My trip to the FCA meet in New York

I've been a member of the Ferrari Club of America for most of the 14+ years that I've owned my 328. (In any given year, the 10% discount on parts and service will usually pay for the membership.) But I had never attended any of their annual meets. When it was in Savannah seven years ago, I was committed to a family graduation ceremony up north. (Besides, they held it the same weekend as the Canadian GP, at that time the only GP in North America!)

When they announced that the 2018 meet would be in one of my favorite places - New York's Finger Lakes, and involve one of my favorite race tracks - Watkins Glen, where my first-ever race experience was watching Niki Lauda win the 1975 U.S. GP in a Ferrari, I committed myself to going. I also decided to drive there in the 328, a rather daunting trip for a 32-year-old Italian sports car.

My mechanic, Ron Reineke, had suggested that the car was due for a new clutch, which I was going to do in my next annual winter service, but when he heard about my plans to drive to N.Y., he strongly recommended doing the clutch job first. Since Ron knows the car mechanically better than I do, I acceded to his wishes. As it transpired, he also found a couple of other things that needed doing, mainly replacing three transfer gears that were nearly impossible to find; as a result the car was not ready until the day before the trip, but Ron gave it a clean bill of health and was convinced that I would have no trouble on the trip.

Packing the car for what would be, in total, an 11-day road trip, was an adventure in itself. My usual carry-on bag would not fit, so I used two smaller bags, both of which, ironically, I had gotten for free: a Ferrari of Atlanta bag that I believe they once gave out to "Rides to Remember" drivers, and a smaller Summit Racing bag (insulated to keep drinks cool!) that I had won as a door prize at one of the First Redeemer Church shows. I put just my clothes in the bigger bag, which fit in the trunk between my camera case and the duffel containing my car cover. The smaller bag had my cosmetics and maps, along with the one pair of long pants I was taking, and it traveled on the floor of the passenger seat. I also brought my bed pillow (I hate hotel pillows) which stayed on the front seat. It you travel long distances in a Ferrari, you can't take a passenger! By the way, I only brought enough clothes for 1/2 the trip; I would do a laundry after mid trip and wear some of the same clothes again. My folding chair had to stay behind, as did my windshield sunshade and California duster!

In the next week or so, I will add replies to this thread to describe the trip in some detail. At least as far as the car's mechanical performance went, Ron's confidence was justified, as it worked just fine for the whole trip. But there were some other niggling issues, some of which were driver-induced! I will describe these as they come along. While you're welcome to comment, I'd suggest waiting until I finish my story before you do that.

 

Thursday, Sept. 13: Actually, a couple of days earlier, I revised my itinerary as a result of Mother Nature! I had planned to drive up I-81 thru Virginia with an overnight stop in Roanoke, but forecasts indicated that Hurricane Florence was expected to push enough rain inland to make the Friday drive from Roanoke nearly to Harrisburg a soaker. So I made a late change to drive thru West Virginia instead, which surprisingly would add only about 40 miles to the entire route. So I canceled my reservation in Roanoke and made one in a town called Oak Hill, WV.

Anyway, the trip got underway under sunny skies at about 8:30 as I headed up I-75 in fairly light traffic. I planned to document the trip with photos at the various state Welcome Centers, where I usually stop anyway. I had decided to have lunch at the Fazoli's in west Knoxville, as there are none in greater Atlanta and I am completely addicted to their amazing breadsticks! And it didn't cost me anything: I had placed a thread on FChat asking for recommendations for mechanics along my route in case Ron had been wrong, and local FChatter JCM615 said he was willing to buy me lunch if I stopped in his town! Since I was on schedule, so was he, though he didn't have time to join me for a meal, but we did have a brief but enjoyable chat. (Incidentally, JCM615's Ferrari mechanic is: Ron Reineke! And I had seen his F355 spider in Ron's shop when I had picked up my car. I think a seal of approval is when someone is willing to send his car 220 miles for you to service!)

