Cam Argetsinger wanted to race his MGTC so he created a road course on some of the roads in Watkins Glen, where his family had a summer home. They were roads that he had driven with his MG and he believed that a sports car race, similar to the races on street courses in Europe, could be successful. All he had to do was convince the Village leaders and the railroad to close off the roads and stop the trains. Against all odds, he was successful, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Racers run the track in a clockwise direction. It is 6.6 miles in length. The track map above does not tell the whole story. The elevation change from the flat front straight by the courthouse to the stone bridge is 500 feet. That is quite a climb. More impressive is that the second half of the track is downhill, where cars can attain high speeds before coming into the tight left as they enter the downtown section at Milliken's Corner (named after Bill Milliken who entered that corner too fast and crashed there in the first race).
The start of the first Watkins Glen Grand Prix, 1948. Crowd control was nonexistent
A little Ford rental car is no race car, but it did provide wheels to check out the old street race course. The public roads still exist in the original configuration although they are now all asphalt paved. Hard to comprehend racing on gravel and dirt surfaces.
Blind corners are the norm. To race up to a corner you cannot see beyond at full clip took a large quantity of courage or a lot of hope.
On a straight section of the track, leading up to the railroad underpass, a memorial is alongside the road. In 1950, one of the Collier brothers, Sam Collier, was killed while leading the race. He was driving a Ferrari and flipped after leaving the paved surface. The narrow roads make for difficult passing situations.
Sam and Miles Collier were the first to import MGs to the United States and raced them successfully. In 1949, Sam raced a supercharged MG at Watkins Glen, finishing 1st in class and 3rd overall. Miles quit racing not long after his brother's death and later died from polio.
The railroad underpass has been rebuilt since that first race. It was probably narrower at that time.
The approach to the stone bridge. Again, blind corners are the norm on the circuit.
Racers crossed the bridge, then had a tight right-hand corner. After the first race, it became known as Cornett Corner to recognize Denver Cornett who flipped his MGTC as he slid off the road.
A few more of the corners. As you look at the photos, where would you let off the throttle? Would you brake? At what point?
A detailed story of the races on the original street course at Watkins Glen was documented by a PBS affiliate. That documentary is housed on YouTube and can be accessed by clicking on the link below.
Watkins Glen - The Street Years
