INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – IndyCar announced Friday that the series will return to the road course at Watkins Glen International in New York on Labor Day weekend as the replacement race for a canceled event in Boston.
The race will be held Sept. 4, the same day Boston had been scheduled, and will be the 15th event on the 16-race schedule. Watkins Glen joins Phoenix and Road America in venues that returned to the IndyCar schedule this season.
“A tremendous amount of thanks goes to track President Michael Printup and his entire staff for their efforts in helping make this a reality in such a short time frame,” IndyCar President Jay Frye said. “Obviously, Watkins Glen has great racing history and it’s a track that will showcase the on-track competition and overall excitement level of our series.”
The track in upstate New York has hosted nine CART or IndyCar races, from 1979 through 1981 and from 2005 through 2010. The first two were run on the 2.4-mile short course and were both won by Bobby Unser. The race moved to the 3.4-mile long course in 1981, when Rick Mears won. When IndyCar returned in 2005, reigning series champion Scott Dixon reeled off three consecutive victories.
“It’s fun to race there, it’s a beautiful area,” said Graham Rahal. “IndyCar fans are very loyal and they love tracks like this, so it will be fun. Hopefully we’ll get a better crowd than we had the last time we were there. I’m looking forward to it.”