The History of Motorsports series is brought to you in part by the International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), as well as the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), the Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Argetsinger family.
The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), partnering with the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), presents the annual Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History. The Symposium established itself as a unique and respected scholarly forum and has gained a growing audience of students and enthusiasts. It provides an opportunity for scholars, researchers and writers to present their work related to the history of automotive competition and the cultural impact of motor racing. Papers are presented by faculty members, graduate students and independent researchers.
The history of international automotive competition falls within several realms, all of which are welcomed as topics for presentations, including, but not limited to: sports history, cultural studies, public history, political history, the history of technology, sports geography and gender studies, as well as archival studies.
2023
7th Annual – 2023 Presentations
IMRRC Symposium 2023: Trevor Lister, Formula A - The SCCA’s Gift to the World
In the late 60’s New Zealand Motor Racing found itself in a bind. A few years earlier the Tasman Formula had been written to keep the local fleet of older ...2.5 litre ex F1 cars in play. But now the more modern Formula 2, and even a few of the National Formula 1600 cc cars, were embarrassing the older ones. Visiting cars from Europe were either bigger engined ex 1.5 litre F1 cars, or new designs for the upcoming 3 litre F1 with capacity reduced engines, leaving Motor Sport New Zealand with a dilemma. Whichever way you looked at it, it was going to be expensive.
The SCCA appears have come to the same conclusion, with a 1967 amendment to their Formula A allowing Stock Block engines. The gate was open for others to do the same. At the last SCCA race of 1968 SCCA teams were approached, by a New Zealand delegation, to demonstrate their cars in New Zealand. Four teams took up the challenge, and the Kiwi’s liked the look of it. Within the year Formula A was a main stream category with Championships for it unfolding in Europe, South Africa, and the Tasman Countries.
This Presentation looks at the nitty gritty of that first Kiwi Formula A race, as seen through the eyes of this presenter in 1968.
The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), partnering with the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), presents the Seventh Annual Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History. The Symposium established itself as a unique and respected scholarly forum and has gained a growing audience of students and enthusiasts. It provides an opportunity for scholars, researchers and writers to present their work related to the history of automotive competition and the cultural impact of motor racing. Papers are presented by faculty members, graduate students and independent researchers.
The history of international automotive competition falls within several realms, all of which are welcomed as topics for presentations, including, but not limited to: sports history, cultural studies, public history, political history, the history of technology, sports geography and gender studies, as well as archival studies.[+] Show More
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In the late 60’s New Zealand Motor Racing found itself in a bind. A few years earlier the Tasman Formula had been written to keep the local fleet of older ...2.5 litre ex F1 cars in play. But now the more modern Formula 2, and even a few of the National Formula 1600 cc cars, were embarrassing the older ones. Visiting cars from Europe were either bigger engined ex 1.5 litre F1 cars, or new designs for the upcoming 3 litre F1 with capacity reduced engines, leaving Motor Sport New Zealand with a dilemma. Whichever way you looked at it, it was going to be expensive.
The SCCA appears have come to the same conclusion, with a 1967 amendment to their Formula A allowing Stock Block engines. The gate was open for others to do the same. At the last SCCA race of 1968 SCCA teams were approached, by a New Zealand delegation, to demonstrate their cars in New Zealand. Four teams took up the challenge, and the Kiwi’s liked the look of it. Within the year Formula A was a main stream category with Championships for it unfolding in Europe, South Africa, and the Tasman Countries.
This Presentation looks at the nitty gritty of that first Kiwi Formula A race, as seen through the eyes of this presenter in 1968.
The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), partnering with the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), presents the Seventh Annual Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History. The Symposium established itself as a unique and respected scholarly forum and has gained a growing audience of students and enthusiasts. It provides an opportunity for scholars, researchers and writers to present their work related to the history of automotive competition and the cultural impact of motor racing. Papers are presented by faculty members, graduate students and independent researchers.
The history of international automotive competition falls within several realms, all of which are welcomed as topics for presentations, including, but not limited to: sports history, cultural studies, public history, political history, the history of technology, sports geography and gender studies, as well as archival studies.[+] Show More
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The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), partnering with the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), presents the Seventh Annual Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History. The Symposium ...established itself as a unique and respected scholarly forum and has gained a growing audience of students and enthusiasts. It provides an opportunity for scholars, researchers and writers to present their work related to the history of automotive competition and the cultural impact of motor racing. Papers are presented by faculty members, graduate students and independent researchers.
