Watkins Glen: A Day at the Races

Last year, I was at Watkins Glen camping, but the raceway was closed. This time, though, it was wide open on the weekend, hosting the SCCA circuit, which ranges from Mini Coopers to open-wheel to NASCAR-style stock cars. Oh, yeah, I had a great time and I’ll try to explain the reasons why.

Reason #1: Gorgeous weather

It was a perfect day that Saturday. Sunshine, with a light breeze to keep things from heating up too much. The spectators liked that, and I bet the drivers did too; it gets hot in those firesuits they wear.

Reason #2. Best Seats in the House

The SCCA circuit doesn’t pulling in the big numbers. It’s amateur racing, and the fans are their family and friends, as well as fellow drivers and mechanics. (I might have been one of a dozen people at the track not related to or affiliated with any of the race teams.) I’m used to NASCAR races, where you sit in your assigned seat and that’s pretty much your view for the entire day. Here, I could park anywhere and walk right up to the fences separating me from all those fast cars or sit in any seat in the grandstands. I took advantage of that freedom and checked out several spots around the 3.377 mile course. From the esses to the finish line, it was easy pickings to get a good view.

Reason #3: All-Access Pass

At a NASCAR race, you pay to get into the garage, if they even let you do that at a particular track. Here, I literally walked right up to the open-wheel cars lining up for their race. Listening to them start their engines and watch the race personnel wave them onto the track to get into their lineup and begin racing was a ton of fun!

Reason #4: The Sound of Engines

I grew up with a mechanic of a father, always out in the garage, grease-covered shirt and torn jeans, troubleshooting a weird noise or just putting on new brakes or making the engine purr a little more. There were stories of races at Bonneville and the dry lakes, and it all sounded pretty magical and yet distant to me. Decades later, when I realized my Dad still had race cars in his blood, he and my brother and I started going to NASCAR races. From Sonoma to Las Vegas, Phoenix to Fontana, we watched the pros go at it, with engines screaming down the straightaway and red-hot brakes on the tight corners. I still smile when I hear someone gunning their engine, whether it’s a race car or just someone in a hot-shot Corvette.

I’d never been to an open-wheel race before, though, and watching even this level of open-wheel racing was a revelation! Even MORE engine noise, the high whine of those finely-tuned machines cutting speed at the corners and then winding it up whenever there was a straight line ahead. I had a prime spot for this race, the last set of corners before the straightaway to the finish line. Watching those racers downshift through the curves and then floor it as they came into the last straightway, jockeying for every position, I realized I had a huge grin on my face.

Reason #5: Racing for the Love of It

This was racing at the level my Dad would have loved: people putting it all out there on the track because that’s what they love to do. Yeah, NASCAR has good racers, but those drives make millions of dollars. I’m pretty sure most of the racers at Watkins Glen were going home Sunday night to jobs and mortgages, scraping enough money together to make their car better and get to the next race. That’s what my Dad and his friends did back in the day. They were their own designers and mechanics, then put the cars on trailers and hauled them to the next race. I treasure the legacy my Dad left me: the enjoyment of loud engines and fast cars and an appreciation for the people who race just because they love it.

For more about my Dad and his racing buddies, check out Throwback Thursday: Bonneville Speed Week.

And if you want to see some very cool race photos, check out my friend Alan Brandon’s photography. He’s one of the offical track photographers at Sandia Speedway.

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Auto racing began five minutes after the second car was built.

Henry Ford