As I headed through Knoxville proper, I laughed as I passed near the stadium where the Gators had embarrassed the Vols a few days earlier. As I headed east on I-40, I noted an unusual volume of westbound traffic, which I guessed included a lot of hurricane evacuees. I had an easy drive to the Virginia line in Bristol, where I found a fellow with a guitar singing folk songs at their Welcome Center; I don't recall having encountered live music at a Welcome Center before.

After about an hour on I-81, I exited onto I-77, onto a piece of road I probably hadn't traveled in 25 years. I had been worried about reports of huge backups caused by construction on the W.V. Turnpike (Google maps had been predicting 1 hour and 45 minute delays!) but I became a beneficiary of the approaching storm myself; the governor had called off construction on the Turnpike to make it easy for hurricane evacuees. So after stopping at the Welcome Center in Princeton, I sailed up the Turnpike to Beckley, then exited on US-19 (a route number that should be familiar to Atlantans) which takes a nice shortcut between Beckley and Morgantown. It was a short trip to Oak Hill and a nice inn called the Holiday Lodge. I went up 19 a few miles to have dinner at Bob Evans, where I had an excellent plate of pot roast. The forecast for my route on Friday was still fine; for my original route thru Virginia was still gnarly, so I think I made the right choice. The car was still running fine, though it definitely required more gas stops than my Honda Civic!
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Friday, Sept. 14: The morning dawned quite foggy, so after having a great complimentary breakfast at the Holiday Lodge, I headed north on US-19, which is a 4-lane divided highway all the way, but alternated between freeway and non-freeway stretches. After a short distance, I crossed the famous New River Gorge bridge, where I had hoped to stop at the visitors center and photograph this remarkable structure. Unfortunately, the fog was even thicker on the bridge, where visibility of about 200 feet required me to slow down, so I abandoned my plan and pressed onward. Amazingly, about 1/2 mile past the bridge, the fog disappeared and I was driving in brilliant sunshine. The drive up US-19, and subsequently I-79, was very scenic, with hills covered with green trees that will become very colorful in about a month or so! I-79 was being repaved, with alternating 5-mile-long segments of 1-lane road, but in the light traffic this did not slow me down. In Morgantown, I traveled briefly on I-68 and then a new freeway called WV-49, which became PA-49, and a toll road, at the Pennsylvania border. Then I encountered the first Oops! of the trip, entirely the driver's fault.

In my experience, I am aware that many exits off of modern toll roads require either exact change or the appropriate pass (here, EZPass, which unfortunately was not compatible with my Peach Pass transponder). However, it has always been the case that the mainline toll plazas always have had at least one manned booth to make change. Not this time! The booths on PA-49 were all unmanned; fortunately there was a driveway into their office-building parking lot. There I was able to make change, but upon backing out, I bumped into a poorly-placed dumpster. I thought I had hit it with the bumper, but in fact I had trashed the right-hand outboard taillight lens, which I discovered later when I stopped for lunch at a Long John Silver's in Mount Pleasant. Fortunately the bulbs were intact and still worked fine. Oops!

After lunch, I zigzagged my way across Pennsylvania, driving alternately east and then north, mostly on non-Interstate freeways, through Johnstown, Altoona, State College and Williamsport, where I rejoined my originally planned route up US-15. It had gotten cloudy during lunch and I finally encountered some rain between Altoona and Williamsport, though it was always light and not a traffic hindrance. North of Williamsport, the last part of my route took me on a delightful, lightly-traveled two-lane called PA-14 (which if I hadn't turned off, would eventually have taken me to Watkins Glen). By now the sun was shining again, and a little more zigzagging brought me to my lodging for the next 5 nights, a place called the Best Western Grand Victorian Inn in Sayre, PA, a place much less ostentatious than its grand name would indicate, but a very pleasant lodging for the duration. I was given a 10%-off coupon for dinner at the hotel's restaurant (more of a lounge, actually, with a somewhat limited menu) but decided to save that, and I accepted a recommendation for a place down the street called The Grill at the Train Station, which was quite busy (it was Friday night) and had an enormous menu. I had a dish of penne with meat sauce (and a lot of meat, unlike some meat sauces that I've encountered!) and liked the place so much that I would eat there 2 more times during my stay.