The history of international automotive competition falls within several realms, all of which are welcomed as topics for presentations, including, but not limited to: sports history, cultural studies, public history, political history, the history of technology, sports geography and gender studies, as well as archival studies.[+] Show More
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Remembering Giacomelli and Alfa Romeo Almost Winning the Last United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen
October 5, 1980, was a very important day at Watkins Glen International circuit. Historical ...research, including about motor racing, cannot be done with hypotheses or with “what ifs” but only with facts. However, it can indeed be conceived that the facts of that day affected many future things. This was going to be the last F1 GP at Watkins Glen. The starting grid had an unexpected pole sitter: the Alfa Romeo of Giacomelli. Those were the years of Ferrari, winner of 1979 championship, of Lotus, winning in 1978, while the age of Williams was just beginning. Alfa Romeo, although possessing ancient racing victories, was back in racing for less than 2 years. Giacomelli, an Italian driving a fully Italian car, started on the pole maintaining firmly his lead position. He kept the lead and seemed close to an extraordinary win. Suddenly, a minor electrical problem stopped him on the track and the Williams of Jones won the race. One wonders what would have been if Giacmelli had won. Perhaps Alfa Romeo’s racing efforts would not have been discontinued as happened and a second major Italian team would have stayed in Formula 1. Possibly a prestigious F1 win in the US, the major car market in the world, and eventual further successes could have improved the prospects of Alfa Romeo to remain an Italian state property and continue to progress as an independent firm.
The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), partnering with the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), presents the Seventh Annual Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History. The Symposium established itself as a unique and respected scholarly forum and has gained a growing audience of students and enthusiasts. It provides an opportunity for scholars, researchers and writers to present their work related to the history of automotive competition and the cultural impact of motor racing. Papers are presented by faculty members, graduate students and independent researchers.
The history of international automotive competition falls within several realms, all of which are welcomed as topics for presentations, including, but not limited to: sports history, cultural studies, public history, political history, the history of technology, sports geography and gender studies, as well as archival studies.[+] Show More
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The Gordon Bennett Cup, held for cars between 1900 and 1905 was the first international racing series. Stemming from an idea by American newspaper magnate, James Gordon Bennett Jr., the ...Gordon Bennett Cup was set to champion the international auto industry – by allowing national automobile clubs representing France, Germany, Great Britain, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, the United States and Italy to nominate three entries each. Naturally with the growth of the industry, it became more and more difficult to find the most suitable candidates. By 1905 the industry became so diverse that it was impossible to hold onto the rules of the Cup, so from 1906 the era of the Grand Prix started.
This presentation will provide a short overview of each race, a look at the most important racers and their cars.
The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), partnering with the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), presents the Seventh Annual Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History. The Symposium established itself as a unique and respected scholarly forum and has gained a growing audience of students and enthusiasts. It provides an opportunity for scholars, researchers and writers to present their work related to the history of automotive competition and the cultural impact of motor racing. Papers are presented by faculty members, graduate students and independent researchers.
The history of international automotive competition falls within several realms, all of which are welcomed as topics for presentations, including, but not limited to: sports history, cultural studies, public history, political history, the history of technology, sports geography and gender studies, as well as archival studies.[+] Show More
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Tom Adamich has been a vehicle/motorsports historical since the early 1990s. He served as the project archivist at the Wills Sainte Claire Museum (Marysville, Michigan) from 2009-2016. He has been ...a frequent presenter at the Argetsinger Symposium - including presentations on Strategic Air Command (SAC) racing history, Cuban motorsports history, and Formula Vee.
Grassroots and bootstraps strategies were used by early racing pioneers in West Virginia beginning in the 1930s. Adamich, co-author of the auto racing entry in the West Virginia Encyclopedia and other related articles/publications will profile several events and individuals who innovated and dominated on the dirt tracks, ball diamonds, and other unique race courses that dot the hills and valleys of the great state of West Virginia.
