I am not a historian. But as a regular spectator at the USGP during the
late 60's and early 70's (Cornell, class of '71), it is my recollection
that Watkins Glen, as the site of the US F1 race, was the first US track
to undergo the upgrades driven by Jackie Stewart's safety concerns. The
goal was to keep cars from hitting things at high angles. Hence the
close guardrails.
It didn't take long for the downside of the close guardrails to become
obvious. I walked the track in the mid-70's (passing through, no one
there, so went for a walk). As a Vee driver, I thought "no thanks".
I'm sure, as was said, that some of the barriers have been moved back.
But I think that a lot of money was spent on "state of the art" back
then, and the resources simply aren't there to redo the upgrades.
In 1971, as a new college grad, my wife and I tented through part of
Europe, including the GP of France. At that time, stage 2 of the safety
drive was multiple rows of fences held up by fragile wooden posts,
designed to give way in a crash and "roll up" the car. It looked like a
grand plan. Then Mark Donohue was killed by getting rapped on the head
by one of the posts used by that safety technology.
The point of this somewhat rambling post is that Watkins Glen was redone
at a time that race safety was first becoming a concern, but the means
toward the ends weren't well defined. And it suffers from that.
I presently live near (and have both driven and spectated many times)
Elkhart Lake. It seems to be undergoing a continuing process of
modernization. It would be interesting if an informed person could
"compare and contrast" the two tracks.
Marc Robertson
Malaboge@aol.com wrote:
>
> Fellow body benders-
>
> Not to throw additional "virtual" gas on an open flame....but, I used to race
> the Glen before the infamous Armco barriers. The first installation of the
> Armco was at the very edge of the track all the way around. It was like
> racing in a tunnel. After the first few regionals, the carnage prompted a
> boycott of some size. Many racers refused to race there as the chances of
> sustaining body damage was no longer within the driver's ken. Any mistake on
> anyone's part resulted in the type of damage described. How many of us can
> say that they have never put a wheel in the dirt (or worse) while racing?
> That sort of minor incidence would result in major damage to not only your
> car, but the next few cars behind you. I understand that the Glen moved some
> of the Armco back from the entire track, but kept it at the edge in many
> places. I never raced the Glen again. Luckily, most other tracks have not
> followed the Glen's lead on this type of "safety" enhancements.
>
> <personal opinion mode off>
>
> Thin wallet racing...
> Nick of Nor Cal
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