F1 at the Glen

[HealeyRick]

My first F1 race was at the Glen in 1969 and I went for a number of years later. I'll never forget camping out with my buds, the smell of wood fires, Genesee Cream Ale, Bud Man, and everything that went with early October in the Finger Lakes. Any other participants?

A Michael Turner poster with Sir Jackie in the lead:





Winner, Jochen Rindt:

His Lotus -Ford-Cosworth 49B

Bud Man

The Bog

 

[vette]

Rick, I was there, I remember the bog. Something like Woodstock only I wasn't really at Woodstock, just the stories of close friends. I don't remember a thing about the race.

 

[HealeyRick]

Dave,

It was only a couple of months after Woodstock and had the feeling of the automotive equivalent. All the superstars were there. Jackie Stewart, John Surtees, Jack Brabham, Graham Hill, Denny Hulme, Bruce McLaren, Mario Andretti, etc. The cars were still relatively pure, without all the aerodynamic add-ons. You could buy a pass for $5 to walk through the Kendall Center and watch the mechanics wrench on the racers from about 10 feet away:

Try doing that today if you're not bosom buddies with Bernie E. It was a giant party for car guys, probably never to be repeated. Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end.

 

[3798j]

Those were definitely the days. Of the 20 USGP's held there, I was there for 14 of them... and you're right Rick, walking through "tech" was truly memorable. My first was '65 (the last year of the 1.5l formula). Here's a photo from 1965 of Lorenzo Bandini in his flat 12 Ferrari followed on the main straight by Dan Gurney in his V8 Brabham. The sights and sounds were cool beyond belief.

 

[3798j]

I was also one of the 600,000 at the Glen for the Allman Brothers, The Band, and The Greatful Dead concert in '73 (that's me just to the right of center...waving).

 

[AngliaGT]

You the one in the Red shirt?

 

[3798j]

Yep...right next to the cute blond in the halter top....good eyes.

 

[Popeye]

...for those of us who were not so fortunate to be there, who (or what?) is Bud Man?

 

[3798j]

...who (or what?) is Bud Man?

Why,....he was the "Dauntless Defender of Quality" (Budweiser ad campaign).

 

[HealeyRick]

Bud Man was an advertising symbol for Budweiser, however one of the Glen regulars would dress up like him:

The Simpson's character of Duff beer spokesman Duffman is an obvious nod to Bud Man.

 

[DrEntropy]

Missed the last F-1 at the Glen. We were a block away from the house (in Sewickley, Mike) on Friday afternoon and had an old guy in a Buick hit the GTV on the left front corner... very P.O.'d to this day.

Many good memories and boatloads of photos of Glen G.P.'s.

The year before, I had to beg forgiveness in order to park the GTV in the Lotus enclave. That was the first year we arrived not in the Elan, but there were others there who recognized us and we got our parking spot infield anyway.