The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), partnering with the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), presents the Seventh Annual Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History. The Symposium established itself as a unique and respected scholarly forum and has gained a growing audience of students and enthusiasts. It provides an opportunity for scholars, researchers and writers to present their work related to the history of automotive competition and the cultural impact of motor racing. Papers are presented by faculty members, graduate students and independent researchers.
The history of international automotive competition falls within several realms, all of which are welcomed as topics for presentations, including, but not limited to: sports history, cultural studies, public history, political history, the history of technology, sports geography and gender studies, as well as archival studies.[+] Show More
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Dr. Mark D. Howell has been involved with motosports his entire life. As a teenager, he tagged along with the NASCAR Modified pit crew of Brett Bodine, who raced out ...of Howell’s hometown of Dallas, PA. He earned a BA and MA from Penn State, and a Ph.D. in American Culture Studies from Bowling Green State University. His dissertation evolved into From Moonshine to Madison Avenue: A Cultural History of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, published by The Popular Press/University of Wisconsin Press in 1997.
Howell is professor of communications at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City. He lives with his wife and son (and two dogs) in the village of Suttons Bay on Lake Michigan.
This presentation examines the 2023 alliance between Leidos, the international high-tech engineering firm, and NASCAR to build a “Next Gen” Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). The paper looks at the adaptation of motorsports culture by the aerospace industry as space exploration grows more privatized and commercialized. Additionally, the presentation looks at the history of NASA’s LRV program and how astronauts saw their rovers through the context of automobile racing. Both Leidos Dynetics and NASCAR are relying on particular language, imagery, and historic legacies to justify their partnership while trying to earn NASA’s new LRV contract by the end of November 2023.
The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), partnering with the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), presents the Seventh Annual Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History. The Symposium established itself as a unique and respected scholarly forum and has gained a growing audience of students and enthusiasts. It provides an opportunity for scholars, researchers and writers to present their work related to the history of automotive competition and the cultural impact of motor racing. Papers are presented by faculty members, graduate students and independent researchers.
The history of international automotive competition falls within several realms, all of which are welcomed as topics for presentations, including, but not limited to: sports history, cultural studies, public history, political history, the history of technology, sports geography and gender studies, as well as archival studies.[+] Show More
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Dr. James Miller has a longtime interest in media technology, and this led him to the historical study of the automobile as an under-appreciated site of media consumption. From there, ...the highly digitalized modern race car presented itself as a possible precursor of future mobility. This was also an excuse to intellectualize the pleasure of motorsports, which has resulted in a connection with the IMRRC and membership in the International Motor Press Association. Miller is professor emeritus of communications at Hampshire College, a former member of the graduate faculty at UMass Amherst and a member of the Porsche Club of America.
Formula One raced at Watkins Glen for 20 years, 1961-1980. This was a still early time in post-war F1, when nearly everything was smaller scale, sponsorship was just beginning, a DIY ethos ruled the paddock and US media attention was limited. Yet these 20 years mark a crucial midway point between the Glen’s original road racing and the modern, corporatized F1 that has now developed into a global media spectacle. To mark 75 years of Watkins Glen motorsports, this presentation offers a sketch of this distinctive time and place, with emphasis on the local community engagement that made those glorious 20 years of F1 possible.
The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), partnering with the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), presents the Seventh Annual Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History. The Symposium established itself as a unique and respected scholarly forum and has gained a growing audience of students and enthusiasts. It provides an opportunity for scholars, researchers and writers to present their work related to the history of automotive competition and the cultural impact of motor racing. Papers are presented by faculty members, graduate students and independent researchers.
The history of international automotive competition falls within several realms, all of which are welcomed as topics for presentations, including, but not limited to: sports history, cultural studies, public history, political history, the history of technology, sports geography and gender studies, as well as archival studies.[+] Show More
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Paul Baxa is professor of history at Ave Maria University in Florida. Parts of his most recent book, Motorsport and Fascism: Living Dangerously (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) have been presented at ...past Argetsinger Symposia. He was privileged to have presented at the first symposium in 2015.
