History of Watkins Glen International
The Watkins Glen International overcame odds to become a NASCAR fixture and has always stood out from other tracks in the NASCAR circuit. This weekend the Sprint Cup will make the trek to upstate New York to visit the track.
The first difference between Watkins Glen and other tracks is that it does not have the traditional oval layout; instead the circuit has seven tricky turns over a 2.45 mile surface. The track was originally a sports-car circuit and played host to Formula One once upon a time. Three-time Watkins Glen champion Jeff Gordon is looking forward to NASCAR’s return to the beloved track for the 90 lap Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips event taking place this Sunday,
"I love Watkins Glen," Gordon said, and with good reason."It's a fairly easy road course for us. ... Sonoma [the only other road course currently on the Cup schedule] has a lot of corners that require finesse that you have to put into it -- whereas Watkins Glen is just the opposite. It's about being really aggressive, fast, how deep you can get into the braking zones, being on the gas hard, carrying a lot of speed. I think it makes for a great course for our cars."
The track joined the regular NASCAR circuit in the mid 80’s after lying defunct and abandoned after going bankrupt. NASCAR had made three earlier excursions to the New York track, first in 1957, and then once more each year in 1964 and 1965 – all forgettable and long forgotten trips. It took a twenty year hiatus from the track and didn’t run there again until 1986.
Starting in the 1960’s up until the year 1980, the tack at Watkins Glen had hosted the Formula One series but went bankrupt in 1981 after a CART Indycar series race. The track which once hosted some of the greatest names in auto-sport history hosted a few small non-spectator sports-car events to keep afloat but couldn’t keep the lights on and had to close down for the next two years.
"There was no real momentum in the Northeast to have a regular race at that time, especially on a sports-car course," explained J.J. O’Malley, who was involved with getting the track back on the NASCAR radar, although it was really the late Jim Riesbeck who revived the track.
Riesbeck, who passed away in 1993, was an executive at Corning Glass Works and NASCAR enthusiast. He would frequently entertain clients and colleagues at the Daytona 500 races and it was on one of these excursions in 1983 that the he discovered a story in the Daytona News Journal about the how NASCAR positively influenced the economy.
"At the time, Corning had just formed Corning Enterprises to try to boost up the economy in the twin tiers of New York and Pennsylvania,” O’Mally explained.
“They got to talking and someone mentioned that there was a defunct race course not too far from [company headquarters in] Corning, in Watkins Glen. The day after the 500, Riesbeck met with NASCAR officials -- and later in that year, at the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, they announced they were forming a partnership [with International Speedway Corporation] to purchase Watkins Glen."
Riesbeck thought the track had great opportunity as the surface itself was in relatively good shape and it was only the grounds and buildings that needed repairs.
Reisbeck was eager to improve the economy surrounding the Southern Finger Lakes regions and saw Watkins Glen as not only a new revenue stream but positive publicity for the surrounding community and a means for creating more jobs. He developed a restoration plan along with members of the France family who headed NASCAR as well as the ISC.
"There was a lot of interest, a lot of grass-roots interest that surprised many of the executives in the sport. It was an immediate hit," O'Malley said.
The first race on the newly opened track took place on August 9th 1986 and was well received by the surrounding community, fans, drivers and other officials. NASCAR has been making the trek from the Southeast to Watkins Glen International every year since.
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