(So, where are the Ferraris? That will be in my next reply!)
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

A few notes: I forgot to mention that as soon as I had checked into the Grand Victorian, I got directions to several auto parts stores, where I bought amber and clear translucent tape. Fortunately, a couple of the pieces of the broken taillight lens were laying inside, and I was able to use them and the tape to partially reconstruct the lens. While far from perfect, it did look better, and no one mentioned it to me for the rest of the trip. I don't know if they didn't notice, or were just trying to be nice by not mentioning it.

If anyone noticed that Sayre is 35 miles east of Corning and wondered why I chose there to stay: the cheapskate in me (especially after paying Ron for the clutch job) felt that the hotel prices being asked in Corning were too high, and they were only slightly better in Elmira/Horseheads. I got a good deal in Sayre, and it got even better when I changed my itinerary two days out. I double checked the rates at the Grand Victorian and discovered that by canceling my original reservation and re-booking, I could save $120 over the five nights! Saving money is always a good thing. I figured that "commuting" to the meet for the four days probably cost me about $50 in gas, far less than I was saving on the room rate.

Sayre, PA is an interesting town, being contiguous with Waverly, NY, rather in the manner of McCaysville, GA and Copperhill, TN - a single community that happened to have a state line running through it. I heard that it was possible for someone living in one state to actually have to go to school in the other, which sounds like a strange situation. The state line was within walking distance of my hotel; in fact, I-86 itself was in NY but its eastbound entrance and exit ramps were largely in PA! And a bit further west, the freeway itself was entirely in PA for about a mile, but to make things easier, it was still maintained there by the NY Dept of Transportation. I should also add that gas was appreciably cheaper on the NY side of the border.

(Don't worry. The Ferraris are still coming!)

 

Saturday, Sept. 15: The first day of the show was a light one, with check-in itself not beginning until 12 noon, so there was no need to hurry. Weather forecast for the weekend was fine, if a bit hot, but things would go downhill Monday afternoon with the approach of the remnants of Florence. After having another nice breakfast, this time at the Grand Victorian, I took a leisurely drive on a portion of NY-17, now upgraded to I-86, that I was quite familiar with from my days of attending races at the Glen. But it was better now: about a half-dozen traffic signals that used to be on the road had been replaced by new construction, necessary for the upgrade to Interstate standards. When I got to Corning, I considered using the coin-op car wash on the east edge of town, but decided that the car was clean enough (a bit surprising after 1000 miles of driving) and I would save that for later.

A little about the lay of the land: the Radisson was on the north side of Denison Parkway, the four-lane boulevard that ran the width of the city. Market Street, one block north, was actually a pedestrian walkway through the hotel property and for another several blocks further east; it became a vehicular street just west of the hotel and was Corning's main retail street, lined with shops and eateries, as seen in the first photo, looking west. At the head of the street was what I would call a diorama on columns depicting some of the history of Corning; the second photo is looking east, with the pedestrian portion of Market Street in the middle, the main hotel building on the right, and a second hotel building on the left, connected by a skywalk. Tioga Street was the next street further north, the first fully vehicular street north of Denison. For obvious reasons, Corning is now referred to as the Crystal City.

The main parking for the Radisson was in front, and I knew from Google Maps that it would be in short supply; fortunately someone pulled out right in front of me; once the car was parked it would stay there all day. Inside I found out that check-in was delayed until about 1 PM, which gave me time to have lunch. Two nice ladies were manning a table providing brochures and info on attractions, restaurants and walking tours. On their advice, I headed to Aniello's Pizza, about a half-block west on Market Street, and it was good advice: those were two of the best pizza slices I'd had in years! I guess "NY pizza" is not limited to NYC and its immediate suburbs!