The 1940 Mille Miglia is an anomaly in the long history of the race. The previous classic editions, held between 1927 and 1938, were run on the thousand-mile figure-of-eight open road course covering half of Italy. During that time, it had become Italy’s most important motor race and one that was exploited by Mussolini’s Fascist regime. After a major tragedy in 1938, the race was reinvented in 1940 and bore scant resemblance to the original. This paper examines how the race was used by the regime to exalt the Axis alliance while at the same time making great efforts to link it to its more illustrious preceding editions.
The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), partnering with the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), presents the Seventh Annual Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History. The Symposium established itself as a unique and respected scholarly forum and has gained a growing audience of students and enthusiasts. It provides an opportunity for scholars, researchers and writers to present their work related to the history of automotive competition and the cultural impact of motor racing. Papers are presented by faculty members, graduate students and independent researchers.
The history of international automotive competition falls within several realms, all of which are welcomed as topics for presentations, including, but not limited to: sports history, cultural studies, public history, political history, the history of technology, sports geography and gender studies, as well as archival studies.[+] Show More
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Mike Stocz is the assistant director for the department of kinesiology, and a senior lecturer of sport management & eadership, at the University of New Hampshire. He is one of ...the founding members and editor in chief of the Journal of Motorsport Culture & History. Mike’s recent works have included a co-authored book chapter about the future of Formula 1, as well as works surrounding big game hunting legislation on land preserves, an economic funding model for college athletics, and critiques on K-12 coaching certifications surrounding sexual assault.
Modern technologies have expanded our ability to share a wide variety of interests. Motorsport, primarily focusing on women in motorsport, has found social media as a medium to help grow actual participation numbers. Expanding on this theory, while also taking into consideration a later discussion on modern archival methods, this presentation will overview how podcasts surrounding women in motorsport are self-presenting to the public at large. In particular, a thematic analysis of women in motorsport show descriptions, and episode descriptions, will be explored, with themes and expanded research discussed.
The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), partnering with the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), presents the Seventh Annual Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History. The Symposium established itself as a unique and respected scholarly forum and has gained a growing audience of students and enthusiasts. It provides an opportunity for scholars, researchers and writers to present their work related to the history of automotive competition and the cultural impact of motor racing. Papers are presented by faculty members, graduate students and independent researchers.
The history of international automotive competition falls within several realms, all of which are welcomed as topics for presentations, including, but not limited to: sports history, cultural studies, public history, political history, the history of technology, sports geography and gender studies, as well as archival studies.[+] Show More
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The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), partnering with the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), presents the Seventh Annual Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History. The Symposium ...established itself as a unique and respected scholarly forum and has gained a growing audience of students and enthusiasts. It provides an opportunity for scholars, researchers and writers to present their work related to the history of automotive competition and the cultural impact of motor racing. Papers are presented by faculty members, graduate students and independent researchers.
The history of international automotive competition falls within several realms, all of which are welcomed as topics for presentations, including, but not limited to: sports history, cultural studies, public history, political history, the history of technology, sports geography and gender studies, as well as archival studies.[+] Show More
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Preston Lerner is a freelance writer who has covered racing for the past four decades. For many years, he was a regular contributor to Automobile Magazine and Road & Track. ...Lerner is also the author or co-author of six books, most recently Shelby American: The Renegades Who Built the Cars, Won the Races, and Lived the Legend. The material used in “Television Turns Its Gaze on Motorsports” is drawn from his upcoming book, The Deadliest Decade, which examines the safety, commercial and technological developments that transformed racing from 1964 to 1973.
Lerner’s presentation covers the early – and often controversial – efforts of TV to bring automobile racing into American living rooms. In 1961, a segment from the Indianapolis 500 time trials was broadcast as part of ABC’s new Wide World of Sports program. During the next few years, racing coverage was expanded to include Formula 1, Le Mans, NASCAR and even USAC dirt-track races. Television dramatically expanded the reach of the sport, which, in turn, attracted major commercial sponsors. By the 1970s, racing had been transformed into the global commercial engine we know today. Yet from the beginning, enthusiasts had a love-hate relationship with ABC. On one hand, TV coverage confirmed that racing was a legitimate sport rather than a tawdry carnival sideshow. On the other, serious fans found the broadcasts puerile and sensationalistic. The camerawork was shaky, the commentary insipid and the focus on accidents infamously morbid. Coverage of the fatal wrecks of Lorenzo Bandini and Roger Williamson inspired widespread disgust that led to improvements in safety. This was an unintended consequence, but it was a product largely of television’s unblinking eye.
