Home»All Photographs»NASCAR»2014»Races»Cheez-It 355 at The Glen

Watkins Glen International (nicknamed "The Glen") is an automobile race track located near Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. The sports car racing facility is owned by International Speedway Corporation. It was long known around the world as the home of the United States Grand Prix, which it hosted for twenty consecutive years (1961–1980), but since 1948 the site has been home to road racing of nearly every class, including Formula One, the World Sportscar Championship, Trans-Am, Can-Am, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and the IndyCar Series. Initially, public roads in the village were used for the race course. In 1956 a permanent circuit for the race was built. In 1968 the race was extended to six hours, becoming the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen. The circuit's current layout has more or less been the same since 1971, although a chicane was installed at the uphill Esses in 1975 to slow cars through these corners, where there was a fatality during practice at the 1973 United States Grand Prix. The chicane was removed in 1985, but another chicane called the "Inner Loop" was installed in 1992 after a fatal accident during the previous year's NASCAR Winston Cup event. The circuit is known as the Mecca of North American road racing and is a very popular venue among fans and drivers.