NMS Gears up for Return to Watkins Glen

To be more specific, we will be returning to the racetrack in Watkins Glen NY, which is titled Watkins Glen International. Either way, we'll be driving there for another High Performance Driver Education (HPDE) weekend with the fine folks at NASA. The country is divided into several NASA regions, and this particular event is being sponsored by our two favorites: NASA Northeast and NASA Southeast.  We both are members that live in the Southeast Region and one of us used to belong to (and live in) the Northeast Region, so we're looking forward to seeing some friends at the track. I could say "old" friends, but hey, they're probably younger than me!

Track walk at the top of the Esses. Should be going over 100mph by this point. In the car that is!

This annual NASA-NE event is titled THUNDER AT THE GLEN, and that's a pretty cool name if you ask me. Or even if you don't ask me, it's still a cool name! Friday thru Sunday October 4-6, it will be a blast! The staff at this track always produces a first-class event and do a great job of herding the cats and keeping a LOT of driving events running on time. When you think about how many different driving groups take their turn on track, with the next group lining up before the previous one finishes, and how they coordinate and communicate what's going on among all the workers and drivers, it's a big deal. 

Brian in the NMS #86 Miata on track at Watkins Glen

The first weekend in October should be great weather in New York. By "great weather" I mean "cooler than South Carolina in the summer!" We've driven this track before, so we know it should be a great time of year to be up north, and driving such a historic track is fun whenever you do it. We both drove with NASA NE one weekend, and I managed to do two other events, one other with NASA NE and one three-day weekend with the Porsche Club. 

Downtown Watkins Glen NY with checkered flag crosswalks. You might know that the original races in Watkins Glen were on public roads, like this one!

We will be taking turns driving the NMS Nissan 350Z, so while it MIGHT be tempting to see which of us manages a faster lap time, it's not a competition, and we'll be in different driving groups too, just a couple guys out to have fun... Heck, never mind all that stuff, my plan is to drive way faster than NMS-South, and then remind him of it for a very long time, starting with the drive back to South Carolina!

NMS Cayman at the Glen during a Friday "track walk" which is actually done by car because the track is 3.3 miles long. This location is heading downhill into the toe of the boot, which is the lower right of the track map down below. The NASCAR races don't use the boot part of the track. 

For more information on the track, visit THE GLEN:    

                                 

                            WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL

Here's the link for the NASA weekend:      

                            THUNDER AT THE GLEN!

Track Map PRO TIP: Don't get lost out there!