The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), partnering with the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), presents the Seventh Annual Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History. The Symposium established itself as a unique and respected scholarly forum and has gained a growing audience of students and enthusiasts. It provides an opportunity for scholars, researchers and writers to present their work related to the history of automotive competition and the cultural impact of motor racing. Papers are presented by faculty members, graduate students and independent researchers.
The history of international automotive competition falls within several realms, all of which are welcomed as topics for presentations, including, but not limited to: sports history, cultural studies, public history, political history, the history of technology, sports geography and gender studies, as well as archival studies.[+] Show More
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Jon Summers is a teaching assistant and guest lecturer at Stanford University. He’s an independent automotive historian, podcaster, and Pebble Beach Docent.
The chance gift of a small magazine archive to ...the SAH led Summers to research midget and sprint car racing during the immediate postwar period around his adopted home of the San Francisco Bay Area. This grassroots history charts the rise of great names in racing, such as Kurtis and Vukovich, yet was over in under a decade. Less than a century later no trace of the tracks remain. Summers’ presentation offers a glimpse into this already-lost world.
The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), partnering with the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), presents the Seventh Annual Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History. The Symposium established itself as a unique and respected scholarly forum and has gained a growing audience of students and enthusiasts. It provides an opportunity for scholars, researchers and writers to present their work related to the history of automotive competition and the cultural impact of motor racing. Papers are presented by faculty members, graduate students and independent researchers.
The history of international automotive competition falls within several realms, all of which are welcomed as topics for presentations, including, but not limited to: sports history, cultural studies, public history, political history, the history of technology, sports geography and gender studies, as well as archival studies.[+] Show More
IMRRC Symposium 2022 - Robeers, Stocz & Sullivan - Aspects of Media Treatments of Motor Racing
Dr. Timothy Robeers is currently working as a research & marcom manager at b2sense in Brussels, Belgium. Following a career in academia, he remains affiliated with the Department of Communication ...Sciences at Antwerp University, Belgium and combines extensive expertise in market and communication research, social and environmental sustainability, and their applications in motorsports and media. Besides having participated as a driver and team-owner in rally raids across Africa, Dr. Robeers has also consulted for a range of motorsport businesses and organizations including Formula E and the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Additionally, he is a co-founder and assistant editor for the Journal of Motorsport Culture & History.
Mike Stocz is a senior lecturer of Sport Management & Leadership at the University of New Hampshire. He is one of the founding members and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Motorsport Culture & History. Mike's previous works have included a bottom up framing analysis of the Tony Stewart-Kevin Ward Jr. incident on Facebook, as well as explorations of legal issues in K-12 sport administration, an economic funding model for college athletics, and a textual analysis of the American Outlaws fan group in the digital space.
Kate Sullivan is an assistant professor in Strategy & Enterprise in Scotland's Heriot-Watt University, where she teaches a range of entrepreneurship and management courses as well as conducts research as a well-being and performance psychologist. She has also worked in the classic car industry for more than a decade. Ms. Sullivan personally holds several regional land-speed records.
In the roundtable, she explores the forgotten history of alternative power vehicles in motorsport, demonstrating that the current concerns over the environmental impacts of auto racing - and the attendant hand-wringing over its future - are far from new. Showing how alternative power vehicles have been part of society's need for speed from the beginning, she will suggest how to harness this worry to instead create new buzz for racing.
This episode is sponsored in part by: The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), The Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), The Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Argetsinger Family - and was recorded in front of a live studio audience.[+] Show More
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Dr. Timothy Robeers is currently working as a research & marcom manager at b2sense in Brussels, Belgium. Following a career in academia, he remains affiliated with the Department of Communication ...Sciences at Antwerp University, Belgium and combines extensive expertise in market and communication research, social and environmental sustainability, and their applications in motorsports and media. Besides having participated as a driver and team-owner in rally raids across Africa, Dr. Robeers has also consulted for a range of motorsport businesses and organizations including Formula E and the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Additionally, he is a co-founder and assistant editor for the Journal of Motorsport Culture & History.
