events/Events/2011/Sahlens-Six-Hours-of-The-Glen.aspx
source: www.caracingnews.com
