
To thrive in America, Formula 1 needed just one thing: A stable, reliable venue that could host the annual United States Grand Prix without any fuss. And with Watkins Glen International, that’s exactly what F1 achieved.
Between 1961 and 1980, the twisty track in upstate New York hosted the ever-growing F1 circus, boasting impressive prize purses and an infield packed with dedicated — if rowdy — fans. It was exactly what the sport needed to establish a footing in America; unfortunately, it wouldn’t last long.
Formula 1’s historic place in America
When F1 was first founded in 1950, it was by no means the comprehensively designed and meticulously planned World Championship we know it to be today. Instead, the championship effectively served to create continuity between a slate of well-established Grands Prix in Europe and award a trophy for the driver with the best result at the end of the year.
The only problem was location. Grands Prix were, by definition, a fairly European affair, and if the sport wanted to truly be a World Championship, then it needed to include at least one non-European event on the calendar.
In 1950, the most notable international event was the Indianapolis 500. Despite the fact that the track, cars, rules, and points were totally distinct from anything you’d find in F1, organizers slapped it on the schedule in order to claim a truly international status. Only one driver attempted the event; otherwise, it was just there for looks.
Promoter Alec Ulmann introduced Formula 1 to America first at Florida’s Sebring International Raceway and next at Riverside in California, but both events struggled to put on a show and draw a crowd. Ulmann had entered into a three-year contract with the FIA, and he needed to find a stronger venue for 1961. But he didn’t wasn’t interested in Watkins Glen.
This story is part of our F1 75 celebration honoring the most influential American drivers and race circuits in Formula 1’s history.
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Watkins Glen: Destined for Formula 1
Watkins Glen is a sleepy hamlet in New York, and after World War II, an enterprising young man named Cameron Argetsinger thought the little town would be a great location for the kind of city-to-city racing he’d witnessed in Europe.
“I was truly thinking of eventually bringing all the great European teams and champions, and to see Watkins Glen become the first American site to stage major European-style international road races annually,” Argetsinger told writer Philippe Defecheraux, as reported in Watkins Glen: The Street Years.
As Argetsinger saw it, the challenging roads that carved through the small, hilly village were the perfect place to stage America’s version of the German Grand Prix held at the Nürburgring. He wanted to do it properly, too — to start and end the race right in the middle of town.
He drew up a map of the ideal race course and proposed the first race should take place in October of 1948. At the time, the only organizing body Argetsinger could find to sanction the event was the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), which was a strictly amateur organization. It forbade the distribution of prize money to winners, and drivers weren’t even allowed to accept free room and board in exchange for competing.
Argetsinger named his race the Watkins Glen Grand Prix, but as the years passed, he was effectively wedged out of the organization because his aspirations were simply too international. The SCCA didn’t want professional racers to compete in the event, even though that was quite literally Argetsinger’s dream. Other towns like Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin soon picked up on the public road racing format, transforming America’s motorsport legacy from one dictated by oval tracks to one characterized by a diverse slate of racing circuits.
Sadly, in 1952, a seven-year-old boy named Franky Fazzary was killed during the Watkins Glen Grand Prix. He had been sitting with his family in front of a souvenir shop, and as Fred Wacker fought John Fitch for the lead, Wacker’s Allard brushed the crowd. Young Franky was killed, and several of his family members were injured.
Fred Wacker was arrested by the State Police and required to make a statement. The media then descended, calling motorsport events “nothing but Roman Holiday,” where key participants were forced to shed blood for the gaze of a ferocious audience.
Life magazine ran large photos of the accident, which included Franky Fazzary’s dead body in a pool of blood. Even Motor Trend had choice words for the event; it was harsh in its criticisms of the amateur focus of the field, noting that a track as challenging as Watkins Glen should not be the remit of racers who only compete a few times a year.
As a result, America banned racing on public roads, bringing to an end a fruitful period of sportscar racing in the country. The only reason motorsport survived was thanks to tracks like Sebring, which were built on private but disused airfields.
