History is racing in Watkins Glen this week! Corvette, tied to Watkins Glen since its inception, will be the featured marque at the 23rd anniversary Grand Prix Festival of Watkins Glen on the village streets on Friday, Sept. 9. Friday also is the first day of racing for more than 400 cars are entered in SVRA’s U.S. Vintage Grand Prix presented by Jaguar at Watkins Glen International. For all of the details about the Grand Prix Festival, go to www.grandprixfestival.com. For details about the SVRA competition, go to www.theglen.com. The Racing Research Center will have a table at the downtown festival on Friday and at WGI on Saturday and Sunday. Additionally, the Center will be open late on Friday – until 9 p.m. Lots of opportunities to say hello to the staff and learn more about what’s going on at the Center. Hope to see you! (In the photo, Addison Austin races a Corvette in the 1955 Glen Classic Trophy race during the Watkins Glen Grand Prix weekend. This was the first Corvette to compete at The Glen. The photo is from the Center’s Gus Iacozili Collection)
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (Sept. 4, 2015) – A group of insiders from the glory days of CanAm racing will share their stories at an all-day celebration of the race series on Saturday, Sept. 12, at the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen.
“It was a collaboration of lunatics,” says Oscar Koveleski, who was an independent team owner and SCCA Can-Am champion driver. The always colorful and outspoken Koveleski is one of the headliners for the daylong event that will include cars, slide shows, films and stories galore, morning and afternoon.
Pete Lyons, motorsports journalist and author of the acclaimed “Can-Am Cars in Detail: Machines and Minds Racing Unrestrained,” will be the moderator and a speaker at the afternoon session.
The event is sponsored in part by the Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce and is free and open to all. The Center is located at 610 S. Decatur St., Watkins Glen.
The Canadian-American Challenge Cup series for “unlimited” sports racing cars began in 1966. Its last race was in 1974. Racing continued under the SCCA banner until 1987.
“Power. Speed. Unabated engine thunder that shivered the earth beneath your very shoes. Free-wheeling technical innovation unleashed on every front,” Lyons writes in “Can-Am Cars in Detail.”
“At its peak, the Can-Am was a golden crucible for experiments at the cutting edge of automotive technology. The series granted a giddy freedom that today’s rules-bound race-car designers can only dream about,” Lyons writes.
Koveleski, who will be joined on stage by his Auto World Racing Team crew chief Jack Deren, said drivers entered Can-Am competition because they wanted a greater challenge.
“What we did was something out of the ordinary. There were no rules. Our rules were only to take care of each other,” said Koveleski, who is a past president of the Historic Can-Am Association.
The Racing Research Center’s celebration actually begins on Friday, Sept. 11, at the Grand Prix Festival of Watkins Glen, the downtown festival honoring the village’s racing history.
At 3 p.m. at The Legends Speak, sponsored by the Center, Lyons, Koveleski, Deren and others will give a glimpse of what people can expect from the daylong event on Saturday.
Saturday’s schedule starts with slide shows and films at 9 a.m. and continuing throughout the day. A couple of cars will be on display.
At 10:30 a.m., Judy Stropus, a professional timer/scorer who worked with the Penske and Brumos racing teams in Can-Am, will moderate an informal storytelling session with Can-Am drivers and team owners. Invitees include Victor Franzese, Bobby Brown, Steve Durst and Randy Zimmer.
At 1 p.m., Lyons takes over the moderator and speaker duties for a panel discussion about the draw of Can-Am racing, its challenges and glories. Other panelists will be Koveleski, Deren, Stropus and John Bornholdt, chief steward for SCCA Can-Am racing. The day will also include a model car show of Can-Am cars and previews of a book and a documentary film, both to be released in 2016 as Can-Am marks its 50th anniversary.
The Racing Research Center is an archival and research library dedicated to the preservation and sharing of the history of motorsports, all series and all venues, worldwide. For more information about the Center visit the website www.racingarchives.org.
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (Aug. 7, 2015) – In an evening filled with tributes and taunts, Richard Petty was honored on Thursday, Aug. 6, with the Cameron R. Argetsinger Award for his contributions to racing.
The dinner was held at the famed Corning (N.Y.) Museum of Glass in advance of the Cheez- It 355 at The Glen NASCAR race this weekend at Watkins Glen International in upstate New York. The dinner was presented by NASCAR, International Speedway Corp. and WGI.
The International Motor Racing Research Center honored “The King,” the winningest driver in racing and a noted philanthropist, with the award in front of a capacity crowd of race-car drivers, sponsors and industry and local dignitaries.
