I have a confession to make. Watching racing isn’t my thing. I love being in the hot seat myself and have the greatest respect for the drivers and engineers, but I couldn’t tell you who leads NASCAR or what’s going on in F1. Ask me to name some drivers, and I’ll say Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Parker Kligerman, or Lewis Hamilton. I don’t go to or watch races. That all changed recently when the Autopian staff descended into Watkins Glen International for a race weekend supporting a reader who sent it in a Lamborghini. As it turns out, there’s a part of racing that really gets me pumped.
On June 26, Matt, Jason, and I descended into Havana Glen, New York, for a weekend of relaxing camping and high-throttle racing thrills. Within just a short drive from our campground was Watkins Glen International, the historic raceway known for NASCAR as well as being the former home of the Formula One United States Grand Prix. Just about everything has raced on the track above Seneca Lake, including Can-Am, Trans-Am, IndyCar, the World Sportscar Championship, IROC, Formula 5000, CART, and of course, the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). Some big names have made their waves at Watkins Glen, including Mario Andretti, Jacky Ickx, and Derek Bell.
Cars have been racing around Watkins Glen, New York, since 1948, and at first, racers sped through public streets on a 6.6-mile circuit. Several tragic crashes would lead to the course moving to a hilltop circuit that still utilized public roads. Further safety concerns ended racing on the public roads of Watkins Glen, and in 1956, a proper road-racing circuit was built. The track has undergone numerous layout changes since then, and the track has become a national icon. It hasn’t just hosted all kinds of races, either, but festivals that have included acts like Phish, The Band, The Allman Brothers Band, and the Grateful Dead.
Some have called Watkins Glen International an American motorsports Mecca. Racing fans have even given it the nickname of “The Glen.” But, prior to June, it was to me just another track I was aware of, but couldn’t really tell you much about. I knew Watkins Glen had something to do with NASCAR, and that was it. But after a weekend of fun with Autopian Members at The Glen, cheering on fellow Members Daniel Morillo and his son Joaquin as they raced in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America Series, Watkins Glen was so much more than a place to see a race; it gave me a new perspective on racing, period.
I Was The Worst Racing ‘Fan’
If you’ve read my work for long enough, you know that I don’t really cover racing that much. Try as I might, I can never stay interested in racing for very long. There was a time I was rooting for Lewis Hamilton in Formula One, but I couldn’t really tell you anything about the car he drove or what standing he was in. I didn’t even know how the Formula One points system worked.
It was similar when I was younger and thought of myself as a fan of NASCAR. I could list off some big names from the era like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson. I even have vivid memories of Gordon’s rainbow DuPont car and Stewart’s Home Depot car. I also put in hours of racing time in some NASCAR games on the PlayStation 2. But actually watching a race? I’d fall asleep within minutes. Statistics? I couldn’t tell you who was at the top of the leaderboard.
As an adult, not much has changed. I’ll fall asleep watching a race on television and even start to nod off while watching a race in person. Back in 2022, my friends at BRP sent me to Johnson Valley to experience the King of the Hammers. I spent maybe two hours of the whole week actually watching racing, but spent the rest of the time with the throttle pinned in multiple side-by-sides, hitting whoops and obstacles myself.
To be fair, racing isn’t the only sport that can put me to sleep. I will not make it through a basketball game, a football game, a soccer game, or a hockey game without passing out. You can forget about the Olympics and stuff like golf. Weirdly, baseball is the rare exception, and I will thoroughly enjoy watching that on TV, hearing it on a radio, or being at the ballpark myself.
It’s not that I don’t like those other sports. Athletes have the kind of skill that most people will never possess. Sorry, random guys on the Internet, but you aren’t coming close to beating Serena Williams in a match. Even NASCAR is more impressive than it looks. Those cars doing nothing but left turns? They’re so hot inside that it makes Death Valley seem cool, and it takes some finesse and muscle to keep that car on the line and not flying off the track. There’s a reason why NASCAR drivers are fit; they sort of have to be to drive those machines.
I have no idea why I’m so impressed with the details and history of racing, but I pass out moments after I try to watch it. I’ll even fall asleep watching the Isle of Man TT on a TV. Of course, I have participated in amateur racing events myself, including doing innumerable rallycross laps, a motorcycle track day, racing Tanner Foust in the desert in side-by-sides, and then our very own autocross track day. I live to be in the driver’s seat. That definitely gets my heart pumping.
