This weekend is a double barreled racing weekend in the area when both Watkins Glen International and Black Rock Speedway (BRS) will be hosting race programs.
At Watkins Glen International, it will be a three day affair. At Black Rock Speedway, it will be packed into to a Friday night spectacular.
NASCAR Night at Black Rock Speedway (BRS) has become an annual tradition for the Dundee race track when the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide race teams make their annual visit to Watkins Glen.
Race fans and race car drivers take advantage of the proximity of the two tracks to double their fun.
The tradition now includes a benefit for Milly’s Pantry. A portion of BRS ticket sale receipts is shared by two charities. Milly’s Pantry and Motor Racing Outreach (MRO) are again the charities selected by Dean Hoag, the owner of BRS, to benefit from the program.
MRO is an organization closely tied to NASCAR. They help by getting some of the NASCAR stars to race at the local track. That helps provide some special star quality attraction to the weekly program.
“In turn, they ask that I support a local charity. Milly’s is a logical choice, given the great work they do here in Penn Yan and Dundee,” says Hoag.
This year MRO will bring at least five NASCAR drivers to compete in a special match race in sportsman modifieds. In addition, several NASCAR over-the-wall crew members will race in our enduro cars. It is a low key fun time for the drivers and crew members who are all about business at the Glen.
“Here (BRS) they just have fun,” says Hoag.
Justin Allgaier, Trevor Bayne, Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse and David Reutimann are the drivers that have committed to MRO that they will enter the match race.
Others generally come as well, but contractual agreements prevent them from pre-event commitment.
Allgaier, from Riverton, IL, and Ricky Stenhouse, from Memphis, Tenn. are development drivers for Jack Roush’s Ford racing program.
Trevor Bayne and David Reutimann drive for Waltrip’s Toyota Team. Bayne, from Knoxville, Tenn. is a development driver.
Reutimann, from Zephyrhills, Fla., is a two time Sprint Cup winner with his most recent win at Chicago. Buzzie Reutimann usually attends any race that his son enters. Perhaps even the 68-year-old hall-of-famer will buckle up on Friday night. McDowell, from Franklin, Tenn, is one of 12 to 15 drivers who plan to compete in both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup events at the Glen.
