2017 INDYCAR Grand Prix Returns to Watkins Glen

This weekend I will be attending the 2017 Verizon INDYCAR Grand Prix at The Glen. It was a pretty big surprise to be contacted by a marketing representative of INDYCAR to provide social media and blog coverage of the Gran Prix this weekend. I am very excited to cover this, as I have never been to an INDYCAR event, despite attending all kinds of motorsports races and similar events over the years. I will be live tweeting the main race on Sunday, starting at 1pm.

I will also be covering the events on Saturday, Sept 2nd as well, so keep an eye here on my blog and on my Flickr account for pics!

About INDYCAR

INDYCAR, founded in 1994, features racing at a combination of speedways, ovals, road courses, and street circuits all over the United States, and offers its drivers the most diverse challenges in motorsports. The driver with the most points at the end of the series is crowned the champion and receives a $1 million bonus.

The race vehicles are single-seat, open-cockpit cars that feature a 2.2-liter, twin turbo, direct-injected V-6 engine. These engines are optimized to run at 12K RPM, delivering an estimated 5-700 horsepower. They are supplied by Chevrolet and Honda, and run on Sunoco E85R fueling. The cars can reach speeds of up to 235 mph at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the famous Indianapolis 500 race.

The calendar consists of 1/3 oval races, 1/3 races on permanent natural road courses, and 1/3 on temporary street courses. Some of the more famous courses include Barber Motorsports Park and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (both of which I have raced motorcycles at), Road America, Pocono Raceway, Long Beach Street Circuit, and of course, Watkins Glen International. This year, INDYCAR returns to Gateway Motorsports Park for the first time since 2003.

About Watkins Glen International

Watkins Glen International, nicknamed “The Glen,” hosted its first international event with the Formula Libre races from 1958 – 1960. From 1961 to 1980, it was long known around the world as the home of the Formula One United States Grand Prix, however WGI has been home to road racing of near every class, including NASCAR, Trans-Am, Can-Am, and more.

The configuration, also known as, the Grand Prix Course (with Inner Loop), is 3.40 miles long with 11 turns and loads of elevation change. The record lap time was set by Scott Dixon in the 2016 INDYCAR Series at 1:22.5259.

2017 INDYCAR Grand Prix at The Glen

This Labor Day weekend, there is an incredible lineup of races including the season finales for Indy Lights by Cooper Tires, Pro Mazda by Cooper Tires, and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship. In addition to these series, the Battery Tender Global MX-5 Cup, and the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks will be competition throughout the weekend.

I am really looking forward to attending this event and if you would like to attend, head over to theglen.com and pick up some tickets. Be sure to reach out to me if you’d like to meet up over the weekend!

Make sure to subscribe and follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Flickr for coverage of this weekends’ events!