Going to Watkins Glen gave me an unexpected reset. I discovered a way to enjoy racing that keeps me as amped as I am when I go to a baseball park.
Racecar Overload
Our Watkins Glen trip was different the moment we parked our cars. Instead of going to the stands or setting up in the infield, we started exploring the guts of the track. We walked by countless garages and paddocks. We saw racers and engineers planning for their big race weekend. I got up close to the massive trucks that keep a race team on the move.
I’ve always thought that these trucks were giant motorhomes with a racecar garage in them.
I was not quite correct. Yes, the rig does have a sleeper for the driver, but the part of the trailer that looks like an RV is not. Instead, that’s an office for the managers and engineers to get everything locked down before the race. The rest of the trailer is basically a garage and a high-tech shop in one.
My whole view on racing changed when we arrived at the SP Motorsports paddock, where Daniel and Joaquin were preparing to take their Lamborghinis out into the hot New York sun.
The first mind-blowing thing was just getting a close look at the cars themselves. I adored looking at the intricate details, like how these cars don’t have VINs, but are built in-house by Lamborghini and have a serial number stamped where a VIN would be.
Another fascinating detail is that, while these cars look related to Lamborghini Huracán production cars, they share only a few common parts. The body and even the underlying chassis are different in the racecar, and the vast majority of the parts are unique to the racer.
Sufficiently impressed by how these cars were different, I started looking at what parts carried over. That was perhaps even more amusing. Some of the production car’s dashboard remains in the race car, as does the distinctive VAG coolant reservoir. Volkswagen Group companies have been using these plastic globes for so long that my wife’s diesel Volkswagen has one of those. It’s silly, but I love that my wife’s car shares at least one part with a fire-breathing racecar.
The engine is also derived from a production Lamborghini V10, but hopped-up for the racer.
Honestly, that was just the beginning. The SP Motorsports team was so happy to spill all of the details about its cars. They told me the tires last for only 68 miles (110 km). Racing teams at Watkins Glen were expending so many tires that weekend that they were giving them away for free to racing fans. I lost count of how many kids and dads were walking around with used-up tires in hand.
The tires aren’t even the craziest part. SP Motorsports told me that the Lamborghini’s transmission is used up in only two races. Does it get rebuilt? Nope! The transmission is so totally used up that the old transmission is simply removed from the vehicle and a new one is installed. That new transmission will then get replaced after only two races with another new transmission.
Then there’s cooling, or the lack thereof. Our lovely members told me that it gets up to around 140 degrees in the cockpit of the car. To prepare for races, drivers suit up, put on their helmet, and get in a sauna. They intentionally expose themselves to the most horrible-sounding conditions.
I asked why they couldn’t just cool down the interior. Apparently, the team can install a cooling box or a helmet cooling system. However, a cooling system adds at least 20 pounds to the car and, statistically, makes the car 2 mph slower. Other teams aren’t doing the cooling boxes, so SP Motorsports can’t sacrifice that speed.
Then, I had my mind blown at the cost of it all. SP Motorsports estimates that they spend $100,000 on every race weekend. The car itself can be around $400,000, and the parts also come with huge price tags. Oh, and the car? It gets used for a year or so and then is sold. Surprisingly to me, the car isn’t sold to another race team, but often ends up in the hands of someone who wants a track day car.
There are some not-so-surprising details, like the fact that racing is so intense on the braking system that rotors are replaced after every race. But then we got back to the amazing stuff again, like the fact that the car has its own built-in jack system.
SP Motorsports then really made my day by letting me sit behind the wheel. That was another whole new perspective. The Lamborghini Super Trofeo cars have absurdly tiny pedal boxes where you could easily try to stab the clutch but get dead pedal instead. The cars also have a neat sequential transmission that is shifted through flappy paddles.
I walked out of the SP Motorsports paddock pumped for the race. I couldn’t wait to see the Lamborghini that I just learned about tear it up on the track. I normally don’t even care about Lamborghinis!