When I was done I still had time to take some photos of the front lot of the hotel. I'd say about 2/3 of the cars, maybe a bit more, were Ferraris, though I did see a nice Bentley sedan. The most interesting was a 400 that had been converted to a ragtop. Note that all the cars parked in front of the entrance were Ferraris. This would also include a Lusso and a Portofino that were being offered for test drives; I regret not using the opportunity to try one myself.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

By the time I went inside after this first photo shoot, the line was forming for check-in, and we were being watched by a bird! The check-in was well organized and did not take long; by the time it was over, I had signed three releases, gotten two wrist bands (both to be worn for the duration) and a badge to be worn around the neck. The nice "goodie bag" included the event program (disguised as an issue of Prancing Horse), a back issue of Ferrari Market Letter, a cap, a thermos bottle, a map of downtown Corning (with event venues highlighted), an updated schedule, and a variety of other knickknacks provided by sponsors (like a "Shift Happens" magnet from Hagerty). Then I had to go to another table to get my start time for Monday's "pleasure drive".

The first event was a "first timers" seminar at 3 PM, so in the interim I watched some college football in the bar. The seminar room filled up, indicating that quite a few of us were rookies, and we were welcomed by president Jim Meek and chairman Joe Adams. All the events coming up were described in some detail, and there was a question-&-answer session. The seminar took the entire hour allotted to it, and Concours participants were asked to stay for their seminar which followed immediately. By this time the Mercato di Ferrari was open at the other end of the lobby, featuring displays by most of the sponsors like Shell, Pirelli, Hagerty and Vontobel (a Swiss financial advice company). Ferrari Literature was there offering service manuals and advertising brochures, Wide World of Wheels (the closest Ferrari dealer to the site) had a boutique open, our own T. Rutlands was displaying some of their parts, and a vendor was even demonstrating very sophisticated massage chairs! The opening reception for all attendees, with plenty of hors d'oeuvres, would be held in the same room at 5, so in the meantime I went outside and found more Ferraris to photograph.

Behind the hotel were several parking lots, one belonging to them (which included a rare white 328) and others which were pay lots during the week but free on the weekend. Across Tioga Street was where the transporters were parked, and I spotted some interesting cars over there, including one that looked like it was looking for a Mexican road race. When I was done, I returned to the reception to find the likes of: meatballs, potstickers, cold cuts, franks in blankets and some of the largest shrimp I had ever seen! (These truly were "jumbo shrimp"!) Of course a cash bar was in the room as well. Eventually I filled up enough that dinner would prove to be unnecessary, and, now well fed, I got in my car and drove back to Sayre.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Here are the cars that were across the street in the transporter lot. I was particularly taken by the lovely blue Vignale spider, but the Lusso is still my favorite vintage Ferrari.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Sunday, Sept. 16: This was the day of the big Concours d'Elegance that took over four blocks of Market Street in downtown Corning. It transpires that they actually hold such an event annually; the difference this year is that all the entered cars would be Ferraris. When I got to the hotel I didn't even try parking in front; instead I headed out back and found a spot next to a yellow 488, which aptly shows what 30 years of development in V-8 Ferrari two-seaters looks like. I figure that if you can't be in the Concours, you might as well park as close by as possible.

Beneath the historical monument I showed you earlier, Shell had erected a tent containing an actual SF16H Formula 1 car from 2016 (minus drivetrain, of course). I had never been this close to a contemporary F1 car, so I let the Canon loose on it. It rather reminded me of the 312 T2 that I was able to get this close to at Watkins Glen in 1976, and about all the two cars have in common is: four wheels, the color red, and the presence of Scuderia shields!

(Tomorrow I'll post the Concours cars.)
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

As I said, the Ferraris were spread out over 4 blocks of Market Street, organized as much as possible into groups of similar cars. The Mercato vendors were also out there, and I even bought a shirt from Wide World that I hadn't seen at the reception the night before. Of course, this was all open to the public and not just meet attendees. I concentrated on shooting the older, rarer cars, with a few notable exceptions. FChat now limits to 10 images per reply, so there will be a few replies.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

More great cars.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

This group includes my favorite car of them all, about the most classic 308 you can imagine: a 308 GTB in Oro Chiaro Metallizzato, fiberglass, carbureted (only one exhaust pipe), no rear wing, Euro bumpers, and stunning!
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

A few supercars and race cars, including a 430 that thinks it's a 512M. (Surprisingly, there were no Enzos or LaFerraris present.) The GTO is not genuine but it at least looked the part. I was told that this BB/LM was the first one so built; can anyone confirm that?
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Of course I had lunch at Aniello's again, getting another two magnificent pizza slices. It had gotten quite hot and I decided not to hang around for the awards ceremony, so I went back into the hotel and watched a bit of NFL football before driving back to Sayre, though not before letting another young fan try out the 328's driver's seat. The next day would bring the "pleasure drive" and I was really looking forward to it.

