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Authors to discuss Watkins race-track book on May 18

Special to The Odessa File

WATKINS GLEN, May 11 -- Award-winning motorsports author Michael Argetsinger and renowned race historian Bill Green will launch a new book about the history of the Watkins Glen race track at the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen on Saturday, May 18.

The free talk, part of the ongoing Center Conversations speaker series, will be at 1 p.m. at the Center, located at 610 S. Decatur St., Watkins Glen. It is open to all.

Joining Argetsinger (right) and Green on the program will be Philippe Defechereux and Clark Lance, discussing Defechereux’s book “Watkins Glen, The Street Years 1948-1952, Glory, Drama and the Birth of American Road Racing.” Lance’s father, Harold, was the photographer of many of the photos used in the book.

Defechereux’s book and “Watkins Glen International” by Argetsinger and Green will both be offered for sale during the day. The authors also will be signing their books.

Both presentations will include slide shows of selections of photographs from the books.

“Watkins Glen International” was released on May 6 by Arcadia Publishing as part of its NASCAR Library Collection. The 127-page, pictorial format book, with more than 200 photos, is the second in Arcadia’s series on NASCAR tracks.

The book begins with Frank Griswold earning the checkered flag on Franklin Street on Oct. 2, 1948 and takes the reader through 64 years of competition, right up to Marcos Ambrose in the winner’s circle at the 2012 Sprint Cup race. Many of the photographs are from the authors’ own collections, and the staff at the Racing Research Center assisted Argetsinger and Green throughout the book’s production.

“This book is an excellent review of history at Watkins Glen in pictures, over the many, many years, bringing the track to the forefront of world-class racing,” Green said.

“The opportunity to collaborate with my friend Bill Green made this book a particular delight," Argetsinger said. "Bill and I felt a responsibility to make this an important historical record as well as an entertaining read."

Argetsinger, of Chicago, is an award-winning motorsports author and publicist, as well as an international road racing driver.

Argetsinger has written four books, all of which were published by David Bull Publishing. His most recent book is “Formula One at Watkins Glen: 20 Years of the United States Grand Prix 1961-1980,” a 2011 partnership project of the Center and Bull Publishing. The book was a finalist for the 2011 Dean Batchelor Award, presented by the Motor Press Guild.

Argetsinger’s first book, the critically acclaimed “Walt Hansgen: His Life and the History of Post-War American Road Racing,” received a Gold Medal for biography and was named Best of Books for 2006 at the International Automotive Media Awards. “Mark Donohue: Technical Excellence at Speed,” Argetsinger’s second book, was also named Best of Books by the IAMA and won the overall competition as Best of 2009. The photo companion to the biography, “Mark Donohue: His Life in Photographs,” was published in 2010.

Argetsinger is a member of the Center’s Governing Council and is a son of the late Cameron R. Argetsinger, founder and organizer of the first races in Watkins Glen.

Green (pictured below), who is the Center’s historian, is internationally recognized for his exhaustive knowledge about racing at Watkins Glen and elsewhere. His personal collection of racing materials was launched at the first Watkins Glen race in 1948 when, as an 8-year-old, he bought a program. The collection today comprises 3,000-plus hard and soft cover books, racing posters, photographs, motorsports magazines and full race results of Watkins Glen 1948 to present.

Since 1948, he has missed only two Watkins Glen race seasons: 1966 and 1967, when he was stationed in Morocco with the U.S. Navy. He made up for the misses by attending Formula One races in England and Germany.

“Watkins Glen International” is his second collaborative book, having co-authored “Watkins Glen, From Griswold to Gordon: Fifty Years of Competition at the Home of American Road Racing” with J.J. O’Malley in 1998.

The day’s program also includes Defechereux and Lance on Defechereux’s book, which was published in 2011 by Dalton Watson Fine Books.

“Watkins Glen, The Streets Years” tells the dramatic and fascinating story of the early years of road racing in America after World War II, beginning at the Glen and soon spreading to Bridgehampton, Elkhart Lake, Daytona and Sebring, then California. It is replete with exclusive color photographs of the era, personal interviews with the key characters and drivers, plus full racing details and results for those critical five years.

Defechereux is a former New York advertising executive with experience in racing iconic brands such as Audi, VW, Mercedes-Benz and Ford. He has had many automobile-related articles published in various magazines and websites over the years, plus an earlier book on James Dean, his Porches and racing career.

The inspiration for the book came from photographs by Harold Lance and Charles Davison. In February 1948, Harold Lance helped established the Detroit Region of the Sports Car Club of America. When he learned that a road race for sports cars would take place in Watkins Glen in the fall of 1948, he travelled there to witness and photograph the historic events that marked the birth of road racing in America. He and his pal Davison returned to Watkins Glen each year through 1952 to photograph all the action.

In 2011, the Harold Lance and Charles Davison Watkins Glen Photo Archive became a part of the collections at the Racing Research Center.

Son Clark Lance is a native of Detroit and has been active in sports cars since his youth. He has worked for Toyota Motor Sales, USA since 1976 and is currently the training manager for the Lexus Eastern Area in Parsippany, N.J. Clark raced with SCCA in the 1970s and is now active in vintage racing with a Lotus Elan.

The popular Center Conversations program has long been a cornerstone of the Racing Research Center’s educational outreach and oral history initiative. Noted authors, race historians, drivers, team owners and track officials have taken listeners behind the scenes of every race series over the years. Speakers have included Donald Davidson, historian at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; Doug Nye, writer and historian; David Donohue, racer and son of famed driver Mark Donohue; Bobby Rahal, driver and team owner; and the late John Fitch and Bill Milliken, both legendary figures in road racing.

The Racing Research Center is an archival library dedicated to the preservation of the history of motorsports, of all series and all venues, through its collections of books, periodicals, films, photographs, fine art and other materials.

For more information about the Center’s work and its programs, visit www.racingarchives.org or call (607) 535-9044.

Photos in text: Michael Argetsinger (top) and Bill Green (File photos)