The town of Watkins Glen sprung into action and quickly found a new piece of land on which to develop a permanent road course. There, it began to establish the international racing scene of Argetsinger’s dreams, and when talks with Daytona International Speedway fell through, Formula 1 agreed to ink a deal to host a Grand Prix in October of 1961… on August 28, 1961.
Alec Ulmann wholeheartedly disagreed with the decision to race at the Glen, but there was no denying that the track was equipped to host international racing events, such as the Intercontinental Series, which was designed to race open-wheel cars that didn’t meet the FIA’s F1 regulations.
The world of F1 was about to change.
Formula 1 racing at Watkins Glen
Back in 1961, the year Watkins Glen hosted its first US Grand Prix, Formula 1 looked a lot different. Drivers didn’t have to compete in every race to win the championship, and their decision to travel to certain events often had more to do with the prize money on offer than the fact that they had to race on that track.
With the championship settled in American racer Phil Hill’s favor coming into the 1961 US Grand Prix, Watkins Glen had to find a new way to entice the F1 field to cross an ocean and turn up at this event. The answer was a big prize purse — something the track became well known for.
At the first event, for example, winner Innes Ireland took home $5,000 in prize money and $2,800 in appearance fees. Adjusted for inflation, that’s just over $82,000 today. Critically, this was in an era where a top-tier professional driver could expect to make around $20,000 during the course of the year. And even more critically, Argetsinger paid everyone in cash.
It turned out to be a hit with the spectators as well. Around 60,000 people turned up for Sunday’s Grand Prix, which was enough for the event to turn a profit — which was the first time that had happened in F1’s American forays.
As the years passed, the event gained further prestige as the prize purses grew; in 1969, Watkins Glen offered a larger purse than any other road racing circuit in the world, amounting to over $2.5 million today when adjusted for inflation.
The track was able to sustain itself as a result of intense fan interest, with Americans turning out in droves to spectate the sport.
But as the 1970s got underway, a darker side of the track began to emerge. Fans camping overnight in the infield got violent, lighting cars on fire and engaging in reckless stunts under the influence of alcohol.
The track, too, needed serious improvements as the evolution of aerodynamics had made cars faster. In 1973 and 1974, François Cevert and Helmut Koenigg, respectively, were both killed while racing at the circuit. As ground effect made cars even faster, there were growing fears that the track would take more lives.
Formula 1 was also looking elsewhere, too. The introduction of the Long Beach Grand Prix in 1976 showed the promise and ease of street circuits, and men like Bernie Ecclestone had their eyes set firmly on more glamorous locales like Las Vegas for future events. Heading out to a muddy little town in upstate New York — far from any major airport — was growing less interesting by the day.
Watkins Glen, too, began to struggle to pay the growing sanctioning fees required to host an F1 event, which meant the track itself was falling into disrepair and couldn’t be updated to improve safety. The final US Grand Prix at the track took place in 1980; the event couldn’t pay its sanctioning fee until after the event.
“Sure, the Glen is a nice scenic track,” Alan Jones, winner of the final U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, said after the event, “but that doesn’t mean we should have to live in the Stone Age.”
The Grand Prix Corporation that hosted the race filed for bankruptcy in 1981, and the track was purchased by a consortium that included the local Corning Glass Company. Racing was too integral to the region to let the track fade away.
For 19 years, Watkins Glen was the anchor point for Formula 1 in the United States, providing the series with a stable home in which to continue to evolve its growing international profile. And so far, no other circuit has been able to hold a candle to that near two decade-long streak.
The track was quick and demanding, requiring drivers to truly push themselves to find a competitive edge. It paid the drivers well in an era where that was not on any other Grand Prix organizer’s to-do list. And while Watkins Glen wasn’t built explicitly for Formula 1, its very existence was a nod to a rich history of Grand Prix racing that America was ready to show it respected.
But perhaps even more importantly, it was F1’s home away from home. A whole generation of motorsport fans were inaugurated into the art of speed at Watkins Glen, passing tall tales down to their children about the racing they witnessed. It was Formula 1 without pretense, and it came to define the trackside experience of an entire era.
Of all the F1 circuits in America, Watkins Glen International is by far the most influential.
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