The Glen....great track. The racing.....depends. When they write rule books again and not specification sheets.....you may get great racing again.
'Never made the World Sportscar/Can Am weekend whilst up there. 'Did catch the Bruce and Denny show at The Bridge in '69. Besides the McLs there were some good ones.....Siffert in a 917 "drop top", Amon in a 612P, Surtees a customer McL M12, Rodriguez 312P, Revson Lola T163. Dem wuz the days.
Caught portions of the Watkins Glen 6-Hours live streaming. What time did they start it? Because, I figured it would start about 1:00PM or 2:00PM and go into the night. But, when I turned it on just before 1:00PM, half the race had already been run so they must have started it like at 9:00 or 10:00AM. What's up with that? Then, turned it back on again with less than 30 minutes remaining. The race for overall and class wins was close and exciting. Not sure if this happened to everyone or not, but with 7-8 minutes to go, the screen just went black. No video, no audio. I tried to get it going again but to no avail, gave up and so missed the final laps. Pity.
There was some discussion there (not in official circles I hasten to add) as to how much more interesting it would be to start in the late afternoon and go into the night but I've no idea what, if any, restrictions they operate under up there.
It would make sense to take the race into the night (at least for a couple of hours). But, you're right, there may be some local ordinance(s) in play. Perhaps racing cars making noise into the darkness would disturb the local cow populations. BHW
Even back in the day ((Championship of Makes) it was strictly daytime on Saturday and CanAm on Sunday. 'Woulda been even better back then to run into the night as people (generally speaking) wouldn't have work the next day. 'Troubles me more than that is the Daytona 400 Saturday night...even one o'the drivers called it The Firecraker 400 still which always was run on the 4th. 'Can't stop change....for better or for worse....
True dat. I still call it the "Firecracker 400" as that's what I grew up with. Back in those days, NASCAR and IMSA ran a combined weekend, with IMSA running the "Paul Revere 250" which started at midnight. Of course, that was well before Daytonner was lit up like a mall parking lot and the GT cars ran their race completely in the dark which was quite a novelty at the time. But, we attended this race a couple of times back in the mid-70s. It was interesting to see the sports car set mingling in the garages with the good ol' boys and comparing notes, Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood chatting with Richard Petty and David Pearson. Who can keep up with the endless sponsorship name changes to these events? Remembering last year one of the NASCAR races was actually called the "Let's Go Bowling 500" (or something like that). Where do they come up with this stuff? BHW
You keep forgetting, I was there too. (From the Finale of '74 'til aboot '87, 'didn't miss an IMSA race at Daytona, and then a few spotty visits as making a living got in the way )
I trekked the 2,500 mile distance for my first trip to the Glen and western New York. They started the race at 10:10 local time. The whole weekend was a bit of a crash fest. During the Conti race a Cayman went nose first into the barrier, later a LMP3 car exploded it's front end, and of course the GT3 Cup pileup that sent nine (I think it was nine) drivers to the hospital. As far as I know, nothing serious. One driver got air lifted, but I heard that was because he was 17 and due to the rules had to be taken to the nearest children's hospital. He was treated and released. One expensive checkup. I was hoping to see Risi (obviously that didn't happen) and a WTR win, but they were pretty much screwed on the opening lap. One highlight was being able to hang out in the ESM Hospitality suite. Eating prime rib, drinking Patron, and having race cars fly by is a pretty good way to spend the weekend.
My first races were at the Glen (U.S. GP, '75-'78 and '80) and I still enjoy going to the occasional vintage race up there. It would be nice to get the GP back again but the cost would be excessive and the nature of the track would probably change for the worse. And where was the Risi team anyway? They typically do better in the longer races. GTLM without a Ferrari is like.....a day without sunshine?
They're taking a bit of a hiatus: Risi ?Fully Intends? to Return This Year Despite Hiatus - Sportscar365 My guess is they drop to either GTD in IMSA or go to PWC.
Crickets chirping takes precedence over racing in this day and age. Besides...upsetting the cow population would result in a price increase in milk futures. We can have Wall Street have a cow over said upsets to the cows!!!
Be fair. As stated above (post 11), even 50 years ago it ran during the day. (Wow! 'Just noticed that in '68, Dick Thompson and Ray Heppenstall in the Howmet TX Continental (turbine, for the uninitiated) was third overall and first in class. 'Don't know how I missed that at the time...)