“70 Years of the Glen” Appearing in SportsCar May 2018 by Jeff Jacobs
Download / View the Original Article on SCCA.com
Dear Friends,
Since well before I was born, Watkins Glen has been a landmark for the racing community. Racers and fans have been drawn here, at first by the brash idea of racing cars through the public roads, and then by the bold move to create an international-standard permanent road course. Years of top-level events compounded the significance of a trip here.
For me, it was impossible to go through the gates to the circuit without thinking about all of those who came before me. In the same way, fans go to the Seneca Lodge to pull up a stool to the same bar where Jack Brabham, Jochen Rindt and Ronnie Peterson celebrated their success or cursed their bad luck. The location itself is a connection to history.
It is this connection that inspired the decision to build the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen. Created in 1998 to preserve and share the photos, films, records and stories of over 100 years of motor racing, the Center has been an incredibly valuable resource not only to professional writers and documentarians, but to the general public as well. In a digitized world, a visit to the Center is wonderfully analog. Instead of typing words into a search engine and then sifting through hundreds of results of questionable relation, the skilled and friendly archivists can assist in finding exactly what you are looking for, as well as stimulate interest in new areas. You can hold a tangible document or photo or timing sheet in your hand and have a tactile experience, instead of seeing something on a screen. And without any pop-up ads!
But, that said, if you’re at home in Boise or Berlin, and a visit to the Center isn’t practical, a newly redesigned website gives you an opportunity to enjoy some of the Center’s treasures, while learning about its mission to preserve and share the materials of motorsports.
All of this is done through the help and donations of people like you and me, who understand and appreciate the importance of cataloging and archiving the history of the sport. I invite you to join me in continuing to support the Center in its mission. A form is enclosed suggesting ways to help the Center, a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization. Thank you.
Butch Leitzinger
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (Sept. 21, 2015) – The International Motor Racing Research Center has begun a nationwide search for an executive director.
The new position was created to boost the Center to a higher level of professionalism.
“The Racing Research Center has achieved international success well beyond the expectations of its founders,” Center Governing Council Chairman Bobby Rahal said. “To build on that success, we’re ready to progress to the next levels in all areas of our operations and even better fulfill our mission of preserving and sharing the history of racing.”
The search committee, led by Governing Council member Laurence Kessler of Rochester, N.Y., has identified position qualities that include senior management experience in finance and administration. Strong experience in marketing, public relations and fundraising also is desired.
A passion for cars, racing and automotive history is preferred but not mandatory.
Archivist experience is also preferred but not mandatory.
Information about the executive director position is available on the Center’s website at http://racingarchives.org/pdf/PositionExecutiveDirector.pdf.
The Racing Research Center is an archival and research library working with the materials of motorsports history. Its collections encompass race series and racing venues worldwide. No admission fee or fee to use the collections on-site is charged.
The Center opened in June 1999 and has more than 700 individual collections. It has more than 3,800 rare and reference books, more than 2,800 cataloged race programs, some 4,500 cataloged films and about 800 periodical titles, some full-run. Photographs in the collections number in the untold tens of thousands. It is the repository for several organizational archives, including the Sports Car Club of America and the Road Racing Drivers Club. The Center owns the archives of National Speed Sport News and the archives of John Bishop, co-founder of IMSA.
Drivers with collections at the Center include David Donohue, Butch Leitzinger, Elliott Forbes Robinson and Geoff Bodine.
For more information about the Racing Research Center, visit the website at www.racingarchives.org.
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (July 9, 2015) – Michael R. Argetsinger, a founder of the International Motor Racing Research Center and an award-winning motorsports author, died July 7 at his home in Chicago.
Argetsinger was a member of the steering committee that in 1997 began planning for the Racing Research Center, an archival and research library dedicated to the preservation of the history of motorsports. He was a member of the Center’s Governing Council at the time of his death from cancer.
Argetsinger is survived by his wife, Dr. Lee Green of Chicago. He was 70.
“Michael was the Center’s core. His enduring commitment was the foundation of our success,” said J.C. Argetsinger, IMRRC president and Michael’s brother.
“He was always developing ideas to enhance the Center’s standing in the motorsports community and to offer our users a better experience. Whether it was seeking out an historically significant car for display or inviting a prominent speaker for an afternoon talk, Michael knew just the right thing to do for the Center. We will all miss him: the staff, the Council, our
supporters.”
Argetsinger’s dedication involved working tirelessly with race drivers, organizers, scholars and enthusiasts, as well as with community members and the international press, to help create a world-class facility. He also organized and implemented the popular speaking series Center Conversations, which brought a wide range of experts to the Center, drawing
national and international audiences of motorsport aficionados.
“Michael was a wonderful man, friend and passionate supporter of all things motor racing and particularly, Watkins Glen,” Bobby Rahal, chairman of the Center’s Governing Council, said. “He gave his time and energy selflessly in order to advance the IMRRC and its place in the world of motorsports.”
Argetsinger was the son of motor racing icons Jean and the late Cameron Argetsinger, who brought Grand Prix racing to America at Watkins Glen. His lifelong passion for the sport and its history was also evident in his talent as the author of five critically acclaimed books on motor racing.
His first book, “Walt Hansgen: His Life and the History of Post-War American Road Racing” (2006), received a Gold Medal for biography and was named Best of Books for 2006 at the International Automotive Media Awards (IAMA).
His biography “Mark Donohue: Technical Excellence at Speed” (2009) was also named Best of Books by the IAMA and won the overall competition as Best of 2009. He was also the author of “Mark Donohue: His Life in Photographs” (2010) and “Formula One at Watkins Glen: 20 Years of the United States Grand Prix, 1961-1980” (2011) which was a finalist for the
2011 Dean Batchelor Award presented by the Motor Press Guild. All four books were published by David Bull Publishing. In addition, Argetsinger co-authored “Watkins Glen International” (2013), Arcadia Publishing.
Argetsinger was not only a vivid chronicler of the sport. He raced for nearly 45 years, competing in more than 400 races at 54 different circuits in seven countries, including nine circuits that have hosted World Championship Formula One Grands Prix.
A memorial mass for Michael Argetsinger will be held at St. Mary’s of the Lake Catholic Church, 905 N. Decatur St., Watkins Glen, at 11 a.m. on Monday, July 20, with a reception following at the Racing Research Center, 610 S. Decatur St., Watkins Glen. The burial service will be private. The family has announced that remembrances may be made in Argetsinger’s name to the Racing Research Center.