Introduced as “the world’s best ambassador for NASCAR,” Petty said he has committed himself through his entire career to acknowledging and appreciating the people who have made his achievements possible, listing fans, team members, sponsors and the people who buy sponsors’ products.
“I feel like I’ve been really lucky,” he said. “How many millions of people did it take to get me up here? You can’t say thank you enough.”
The award dinner was a fund-raiser for the IMRRC, an archival and research library dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of motorsports.
“It’s an amazing facility, filled with one-of-a-kind things,” Master of Ceremonies Dr. Jerry Punch told the crowd. “You owe it to yourself to visit. You’ll be absolutely amazed at what it holds.”
In tribute to Petty, Punch interviewed current Richard Petty Motorsports drivers Aric Almirola and Sam Hornish Jr., as well as Petty’s legendary crew chief Dale Inman, in a chatty session among the three.
Almirola recalled a lesson in how to pass, given on a napkin with a Sharpie.
Petty, he said, doesn’t buy into all the talk of aerodynamics and “dirty air.”
“So I listen, and I’ve tried really, really hard not to let the car in front of me hold me up. And, he’s always right,” Almirola said, adding, “You have to listen to ‘The King.’ He pays the bills.”
Hornish said he was grateful for guidance and encouragement from Petty, calling him a positive role model.
Petty’s long-time crew chief Inman said Petty was simply great with a car throughout his career, but he wanted the audience to know that Petty’s greatness continues with his generous community work.
Ten years ago, the Pettys established Victory Junction, a summer camp for children with medical conditions or serious illnesses. In his remarks, Petty told the dinner audience that 22,000 children have attended the camp since its beginnings.
“The good Lord put us here for a reason. We just went through the racing part to get to the part He wanted us to do,” Petty said.
Multi-team owner Chip Ganassi, last year’s inaugural recipient of the Cameron R. Argetsinger Award for Outstanding Contributions to Motorsports, congratulated Petty on being this year’s honoree, saying, “Hell, he is everyone’s racing hero. He and his Petty-blue 43 are both sports icons. They go together every bit as much as Mickey Mantle and pinstripes or Mean Joe Green and the steel logo on his helmet.”
Appropriately, IMRRC President J.C. Argetsinger explained that one of the Center’s missions was to be the “Cooperstown, N.Y., of motor racing.” “We are absolutely thrilled to be honoring Richard Petty. The Pettys are the first-family of American racing,” Argetsinger said, citing Lee Petty’s race at Watkins Glen in 1957, followed by father and son, Lee and Richard, both racing at The Glen in 1964. In 1992, it was again father and son at The Glen: Richard and Kyle.
“It’s part of the sport’s history, and we’re proud of our role of preserving that history,” Argetsinger said.
The award memorializes Cameron R. Argetsinger, founder and organizer of the first races at Watkins Glen.
Petty’s son, longtime race-car driver and T.V. racing analyst Kyle, as expected threw some barbs at his famous dad.
“I don’t know why you’re honoring him here. He’s never won at Watkins Glen,” said Kyle, who won that 1992 race.
Kyle, too, cited his father’s philanthropic work and the positive impact he has had communities and individuals. “He’s a bigger champion away from the race track than he ever was on the race track,” Kyle said. “You’re not only getting the greatest driver that ever sat in a race car, you’re getting the greatest human being that I have known in my life.”
Video shout-outs from NASCAR drivers Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were shown, as well as a fitting tribute video to “The King” produced by NASCAR Productions especially for the evening. WGI President Michael Printup presented a video of amusing television coverage out-takes from Petty’s career, eliciting laughter and applause. Other speakers included Indy 500 champion Bobby Rahal, chairman of the IMRRC Governing Council, and Smithfield Foods Vice President, Corporate Marketing, Bob Weber.
“Richard Petty is the single highest recognizable motorsports driver of all time and the most trusted driver,” Weber said, representing one of Richard Petty Motorsports major sponsors. “It’s a great connection for us.”
The evening concluded with a spirited bidding war for an original painting by motorsports artist Randy Owens, depicting Petty’s 200th win at Daytona International Speedway on July 4, 1984. It went for $4,500.
Also auctioned off was a surprise gift donated by Petty: one of his iconic hats preserved in a display case. Punch and Petty skillfully manipulated the bidding to also include the hat Petty was wearing, fetching $9,000 for the pair between two bidders.
A silent auction of Petty memorabilia and other high-quality donated items was also held.
