U.S. Vintage Grand Prix

[Peter Mallett]

One of North America's premiere Vintage events

[glenfan]

It pains me to post this, but the only reason I am is in the hope someone will read it and make a change.

I attended my first race at the Glen nearly 50 years ago. For the last 12 years I have attended every September vintage race weekend. I am a contributor to the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen and have always enjoyed the activities they put on during the September vintage race weekend.

However, I will not be going this year. Over the past three years the appeal of the weekend has gone downhill for me, and I suspect others.

Two years ago, rather than the the customary auction of interesting racing memorabilia at the IMRRC on Friday night, they brought in a commercial auction company that auctioned off baseball, football, basketball, and Hollywood memorabilia. ??

Last year on the 50th anniversary of the first Formula 1 race at the Glen, the Grand Marshall was Bob Sharp. While Bob has a lot of history at the Glen with Datsun and Nissan, I don't seem to remember a Datsun or Nissan Formula 1 car ever appearing on the grid there.

This year, with the Mustang being the honored marque, the Grand Marshall chosen for the event is Molly Saleen. While I realize Saleen has a close connection with Mustang, what is their (or Molly's) connection with the Glen or vintage racing?

I have many fond memories of attending this event when Grand Marshalls had strong connections to vintage racing in general and the Glen in particular. People like Dan Gurney, John Watson, Juan Manuel Fangio III, Vic Elford, etc.. But this year, the best they could do is Molly Saleen?