Also amazing was walking by the race cars right before the start. It was there that I learned that the grid had some women in it, and they were good at their racing craft. Earlier in the day, a woman was leading a different race, too. That was another part to be excited about, given that some folks still see racing as a male sort of sport.
Hot Racing
Eventually, it was time to go down to the infield and watch the Lamborghinis roar onto the track. I was pumped to see the huge field of cars thunder past our position near the start of the race, and I loved hearing those V10s fly freely.
I even got a picture of our Lamborghini heroes out on the track!
The Lamborghini Super Trofeo race was cut short by a brutal crash that caused a three-car pileup. We were at the wrong part of the track to see it, but Precision Performance Motorsports driver Brandon Gdovic sustained a concussion, a leg that broke in three places, and a pelvis that broke in three places. Thankfully, modern racecar safety technology meant that all drivers survived.
The chaotic race, which also involved a broken curb that damaged cars in an earlier race, ended with a safety car on the track. In the end, Daniel Morad and Elias De La Torre of TR3 Racing swept the weekend with Pro and overall victories at the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America races in Watkins Glen.
The next day, I returned to Watkins Glen for two more treats. Lamborghini offered me a passenger seat inside of an Urus for a hot lap.
The hot lap kept my heart redlined for more than two minutes straight. I thought that, eh, it’s a crossover, it can’t be that hardcore. Oh my, I was so wrong.
The charismatic driver behind the wheel, Jaden, had that green menace at well over 100 mph on most of the track, and he tore that crossover through every single curve. It wasn’t just me in there, either, but a racing fan with his grandmother in the front seat. These things already weigh more than 5,000 pounds, and we were rolling four-deep.
After my hot lap, I got to walk the grid for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen that was scheduled to happen that day. Sadly, the crowd was far too huge to get a good look at any of the cars. But it was still a blast because it was something I hadn’t ever done before.
Then, I got myself a couple of Sahlen’s hot dogs and relaxed as I watched that race unfold. I did not watch the whole six hours, as I had to drive to Connecticut for the Autopian track day, but I did stick around enough to feel the engines in my heart.
I Can Get Used To This
I came away from my Watkins Glen experience with a new outlook. I loved learning about the cars, the drivers, and the technology. I loved rooting for the cars I saw in the paddocks earlier that day. I adored that I got to experience what it’s like to go through the Esses and the Boot. I think having that interactive element made the racing infinitely more fun. I got to put human faces to the cars, and I got to touch and feel the innovative machinery that wins races.
So, I think I might start going to more races. I don’t really know which ones yet, but I am excited to see what’s out there. As it turns out, I found a part of racing I love so much, and it’s the technology and the people behind the wheel. It’s finding out how race teams work and how pumped some race fans get.
If you’re like me and there’s a sport that you’re interested in, but you don’t get the enjoyment out of it that you think you should, maybe do what I did and take a look at it from another angle. Maybe you’ll find your niche!
Top graphic images: Mercedes Streeter
Welcome to the party! The six-hours of the Glen was a great race this year – my daughter and I watched the whole thing on tv and were quite happy to see our favorite team, the Whelen Engineering 31 Action Express Racing Team come away with the win. The drivers were nice enough to sign one of our bigger living room ornaments at Sebring earlier this year :-).
The Six Hours of Sao Paulo is the one I’ll be watching on tv this weekend. Hoping to see that one in person next year.
I saw a few mentions of Road America in the comments – such an awesome track and IMSA is thankfully moving to a six hour endurance cup race this year on the first weekend in August. Autopian meet up?
I love Watkins Glen. I haven’t been to many tracks, but that’s one. No race going on, so we took the guided tour, which is to say you follow a car around the course for four laps which even in a rented (don’t tell Budget) Dodge Avenger at no more than highway speeds kicked ass.
My wife and I were able to get garage/pit passes for the NASCAR race at Sonoma. (I’ve been to the track several times before without the passes.) Getting that “behind the scenes” experience made the weekend so much more exciting and enjoyable; we hardly used our actual seats.
Stupidly, that’s how it works! I take umbrage with how only the top 10 get points, it makes it even less representative of seasonal performance, and rewards luck more than anything.
Love that you got a way to really get a good feel for racing. Motor racing is the only sport I watch. F1, MotoGP, WSBK, I watch it all. I’ve even watched Twitter videos of Malaysian scooter racing with announcers I obviously can’t understand. Give me motorsports all day.