 

As I noted above. Maybe the fact that it used a Ferrari chassis and drivetrain was good enough, or maybe it was effectively a "display only" car that was not eligible for awards. I see modern Cobras in car shows all the time, often with 1960's eras license plates and even listed that way on the entry forms, even though that wouldn't fool anyone knowledgeable. I doubt if anyone was fooled by the "GTO".

 

Monday, Sept. 17: Due to the remnants of Florence passing through PA later in the day, the weather forecast for late in the day was not good, but the rain was supposed to hold off until after 3 PM, which allowed the morning's "pleasure drive" to go forward as planned. 250 cars were listed as partaking, but a few probably dropped out because of the forecast. Still, the logistics of getting that many cars on the road without any of them getting in each other's way was a daunting task, and the organizers did a superb job in ensuring that that would not happen. (They had hosted the same event in 2007, so experience undoubtedly counted.)

The cars were split into two "stages" with driver's meetings scheduled for 9 and 10 AM; each stage was subdivided into four "groups" of about 30-35 cars, with each group leaving at about 15 minute intervals starting at 9:30 and 10:30, and following one of two different routes, which presumably were to be as equal as possible in length, time to drive, and driving pleasure. So effectively you'd have groups of cars leaving at about 15 minute intervals over a 2 hour span. The cars were lined up at the departure point, which was the north parking lot of the Corning Museum of Glass, at the far northern edge of Corning's downtown, along NY-414 (the road to Watkins Glen) and just south of the I-86 freeway bypass. By the time the first group left, there were far more cars than what's seen in my photo below, and they were not all, in fact, Ferraris. The overall look of the full lot resembled the waiting areas for large car ferries like the ones in Seattle. I was in "Stage 2, Group 2, Route 2" scheduled to leave at 10:46, and we left precisely on schedule. That's probably why the only cars I saw on the entire route were in my own group. Kudos to the organizers for a flawless job. I just wonder what the area people thought about all the Ferraris on their local roads!
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Incidentally, at the driver's meeting we were reminded that it was a working day and a school day and to watched for stopped school buses, though that probably affected the early groups more than our 10:46 group. The trip took just about the estimated 90 minutes and I believe covered close to 60 miles, mainly on numbered state highways but also including some interesting back roads. There was some elevation change, but not like the north Georgia mountains. We drove by the modern Watkins Glen racetrack, headed down into the village, and then traveled the roads of the original Watkins Glen course, which was used in the '40s and '50s and measured about 6 miles in length. Placards along the way identified the named features, though these were also in our trip notes. It was interesting to imagine driving these roads flat out with no safety features; no wonder there were some fatalities. Incidentally, on our pleasure drive, no one wildly exceeded the speed limits. I wish our Georgia drives were that well behaved!

After looping through the village, we headed north, again on state and county highways, before arriving at the selected lunch venue, a winery called Starkey's Lookout near the town of Dundee. The offered meal was a $28 buffet and required a separate advance reservation. I had decided that this was too much food at too high a price and made my own plans to go across the road to the Glenora Wine Cellars (which had been the originally-listed official lunch site), so I had made my own reservation at their Veraisons restaurant. I was not alone; eventually about a half-dozen other Ferrari people would appear. The pleasantly cool weather had everyone dining on the covered terrace, with excellent views of Seneca Lake and their vineyards. I was surprised to see an old Puerto Rican favorite, carne guisada, on the menu, but opted instead for what would be the best turkey sandwich I'd had for years: real roast turkey (not from a roll) with a garlic pea puree, brie cheese, spinach and onion on freshly-baked foccacia. And I had a glass of their fine seyval blanc wine to go with it. I heard some complaints later about the buffet at Starkey's, so I think I made the right choice.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

