The starting grid forms up for the 25-lap Grand Prix event. Driving the polesitting #49 D-Type Jaguar is George Constantine, while in the #17 D-Jag is Jack Ensley, the #20 CType Jaguar is being driven by David Darrin. The #42 car on the inside of Row Two is Bill Sadler’s Sadler Special.
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Watkins Glen: 1956

The racing surface didn’t have time to cure properly, so it had to be repaired at intervals by work crews with shovels of asphalt and rakes to smooth it out. A 1956 Ford served as transport for the repair crew.
The racing surface didn’t have time to cure properly, so it had to be repaired at intervals by work crews with shovels of asphalt and rakes to smooth it out. A 1956 Ford served as transport for the repair crew.
The Porsches of Howard Fowler (#63) and Buel Kinne (#112) take evasive action as another Speedster kicks up some dirt off-track, driver’s left, during the Schuyler Carrera race.
The Porsches of Howard Fowler (#63) and Buel Kinne (#112) take evasive action as another Speedster kicks up some dirt off-track, driver’s left, during the Schuyler Carrera race.

It was a hot Indian Summer day in 1955 when the last race was run at Watkins Glen. Up on the hill, in Dix township that year, the asphalt melted into a slippery surface that created dangerous handling. Then there was the tricky downhill section that made drivers shift down dexterously and apply the brakes sparingly, hoping they would have enough in reserve to make the corner. “If you didn’t,” noted Porsche driver Bengt Soderstrom, “you would wind up on the porch of a farmer’s house.”

So the interim course had served its purpose in buying time until Watkins Glen could construct a permanent road course, for racing only.

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Casey M. Annis is the Founder and Editor of Vintage Road & Racecar magazine, as well as Editor of Alfa Owner, The Oily Rag and BMW Ultimate Classic magazines. He founded Parabolica Publishing in 1997 after a career in neurobiology. Along with his passion for automobiles, Casey is a long distance open-ocean paddleboard racer who’s competed over 10 times in the 32-mile Catalina to Manhattan Beach race and the 32-mile Molokai to Oahu race. Casey still contributes and writes about the world of vintage road and racecars and edits and curates the content for this website.
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