WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (March 31, 2014) – The popular hobby of model car collecting will be in the spotlight April 11-13 at the International Motor Racing Research Center.

Over the three days, the Center will host a model car show of hundreds of vehicles of all scales, focusing on race cars. The show coincides with two  nnual events at Watkins Glen International: the 10th annual Toyota Green Grand Prix on April 11 and the track’s own Opening Weekend activities April 12 and 13.

The Arc Grand Prix Run, a new Opening Weekend event at the track, will be on April 12. It’s an early-morning, 3.4-mile run on the race course to benefit The Arc of Schuyler, a not-for-profit organization providing support to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism. Walkers will have a one-mile route.

Autism Speaks, the world’s leading autism science and advocacy organization, will be the recipient of funds raised by WGI fans driving their own cars around the track on Opening Weekend. The fee will be $25 per vehicle. The track opens to cars at 10 a.m.

Back downtown on April 12 at 1 p.m., the Center will host an informal panel discussion about the hobby of model car collecting. The panel will include award-winning model designer and builder Tom Clark and Rich Chernosky of Keystone Cards in Sayre, Pa., organizer of the Model Car Concours at the annual Grand Prix Festival in Watkins Glen in September.
Admission to the model car show and to the panel discussion is free and open to all. Car show hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

Among the special exhibits in the show will be a display of models of almost every car raced by the famed Briggs Cunningham team from the 1940s through the early 1960s.

The Center’s April events are part of the ongoing Center Conversations series. Upcoming talk topics include Formula 5000 racing, featuring legendary Sam Posey as the honored guest, on May 10; vintage car event organizer Murray Smith in June; Cary Agajanian, son of great racing team owner and race organizer J.C. Agajanian in July; and the Milwaukee Mile in October.

Details will be announced as they are finalized.

The Racing Research Center is an archival library dedicated to the preservation of the history of motorsports, of all series and all venues, through its collections of books, periodicals, films, photographs, fine art and other materials. For more information about the Center’s work and its programs, visit www.racingarchives.org or call (607) 535-9044.