After leaving the winery, I had originally planned to drive down to the Watkins Glen racetrack and watch the rest of the day's activities, then head back to the Radisson for a 6 PM talk to be given by Giancarlo Fisichella. But the coming rain eliminated all of that and I duly headed straight back to Sayre, but not before making one more stop. About 5 miles down NY-14, and about 4 miles short of the village, sits the Glen Motor Inn, which during the Grand Prix days of the '60s and '70s was the place to stay, if you could get a room, that is, since many of the drivers and race teams stayed there. I have a Roger Warrick print hanging on my wall showing how the Glen Motor Court (as it was then known) looked in-period, and I wanted to take a photo from the same vantage point today. I had stayed there once myself when attending one of the annual vintage GPs held at the track during the '90s, and remembered the lobby festooned with photos of the greats, many of them autographed. The third generation of the Franzese family still runs the place, and anyone visiting Watkins Glen should stop there and at least take a look, if not eat in their fine Italian restaurant or spend the night in a room probably once occupied by famous drivers of the past!
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

My timing was pretty good; I got back to the Grand Victorian Inn right at 3 PM, and it began to sprinkle briefly. I only waited about 30 minutes for the car to cool off and then covered it, just minutes before the rain began in earnest. About 1 to 3 inches of rain were predicted overnight, and a flash flood watch had been posted, which left me a bit concerned. The hotel staff ensured me that their lot never flooded, and I did note that it was slightly higher than the passing street. I will admit, though, that I was tempted to go to the neighboring Subaru dealer and ask if I could rent one of their service bays for 24 hours, to put the car up on a lift! But I decided to trust the hotel staff's opinion, and it transpired that they were correct. Of course I stayed put in the hotel for dinner and used my 10% coupon, on a daily special of roast pork loin with corn and potatoes, which was just fine.

 

Incidentally, here is a comparison of my photo above with an excerpt of Roger's painting, which along with the motel depicted all the U.S. GP winners of that era along with other important people. You can see that, structurally, the building hasn't changed, and even NY-14 looks about the same. If you don't have any prints of Roger's "compilation" paintings like this one, you're missing some fun stuff!
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Tuesday, Sept. 18: When I awoke at 7 AM, I expected it to still be raining outside, but it wasn't, and the weather radar confirmed that the rain shield had moved east of our location, so I knew the weather would be improving. This would be entirely a Watkins Glen day, but I hadn't planned on leaving for the track until mid-morning, so I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the hotel and let the car cover dry off a bit, though I'd still need a room towel to get rid of the rest of the moisture before uncovering the car.

There was still a flash flood warning in place for parts of the southern tier, and local news was reporting on some area road closures, but the hotel parking lot and adjacent street were high and dry, and I did not encounter any road problems on my travels that day. As I headed west on I-86, the road passes over a number of rivers and streams, and from the bridges it was apparent that they were running much higher than normal, as particularly evidenced by the fact that the lower branches of the trees along the shores were all under water.

I knew from this that I was in for a treat. When traveling north from Elmira on NY-14, the route to the track requires you to turn left in the village of Montour Falls, 3 miles south of Watkins Glen, and travel down their Main Street, the west end of which is dominated by the majestic appearance of Shequaga Falls coming down a fairly steep hill. I've seen Shequaga on numerous occasions, ranging from a reasonable waterfall to a bare trickle, but with the previous night's rain, I expected a thundering torrent, and I was not disappointed! I had never seen the falls so vigorous, and even at that early hour, many people were stopping by the park at the falls' base to take a look. Even if you couldn't see the falls, you could hear them throughout the village. (Turn your head to the left to properly enjoy the second image, and note that by now the sun was shining.)
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

To get to the track from Montour Falls, you take a steep road heading north up the same hill; when the road flattens out somewhat, you are now heading due west and arrive at the track some 3.5 miles later. I flashed my two wristbands at the gate and I was in. There was a sense of deja vu passing through the tunnel under the esses that I had first driven thru in 1975, but once inside it was apparent that the infrastructure had changed a great deal since I had last been there about 15 years previously. Most noticeably, the grandstands and trackside fences were now much bigger than they had been in the GP days, but the familiar blue Armco looked the same, as did the famous Kendall garage. I parked near the garage and headed inside, noting where I had seen the first real racing car I had ever seen: Clay Regazzoni's Ferrari 312T! The cars inside this time were much less exciting, but they were still Ferrari race cars. It couldn't compare to the F1 Clienti event I had attended at Road Atlanta in March, but I was still glad to be there.