The evening’s proceeds benefits the IMRRC, an archival and research library dedicated to the preservation and sharing of the history of motorsports, of all series and all venues, through its collections of books, periodicals, films, photographs, fine art and other materials. The IMRRC is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. For more information about the Center’s work and its programs, visit www.racingarchives.org or call 607-535-9044. The Center also is on Facebook at International Motor Racing Research Center.
‘The King’ to Receive Argetsinger Award
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (July 27, 2015) – Smithfield Foods, the primary sponsor of Richard Petty Motorsports’ legendary No. 43 Ford in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series,, has joined
industry stalwarts honoring Richard Petty next month in Watkins Glen.
Petty, the winningest driver in NASCAR, is being honored on Aug. 6 with the Cameron R. Argetsinger Award for Outstanding Contributions to Motorsports at the International
Motor Racing Research Center Award Dinner, presented by NASCAR, International Speedway Corp. and Watkins Glen International.
Smithfield Foods has signed on as the sponsor of the cocktail reception of the event, which will be at the world-renowned Corning Museum of Glass in nearby Corning, N.Y.
“Smithfield Foods and Richard Petty corporately found each other in 2011, but our relationship goes back much further than that as fans of The King and his untouchable records set over a career that continues to this day,” said Bob Weber, Smithfield Foods vice president of corporate marketing.
“We are thrilled to join race fans throughout the country in honoring Richard on this special evening,” Weber said.
Smithfield Foods is a $15 billion global food company and the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer. The company has partnered with Richard Petty Motorsports on numerous occasions to support food pantries in local communities of the NASCAR race circuit.
Aric Almirola, the driver of the No. 43 Smithfield Ford, joined Richard Petty Motorsports in 2012, is the 2014 Daytona 500 champion, and currently occupies the final slot in the 2015 Chase for the Sprint Cup. Almirola and Smithfield Foods’ Weber will be among the dinner speakers honoring Petty.
The dinner is the Thursday evening prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen International, the famed upstate New York road race course. The award memorializes Cameron R. Argetsinger, founder and organizer of the first races at Watkins Glen. Team owner and former driver Chip Ganassi was the first recipient of the Argetsinger Award in 2014.
Petty, who earned a record 200 career races and seven NASCAR Cup championships during his 30-year driving career, competed in eight NASCAR races at Watkins Glen, including July 19, 1964, when both he and his father, the legendary Lee Petty, were on the track. It was Lee Petty’s final career race.
“Smithfield’s commitment to ensuring families do not go hungry is well-known,” IMRRC President J.C. Argetsinger said. “Their concern for America’s communities matches Richard Petty’s own philanthropy, and the Racing Research Center is proud to be associated with both.”
The IMRRC Award Dinner is open to the public, but tickets are limited. The ticket price is $250 per person. Tickets may be purchased online at http://racingarchives.org/special_event.php or by calling the Racing Research Center at (607) 535-9044. Full details about the event can be viewed at www.racingarchives.org.
Other event supporters include Corning Incorporated, Glenora Wine Cellars, Chip Ganassi Racing, Sports Car Club of America, Welliver and Elmira Savings Bank.
About International Motor Racing Research Center
The Racing Research Center is an archival library dedicated to the preservation of the history of motorsports, of all series and all venues, through its collections of books,
periodicals, films, photographs, fine art and other materials. For more information about the Center’s work and its programs, visit www.racingarchives.org or call 607-535-
9044. The Center also is on Facebook at International Motor Racing Research Center.
About Smithfield
A leading provider of high-quality pork products, Smithfield was founded in 1936 in Smithfield, Virginia, establishing the town as the “Ham Capital of the World.” From hand-trimmed bacon to slow-smoked holiday hams, Smithfield brings artistry, authenticity and a commitment to heritage, flavor, and handcrafted excellence to everything it produces. With a vast product portfolio including smoked meats, hams, bacon, sausage, and fresh pork cuts, the company services retail, foodservice, and deli channels across the Unites States and 30 countries abroad. All of Smithfield’s products meet the highest quality and safety standards in the industry. To learn more about how Flavor Hails from Smithfield, please visit www.Smithfield.com, www.Twitter.com/SmithfieldBrand, and www.Facebook.com/CookingWithSmithfield. Smithfield is a brand of Smithfield Foods.
About Smithfield Foods
Smithfield Foods is a $15 billion global food company and the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield®, Eckrich®, Farmland®, Armour®, Cook’s®, John Morrell®, Gwaltney®, Nathan’s Famous®, Kretschmar®, Margherita®, Curly’s®, Carando® and Healthy Ones®. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com and www.smithfieldcommitments.com.