WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (Sept. 4, 2019) – The International Motor Racing Research Center will celebrate Vintage Weekend with a program and displays related to the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Festival and the Hilliard U.S. Vintage Grand Prix, which will be held Sept. 5 through 8.
On Friday, Sept. 6, from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the gazebo at Lafayette Park, the IMRRC will sponsor the popular The Legends Speak program, this year featuring Hurley Haywood, whose five wins at the 24 Hours of Daytona, three wins at the 24 Hours of LeMans and two wins at the 12 Hours of Sebring have secured his place as one of the greatest sports car endurance racers in history. While much of his career was with the Brumos Porsche racing team that dominated sports car and Can-Am racing, Haywood also competed in the Indy Car series, four International Race of Champions (IROC) events, and drove the powerful AWD Audi in IMSA competition. The Legends Speak is free and open to the public.
In honor of Triumph, the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Festival and 2019 Hilliard U.S. Vintage Grand Prix featured marque, the Center’s On the Grid display is a 1960 Triumph TR3A, on loan from Russ Deveso of Colden, N.Y. Deveso purchased the production car in 1969 for $250 and installed a TR4A head, which added horsepower and more speed for racing. This honest representation of the marque, familiar to every track in the northeastern United States, had a cameo appearance on the Discovery Channel’s Chasing Classic Cars. It has also been driven by amateur racer Burt “B.S.” Levy, author of The Last Open Road series of novels about early post-World War II road racing in the United States.
On Thursday, the Center will also feature the Datsun 280ZX driven to the 1979 Sports Car Club of America C-Production National Championship by Paul “P.L.” Newman. Newman was driving for Bob Sharp Racing and sponsored by Budweiser. The Datsun will be in the Concours d’Elegance at the Watkins Glen State Park during the Grand Prix Festival on Friday.
In collaboration with Roadmasters, the IMRRC will also display a 1972 Triumph TR6 at the Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel during Vintage weekend.
The IMRRC will continue to sell tickets for their annual car raffle, in anticipation of the drawing on Oct. 5. This year’s car is a 1986 Ferrari 328 GTS, restored in 2013 and valued at $71,500. Tickets are $40 each or three for $100 and are available at the Center. For more information, visit racingarchives.org.
The mission of the International Motor Racing Research Center is to collect, preserve and share the global history of motorsports. Visitors are welcomed to the Center to see the On the Grid display car, browse the library, enjoy displays from the collection and watch 25 Years at Speed: The Watkins Glen Story with Brock Yates, a film on the early history of racing in Watkins Glen in the Center’s theater. The staff is on hand to share their passion for motorsports with all racing enthusiasts. The IMRRC is free and open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at 610 South Decatur Street in Watkins Glen, NY.
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