Mike Stocz is a senior lecturer of Sport Management & Leadership at the University of New Hampshire. He is one of the founding members and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Motorsport Culture & History. Mike's previous works have included a bottom up framing analysis of the Tony Stewart-Kevin Ward Jr. incident on Facebook, as well as explorations of legal issues in K-12 sport administration, an economic funding model for college athletics, and a textual analysis of the American Outlaws fan group in the digital space.
Kate Sullivan is an assistant professor in Strategy & Enterprise in Scotland's Heriot-Watt University, where she teaches a range of entrepreneurship and management courses as well as conducts research as a well-being and performance psychologist. She has also worked in the classic car industry for more than a decade. Ms. Sullivan personally holds several regional land-speed records.
In the roundtable, she explores the forgotten history of alternative power vehicles in motorsport, demonstrating that the current concerns over the environmental impacts of auto racing - and the attendant hand-wringing over its future - are far from new. Showing how alternative power vehicles have been part of society's need for speed from the beginning, she will suggest how to harness this worry to instead create new buzz for racing.
This episode is sponsored in part by: The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), The Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), The Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Argetsinger Family - and was recorded in front of a live studio audience.[+] Show More
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Lauren Goodman received her MFA in screenwriting from the College of Motion Pictures Arts at Florida State University. While volunteering at the Revs Institute in Naples, Florida, she encountered one ...of two Maseratis entered by Lucy Schell in the 1940 Indy 500. Ms. Goodman's research into Lucy's time in France as a team owner and principal has been presented at Revs Institute. Her writing draws heavily on history and the lives of women whose achievements have been overlooked. Presently, she is developing Lucy's story into a feature-length project. Ms. Goodman's presentation will highlight Lucy's role in motor racing history and her contributions to the sport.
This episode is sponsored in part by: The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), The Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), The Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Argetsinger Family - and was recorded in front of a live studio audience.[+] Show More
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Quinn Beekwilder is an assistant professor and coordinator of the Motorsports management degree at Belmont Abbey College. Having come from a decade of working at Charlotte Motor Speedway, he wanted ...to give back to the Motorsport program at Belmont Abbey that got him there in the first place. He has a unique perspective of being one of the first graduates of the program and is able to address concerns and direct the program for the greater benefit of current students. Motorsports history has always been a passion of Mr. Beekwilder. The approaches he takes to the courses are crafted to focus on the historical development of NASCAR while incorporating experimental activities to support the curriculum. The students refer to Mr. Beekwilder as "the fast van driver."
Dr. Trey Cunningham is associate professor and chair of the Department of Sport and Motorsport Management at Belmont Abbey College. The college offers a four-year undergraduate academic program designed to prepare aspiring professionals and leaders for a career in the motorsport industry. The presentation will discuss Belmont Abbey College's pedagogical approach to introducing and reinforcing the history of motorsports throughout the entire curriculum. Moreover, Dr. Cunningham's presentation will discuss the many perceived lessons learned and ever-evolving adjustments made along the way in the Department's efforts to successfully prepare students to become lifelong learners of the history of Motorsports.
This episode is sponsored in part by: The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), The Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), The Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Argetsinger Family - and was recorded in front of a live studio audience.[+] Show More
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Trevor Lister entered the University of Canterbury on a public service scholarship, graduating with a double degree in Physics and Mechanical Engineering. On graduation, he worked in the Ministry of ...Transport in the setting and administration of Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, primarily on natural gas and LPG vehicle standards. This led to a secondment to a national research and development organization where he was responsible for research on a wider range of alternative motor vehicle fuels. It led also to an international consultancy in that area, including a stint as the New Zealand delegate to the International Natural Gas Vehicles Association.
Upon completion of that work, he returned to his foundation automotive design skills and his motorsports hobby. At which point he became an inspector and certifier on other peoples' projects, as well as designing, building and racing his own cars. In semi-retirement, he took up teaching and tutoring pre-apprenticeship students in Mathematics, Science and Automotive Engineering.
In full retirement, he assumed the role of editor of the newsletter of The Classic Motor Racing Club of New Zealand. That is when, searching for newsletter stories, he came across the work of Donald Capps, and their common interest in old Maseratis. The upshot of working together on the histories of these cars became the main point in the presentation to this symposium.