The gold wheels on the 488 just confirmed that I had done the right thing when I had the wheels on my 328 painted that color. The engine is from the same black F50 as seen in one of my Concours photos above.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I had hoped to be able to drive the track, but all the offerings from FCA, even the "slowest" one, still required the use of a helmet. I hadn't been able to bring mine because there would have been no place in the car to put it! I was looking for a more leisurely trip, behind a pace car, as I had previously done at Road Atlanta, Barber and even Talladega. Fortunately, the track itself had such a program, called "Drive The Glen". Go to the main gate after 11:30 (or 4:30), pay $30, and they point you to a holding area just off the track. I was a little late getting there, so I was #14 out of 15 cars, about 2/3 of which were Ferraris, though I'd be right behind a Jeep Patriot. A brief drivers' meeting laid down the rules (including "no passing") and at 12 noon we headed onto the track, entering near the old start-finish line location between turns 1 & 2. Heading up "Graham Hill" toward the esses was a bit surreal, having seen so many in-car shots from race cars over the years. We were given three laps, and the one time I looked down at the speedometer on the backstretch, we were doing about 90, which seemed reasonable. The Patriot, by the way, had no trouble keeping up with the Ferraris in front of it. I was able to take a couple of "grab shots" along the way. On the third lap they brought us to a stop near the start-finish line for a photo op, though I was too far back to do that, so I just took a dumb photo with the pit lane and the Kendall garage in the background. But only an experienced Watkins Glen person would recognize that site without a caption. We then exited the track at the same point we had entered it, and I headed back to the paddock to have lunch.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

The FCA attendees with "1" or "2" on their badge were being treated to a catered lunch at the Glen Club, but for us poor "3"s, we were on our own. The only concession open seemed to be the one near the Kendall garage; I was familiar with this one and in fact had met a Canadian father and son there many years ago who are still friends (and who I got to see on my tip to Hamilton in July). Along with what you might expect, they were serving an unusual item - pierogies - and so I had an eastern European lunch in a rather unexpected location! (And they were really pretty good.)

I took a few more photos, this time of the non-Ferrari interlopers, and realized that I needed to see some racing action. I took the familiar pedestrian tunnel under the track near the entrance of turn 12 and headed over to the huge grandstand overlooking the same corner, which had not been there in 1980. I realized that the only way to take photos without a fence in the way was to climb to the top row and point my camera toward turn 11. Before the cars arrived I took a couple of panoramic shots; the second one is pointing towards the former location of the infamous "bog", and you can see the backstretch off in the distance. Unfortunately, I discovered quite quickly that while my camera battery had finally pooped out, the backup battery in my pocket (which I had charged before the trip) had somehow discharged as well, so my photo session ended prematurely. I used the fairly new pedestrian bridge (visible to the far left in the first track photo) to head back to the paddock; fortunately I had a third battery in my camera bag that was still fully charged, so I would still be able to take photos on the rest of my trip. I was too tired to head back up to the grandstand, so I decided it was time to bid Watkins Glen adieu.

I decided to take one last trip to the Radisson to see if there was anything happening there. Besides, the 328 was getting very low on gas and there was a surprising shortage of stations selling gas brands that I would trust throughout the southern tier. The awards banquet at the Corning Museum that evening would officially close out the meet (though two more track days would be available), but cheapskate me didn't want to pay the price. So after finding gas in Corning, but nothing happening at the hotel, I headed back to Sayre and would have yet another dinner at the Grill at the Train Station.

While that would conclude my participation in the FCA annual meet, the trip was not over yet, and neither is this thread, as I will have a few more photos to post regarding the trip back to Georgia.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login