Haywood Back On Track For Brumos At Watkins Glen
Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Brumos Racing can list any number of reasons as to why they consider Watkins Glen International Raceway to be one of their favorite racetracks.  Former Brumos leader, the late Bob Snodgrass, grew up and attended school, as well as his first race event, in the Elmira area.  Team Manager Mike Colucci, also an Elmira native, was a childhood friend of Snodgrass.  In later years, although both men’s pursuit of racing took them far from that area, both always considered Watkins Glen to still be their true home track.

Brumos drivers have plenty of reasons to favor Watkins Glen as well.  Car #58 drivers Darren Law and David Donohue have both celebrated their own victories there in recent years.  Law took the win for the GT class in the Glen’s Six Hour race in 2001, while co-driver Donohue’s turn came while driving the #58 Brumos entry in Grand-Am’s 2003 newly created DP class.  Reflecting on his previous win there, Darren Law commented, “I would like nothing better than to be able to repeat my 2001 GT win with a DP victory this year for the Six Hour race.  I really do enjoy racing at the Glen - the layout there has a mixture of fast, medium, and slow corners that make it a great track with some good passing opportunities.  And that makes for some exciting racing!” While several teams have added a third driver to their roster for the six hour race, Law and Donohue will look forward to some extra time behind the wheel themselves as they continue to alternate driving duties for the #58 car. 

But probably no one on the Brumos team will be happier to return to Watkins Glen than veteran driver Hurley Haywood.  The return to the Glen isn’t just a visit to a favored track, it marks his return behind the wheel of the #59 car he helped make famous.  “I’m really looking forward to Watkins Glen.  It’s one of the three races I will drive in for our team this year, and this track is a favorite of mine - It’s the home of my first win, in fact.  I always enjoy visiting the Glen and I’m excited to be driving the car again.” That first career win came for Haywood back in 1969, and set the stage for numerous other Brumos victories at the Glen throughout the years. 

As Haywood makes plans to join #59 full-time drivers JC France and Joao Barbosa for the upcoming race, Barbosa shared his own thoughts.  “JC drove a great race for us in Laguna and I am looking forward to seeing Hurley back behind the wheel.  His experience will be very helpful for us.  After the strong pace we showed once again, our main goal is to improve our results at each race and to shoot for a podium finish very soon.  I know this may sound optimistic to some, as our series is very competitive this season.  But our crew is doing an excellent job preparing the car, so I don’t doubt we will achieve our goal.  We just need to focus on translating our fast pace during the race to a great finish.” While Barbosa may find some of the racetracks this season new to him, that is not the case with Watkins Glen.  In fact, he was the third man in the Brumos #59 driver line-up for 2007.  “While I joined Brumos for the race last year, it is a very different experience for me this year”, he said.  “Last year it was my first race with Brumos since Bob had passed away, and now I am a full-time driver with the team.  I will do my best to get a very good result for us, and for Bob’s memory, of course.”

Indeed, it is hard to race at Watkins Glen without thinking of Bob Snodgrass, especially given his ties to, and great love for that area.  Shortly after his death last year, as his team traveled back to his childhood home for that June race, his legacy was honored at the track in a special way.  Each fan in attendance was given a commemorative flag, and in an emotional tribute, the crowd stood and waved the flags during laps 58 and 59 of the race.  The sea of those white flags waving in salute to Snodgrass was one of the most memorable moments of the 2007 Grand-Am season. 

As a further tribute to Snodgrass, Watkins Glen announced last year that the Steuben Crystal winner’s trophy would be renamed the “Robert F. Snodgrass Memorial Trophy”.  This unique trophy resides most of the year in the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen, an institution Snodgrass helped found.  As Bob’s team makes preparation to return to his former hometown, their thoughts will certainly turn to all of the white flags raised in his honor last year.  This year will likely find their thoughts more focused than ever on another flag - the checkered one - in hopes of seeing it fall on a Brumos victory once again. 

Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen will be held on Saturday, June 7th, beginning at 11:15 AM ET.  It will be televised on Speed TV in two parts.  The beginning will be covered from 11:00 AM ET to 1:00 PM, with coverage resuming at 2:30 PM through the finish.

Posted on 06/03 at 10:38 AM