Watkins Glen International Tickets

Watkins Glen International

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). However, it has been home to road racing of nearly every class for over 50 years, including: Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), NASCAR Grand, National Division, Formula Libre, Formula One, Can-Am, Trans-Am, Formula 5000, International Race of Champions (IROC), Open Wheel Racing Series (Champcars), NASCAR Winston/Nextel Cup and Endurance Sports car racing. Watkins Glen International is located amidst the rolling hills of the beautiful Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, providing a unique contrast between the sights and sounds of racing and the scenic beauty of majestic farmland. Watkins Glen International is one of only two road courses on the NASCAR circuit.

The track is an 11-turn, 2.45 mile road course, with two stretches of 2, 150 and 2, 600 feet. Watkins Glen International seating capacity is roughly 40, 000, with bleachers located at various points along the track. The NASCAR Nextel Cup makes one stop at the Glen, in August. The track hosted its first NASCAR race in 1957, and has held a race each year since 1986. The first races in Watkins Glen were started by Cameron Argetsinger. The first Watkins Glen International 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. Watkins Glen International hosted its first professional race (NASCAR Grand National Division) in 1957 and it became famous when the Formula Libre race attracted some of the best road racing drivers in the world, which included Jack Brabham, Stirling Moss, Phil Hill and Dan Gurney from 1958 through 1960. Formula 1 itself arrived in the autumn of 1961.

The design of the new permanent circuit was done by Bill Milliken with help from Boffins at Cornell University. The design came to be a 2.3-mile track which wound its way around a wooded hilltop. 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 was a change from the old one. It departed from the old course near the south end into a curling downhill left-hand turn through the woods. Despite the changes to its layout, Watkins Glen International 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. The drunken mobs of fans in the infamous Bog - who set fire to cars and rioted - was not the kind of image that F1 wanted. 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. The teams packed up and never returned. Since then, no United States Grand Prix has been held on a natural road course. The CART Championship stayed on for another year, but after that

The Glen diminished in popularity. In the mid-1980s, it was bought by the International Speedway Corporation and NASCAR racing arrived in 1986. The Budweiser at the Glen became a major event with thousands of stock car fans turning up to watch the action. The full 3.3-mile circuit is rarely used nowadays, but the fans love the track and with the Finger Lakes region being a lovely place in mid-summer the track does what Argetsinger planned back in 1947 - it brings in trade. Watkins Glen International received the Grand Prix Drivers' Association award for the best organized and best staged GP of the season ,during 1965, 1970 and 1972. 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. The circuit, has now grown to become one of the most respected facilities in the northeast. The current races held at the Watkins Glen International are the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series- Sahlen's Sports Car Grand Prix, the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series-SIRIUS at The Glen and the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association-Zippo U.S. Vintage Grand Prix.