I feel the same way about soccer.
I played for 15 years, I loved it, and I was one of the best players in my league.
I can’t watch more than 5 minutes of a professional match without falling asleep. I find it incredibly boring from a spectator perspective.
Getting closer to the machines is a good way to increase interest. I find that it also really emphasizes the wealth gap we live in, as racing at this level is a (very) rich person thing.
Most hobbies aren’t cheap. Dirt track racing adds up quickly. But racing Lambos? I can’t relate to these folks.
I went to Lime Rock in 2019 for that year’s IMSA race, and I think the biggest highlight of that entirely awesome weekend was walking up and down the pit lane before the race. Several teams took their cars out and you could go right up to it for pictures and have a chat with the driver or another crew member. The teams that didn’t take their cars out had their garages wide open for viewing. It was really great to get up close to the cars.
The 911s and C7Rs were loud enough to hear around the entire track.
This is unfortunately true. The competitive series (IMSA, SRO) that attract the manufacturers and pro drivers/engineers have a huge problem with cost as you can spend money to go faster (or increase reliability) and so a big chunk of what the individual racing classes spend time on when creating their rules is cost control. This is why one-make sprint racing classes like super trofeo or carrera cup are popular: they are generally less expensive than the multi-manufacturer classes. The rules are simpler and the spend is almost entirely driven by the platform. For example, racing a TCR car (front wheel drive sort of like GT4) like a Honda civic TCR in pilot challenge is typically more expensive than racing a Lamborghini in super trofeo.
IMSA holds great race weekends and their fan base is growing year by year and I think a lot of it is the level of access everybody has to the paddock area. It it just a really great way to learn about and become more attached to the drivers and teams. If you can go to one of their events, make it Sebring. The race is great but the fans are what make it amazing. You’ll find people that have been coming to the event for decades and camping in the same spot and throwing the same multi-day party. Plus the weather in Florida in March is fantastic!
WG area really is something special. Been there for a few IMSA races. Between the falls/state parks, breweries and wineries all around the lakes (which, on a sunny summer weekend, is just *chef’s kiss). Lots of nice hiking/camping plus the track itself is, of course, awesome. Always such great energy up there on race weekends
By definition there can only be one “Mecca” of something, and per the clause in my Hoosier birth certificate I have to insist the US racing Mecca is Indianapolis Motor Speedway, haha! Glad you enjoyed the race! I’d love to check out The Glen sometime!
This is why the only racing events I’ve gone to as an adult are vintage racing. You can walk through the paddocks and get close to the cars – anything from early 1900s stuff to a Maserati MC12 with a staff plugged into it with laptops.
Seeing a bunch of identical cars drive around in circles = snooze fest. Seeing all sorts of different stuff driving around in circles, with class changes every 15-20 minutes = sign me up.
Plus my wife likes them, too!
So by about 1/3 of the way through the article I’m thinking.. maybe you have narcolepsy? haha
I know exactly what you mean, how ironic it feels to love of all things automobile while at the same time being mostly indifferent to what’s going on in motorsport – that’s me!
You need to care about the result to stay interested in a race, and that’s why for the most part I fall asleep watching F1.
But even when I know the driver, or the team, or designed parts of the car, I find that watching the race isn’t as interesting as the race cars themselves.
My last race visit was with team pit lane passes to GT4, but after about half an hour with the team talking engine failures (not my bits, phew), and a walk up the starting grid to look at the cars I wandered off during the race to get food, then left.
I understand that it’s not “racing” but even when I was competing in the British Drift Championship I’d pack up at leave as soon as my last run was done. I think I saw the final run once in three years of competition.
My wife used to be a circuit photographer, and she could watch anything race, and she’d know who was having a good day, who qualified out of position, who really needed a good result. Watching bike races with her was fascinating.
Does a drag race count as a race? I’ve quite enjoyed the NHRA one when my kid got in for free.
Highly recommended. The open pits are cool, seeing them work on the big boys, then walk down and see a couple guys work on their Camaro. Lots of female drivers/champions. But really, experience a couple Top Fuel or Funny Car runs. There is just no way to explain the physical impact they have! Hearing protection mandatory!
