Comments on: Fifteen Year Old at 1970 Watkins Glen Six Hours and Can-Am

By: George Munford

George Munford — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:44:57 +0000

Great Photography and GREAT racing. Those were great days for the growth of road course racing ! Best there ever was !!!

George Reid

By: yank

yank — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 01:37:03 +0000

Mr. Breuer I have an orginal picture of car No. 35 from the 1970 6hr Watkins Glen race. Send me an e-mail to lyank1@comcast.net and I’ll send you the pix. Alan

By: Mark Hassler

Mark Hassler — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 21:08:53 +0000

I was there for this race weekend, too, Rich! Just out of high school and my second weekend at the Glen. The USGP the previous October (’69) was my first. Yes, too bad the accessibility is gone. It was great being among the cars and driver in the paddock and tech shed. Thanks for the story and photos!

By: dennis gray

dennis gray — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 19:15:09 +0000

” Carl Haas/L&M Lola T220 of Peter Revson.” Is now owned and driven by Jimmy Castle. Check out the Hillsborough 2010 article image 68 of 134.

By: Chip Haehnel

Chip Haehnel — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 17:23:33 +0000

The only experience that comes close today is the Vintage Grand Prix type event. Good access, friendly atmosphere, some spectacular equipment. The thing perhaps it lacks is the simple electricity that a fourty year memory can bring. Love the vintage, great “fotos”. thanks.ch

By: MIKE

MIKE — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 12:25:36 +0000

i was there and i had a 1968 cortina also…amazing

By: Bob D.

Bob D. — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 17:05:49 +0000

Absolutely incredibly — I was a 15-year-old at that race! Went to a summer camp in the Finger Lakes in 1969 and 1970, and we went to the races at Watkins Glen both years. The pics are awesome, and bring back my many memories of those days. Thanks for posting this!

By: Rob Ameele

Rob Ameele — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 16:50:54 +0000

A great memory,like my own, eight years earlier at the USGP in 1962. I became infected just like you and went to the Glen for 14 years(including the 1970 Six Hours/CanAM) until moving to California. Once a week I regret not having more and better photos of that magic time. There are so many ways it was a more interesting sport before the eventual commercialization took hold. Now one must buy the air to breathe at a track. The first time is memorable. Thanks for sharing the moment.

By: Rich Martin

Rich Martin — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 09:24:58 +0000

Jacques, send an email to editor Jamie Doyle and give him your contact info, I’ll get back to you. Rich

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 17:05:27 +0000

Wow! Great article and fantastic pictures! My first (of many) trips to the Glen was in 1975 for the F1 race. What a time and what memories. We still go back to the Glen for several races every year. And of course we’re always at Watkins Glen for vintage weekend in September. It’s like christmas for me. And no weekend at the Glen is complete without a stop at the Seneca Lodge. It’s great to hang out on their patio on the Saturday of vintage weekend and see all of the classic sports cars coming up the hill for a stop at the Seneca Lodge. We see and meet with Oscar Koveleski whenever we’re at the Glen for a vintage event. He’s such a great, interesting and friendly guy. They don’t make guys like him any more!

Thanks for sharing the article and pictures!

Gary

By: Jacques Breuer

Jacques Breuer — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 22:22:53 +0000

Hello

I am professional photographer of Belgium and with a car-expert we write a book to the history of the Porsche 917-021 and the history of the restoration for the new owner (the belgian driver Vincent Gaye)

This car make many race in 1970 ;. We search pictures in race and suroundings with great resolution for publishing of the Porsche 917
And we research pictures in 6h Watkins Glen 1970 of the Porsche car n°35
Rich martin has pictures of this car.
I will contact with Rich martin. It is possible ?
Thank you and best regards
Jacques Breuer

By: Tom A

Tom A — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:13:41 +0000

If these comments are sincere, which it sure sounds like they are, then get off your butts and start attending vintage racing events. Do it not as a spectator, but as a participant. If the cost is an issue, volunteer your time to the event sponsoring club, or become an SCCA corner worker, or get a press pass for your local rag. If you can afford it, get a vintage car and go racing. Whether its a Sprite or a Lola, the rush you will get is second only to sex, and I don’t remember sex. I started racing in a Mini some 35 years ago, worked up to a Lola T70 and now drive a formula junior. Each one is a thrilling experience and takes you back to the days when you stood at the fence and felt the ground shake as Bruce and Denny went by. Make it happen.

By: alan yank

alan yank — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:53:34 +0000

Rich Great photos!! I also was at the race and it was a highlight that I will never forget. I still have the original race program signed by Mario Andretti. I just got back from Amelia Island and the winning Gulf 917 was there. What a great opportunity to see the car again, in somewhat original condition. Rich I hope you are still taking racing pictures you have a good eye

By: willb123

willb123 — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:45:45 +0000

Staggering how valuable these photo memories become over time. Went to Mid-Ohio to see the Chaparrals – when I was 15. A golden age for US in intl racing…

By: Thom E

Thom E — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:48:52 +0000

I agree with the other comments. What great memories! Many thanks to Rich for sharing them. I’d forgetten about the BRM P154…Does anyone know its whereabouts?

By: Rich Martin

Rich Martin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 14:49:21 +0000

Thank you for all your kind comments and your own memories of the Glen. I am looking forward to sharing more of my archive material with all of you, it’s better looking on this website then it is collecting dust in my closet!

By: Jim

Jim — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 03:38:44 +0000

Rich, you should be very proud of your photographic skills at age 15. I didn’t get to my first race until I was 20, at Road America. In 1976 I also remember how much more accessible everyone was, and how much smaller the race teams were. My great memory was Bobby Rahal a few years later in the second generation Can-Am showing his Ampex Cassettes sponsor execs around on Friday morning and explaining that at Road America, before anything got unpacked from the trucks, they all had to go for a Bratwurst and a beverage from the paddock food stand. A different time.

By: John Spear

John Spear — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:32:51 +0000

Rich, I too was 15 when I attended this weekend with my family. From the dominant McLarens, to the evolving 917s, to the radical Chaparral with the wee Scott, this was a great time in racing. My father, Bill Spear, raced in the early years at Watkins Glen when racing through the streets, up the winding hill, downhill across the stone bridge, sometimes a little crossed up, and the downhill across the railroad tracks on the high speed sweeper was not for the faint of heart. I heard stories that the crowd would jump back as some of the more aggressive drivers would hang it out on the way back into town. Thanks for the article.

By: Jim Leadem

Jim Leadem — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:59:15 +0000

fantastic. I went to the Glen for an F1 race in ’74 or ’75, I was 14. Cold, wet, rainy. I’ve been hooked ever since. I think James Hunt won, in the rain

By: Damon

Damon — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:27:57 +0000

Rich,
Thank you for the article and pictures, what memories they bring, I am from a little town outside of Ithaca, N.Y. I grew up at Watkins Glen and still go back each year for the SVRA Vintage races and the festival downtown. Thanks again
Damon Crumb
Pentwater, Mich.