We’re less than one week away from our first Warmup event with Gridlife at the historic Watkins Glen, and we couldn’t be more excited!
Watkins Glen International is a stunning track set in the southern tip of the Finger Lakes. It is probably best known for hosting the Formula One United States Grand Pix Races for twenty years from the 60’s to the 80’s.
Like most great racetracks, Watkins Glen was born out of a street course that had been held on public roads. Unfortunately, this course on public roads was not to last as the inevitable occurred. In 1956, the original track layout of 2.35 miles was completed and would be used for the following 14 years.
For the 1971 season, the circuit would undergo some major changes. What is now known as the “Short Course” was finalized, and has been used often by NASCAR since, Perhaps most notably, what we now call the Long Course of 3.37 miles, or “The Boot” was also finalized, just in time for the 1971 Formula One race.
However, the original configuration turned out to be fairly dangerous given the speeds attained on the back straight, just before a long sweeping right hander. To mitigate this risk, what we now know as the “Bus Stop” , or the Inner Loop, was added in 1992, slightly increasing the length of the track to its current length of 3.45 miles. The entire course was repaved in 2015 after renewed interest in the course and the sport. This latest iteration of the Long Course will be utilized by the Model 3 Challenge next weekend.
Watkins Glen International is a high speed track with challenging sweepers, hard braking zones, and massive curbing. It’s all about maintaining speed and capitalizing upon corner exits. Not lifting through the high speed esses is a challenging and thrilling experience. Next weekend will mark the first time The Glen has had several race prepped Model 3’s take to its pavement at once!
The Model 3 Challenge will be running cars in the Gridlife TrackBattle Time Attack in both the Street and TrackMOD Classes. Tune in Friday, April 28th through Sunday, April 30th to watch the Model 3’s fight for the top spots on the Livestream!