If you’re ever in Watkins Glen again, I recommend visiting Watkins Glen State Park to take the gorge trail. The gorge is this beautiful long narrow slice through the earth with walls going up to 400 feet up, with a waterway of sometimes ferocious power at its bottom. The stonework path takes bridges across it at several points, and there are all kinds of rapids and waterfalls. One of the oldest parks.
I can attest to this. We (the SP team) walked the gorge Saturday morning to get to relax time before race #2 which late afternoon that day. It’s a beautiful spot
I’ve been a racing fan for 30 years, give or take a couple. I can bore even the most polite person with racing jibber jabber until they make an excuse and walk away. I still sometimes fall asleep watching it on TV. Once it took me 4 tries to watch a Motogp race to its conclusion. There’s just something about the hum (roar) of the engines that’s so peaceful. These days, I’d rather watch racing on television than participate in it. The 1rd Autopian Track Day was fun, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how I was ruining my tires and beating the crap out of my car. Meanwhile, I didn’t even approach its limits, partly because I didn’t want to surpass them and partly because I recognize that I’ll never have the talent to be a racer. Anyway, glad we have another convert.
Try as I might, it’s probably for the best that I don’t really have the budget for a weekend fun car, because I’d be beating on it at a track every chance I’d get. I’m not going to push my daily that hard, even though my GTI could probably handle it.
Watching races and racing games will do just fine, I suppose.
I raced motorcycles (hare scrambles and motocross) but never watched it. I watch Isle of Mann TT because IT’S INSANE. Otherwise, I don’t watch any racing because you kind of have to know about a driver to root for someone.
Then Cleetus McFarland got into NASCAR. I watch his channel and I like the guy, so I started watching NASCAR races that he’s in. They’re awesome!
Cannot stress enough how happy I am that the racing bug is infecting you
Same here, except for vintage drags and, of course, grain truck racing.
And more Road America for the SCCA Runoffs at the end of September! Volunteer and you get a week of free everything, camping and food included. I hear we need tech scrutineers…
Road America is so close and it’s an epic track that feels like it’s set in a national park. Mid-Ohio is also great and not too bad a drive
Yay, a new racing fan! Mercedes, Road America is hosting IMSA in early August, come up! If you want some hot short oval action, IndyCar double header at the end of August at the Milwaukee Mile.
I might be at Road America in August! I keep hearing some musings about a potential special appearance of the CrossCab there. Since it’s with me, that means I would get to go!
Well, if you make it: The SP team will be there, stop by again! Depending on when you make it we do “rental car laps” where they let us take out rental cars to go see the current state of the track before practice #-. It’s kind of comical to see all these rental cars screeching their tires around the track. Jaden (who was your urus driver) is famous for sliding around with the various minivans we typically end up stuck with for rentals
Based on the number of Autopian shirts I’ve seen at RA (myself included) expect quite the turnout if that happens.
IMSA is doing an endurance race this year so it should be a hoot. Got my ticket and campsite already. Woo.
Another Watkins Glen fun fact – the 1962 Ford Mustang concept was unveiled there, driven by none other than Dan Gurney!
Great story Mercedes! I happily consume most motorsports, but sports car racing is perhaps my favorite because of the accessibility of it. Or perhaps perceived, anyway, but I don’t care, I love seeing stuff that’s at least a little bit connected to something I might conceivably pilot.
And now thanks to autopia, I avidly followed the race, rooting for the 27 and the 74!
Thank you! We did OK on race #1, race #2 was a shitshow.
Get yourself to the upcoming Vintage Weekend at Road America, Mercedes! July 16-19. Huge variety of machines. The concours in Elkhart Lake are outstanding.
being able to get into the pit for these is always a ton of fun with a lot to see, def makes the whole experience leagues better
One of these days I need to get to an Indycar race. Hell, the 500 itself isn’t that far away, Iowa isn’t much further, and Gateway is closer…
Getting pit access is pretty cool, too, not every series does that. From what I know, NHRA is pretty good about pit access.
Indy isn’t running in Iowa these days, they’re running Milwaukee instead. IndyCar always has great pit access on road and street courses, but the ovals not so much sometimes.
Ah, gotcha. But, yeah, good to know.