It appears that Maserati in the 1950s identified their competition cars by their engine numbers, not their chassis numbers, and that this process allowed for the individual cars to have carried more than one identity. This has implications for the provenance of these cars.
This episode is sponsored in part by: The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), The Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), The Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Argetsinger Family - and was recorded in front of a live studio audience.[+] Show More
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Dr. Mario Felice Tecce received his M.D. and PhD. at the University of Naples, Italy, and is currently full professor of Biochemistry at University of Salerno. Besides his molecular research ...about cancer mechanisms, he explored race car driving as a major reference paradigm of pursuing the best and of free will exercise. Having a strong interest and deep passion for car racing, he analyzed Formula One seasons of the last 50 years and suggests that race car driving can be a major example of general life choices between good and bad in a joint competition to pursue the best possible.
The history of international automotive competition falls within several realms, all of which are welcomed as topics for presentations, including, but not limited to: sports history, cultural studies, public history, political history, the history of technology, sports geography and gender studies, as well as archival studies.
The symposium is named in honor of Michael R. Argetsinger (1944-2015), an award-winning motorsports author and longtime member of the Center's Governing Council.[+] Show More
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Mark Howell is a professor of Communications at Northwestern Michigan College. Prior to NMC, he was a visiting assistant professor in the Department of American Thought and Language at Michigan ...State University.
As a Motorsports historian, Dr. Howell has published numerous articles and two books: From Moonshine to Madison Avenue: A Cultural History of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series (1997) and Motorsports and American Culture: From Demolition Derbies to NASCAR (2014).
Since 2011, he has been a Senior Writer for frontstretch.com, where his essays appear every Wednesday during the racing season. Dr. Howell also spent three years (2001-2003) as a part-time crew member with Brett Bodine Racing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, and has worked closely with drivers Hut Stricklin, Kenny Wallace, and Todd Bodine.
This episode is sponsored in part by: The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), The Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), The Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Argetsinger Family - and was recorded in front of a live studio audience.
The history of international automotive competition falls within several realms, all of which are welcomed as topics for presentations, including, but not limited to: sports history, cultural studies, public history, political history, the history of technology, sports geography and gender studies, as well as archival studies.
The symposium is named in honor of Michael R. Argetsinger (1944-2015), an award-winning motorsports author and longtime member of the Center's Governing Council.[+] Show More
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Gordon Eliot White is a retired newspaper correspondent who covered Washington, D.C., Europe and the Far East for the Chicago American and other newspapers for 34 years. After he retired ...from news-paper work he became the Smithsonian Institution's auto racing advisor, following a sport he had enjoyed since 1939. He since has written seven books on the history of American open-wheel racing, including a history of Fred Offenhauser and the Offenhauser racing engine. He has served as the unofficial historian of the Harry A. Miller Club and as curator and archivist of more than 12,000 drawings, tracings and blueprints of Miller's cars and engines, as well as of thousands of documents covering the history of American racing since early in the 20th century. His presentation will address Harry Miller's impression on American racing as well as how aficionados rediscovered him after he had been all but forgotten and, over the past 40 years have un-earthed and restored many of his cars.
This episode is sponsored in part by: The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), The Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), The Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Argetsinger Family - and was recorded in front of a live studio audience.[+] Show More
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Buz McKim, formerly historian at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C., is a distinguished figure in the motorsports world and a much sought-after speaker at motorsports gatherings. Mr. ...Kim served as director of archives for International Speedway Corporation and as coordinator of statistical services for NASCAR. He is the author of The NASCAR Vault: An Official History Featuring Rare Collectables from Motorsports Images and Archives.
Mr. McKim's presentation explores the origins of modified stock car racing in the illegal distribution of untaxed adult beverages, or "moonshine." He recounts the development of NASCAR in 1949 and its evolution in the 1950s from a truly "stock" competition to a manufacturer-supported testing ground for advances in the engineering and design of American automobiles. Mr. McKim's talk describes the irony of how the automotive engineering modifications inspired by "wild country boys" led to all-around improvements in automotive technology.
This episode is sponsored in part by: The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), The Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), The Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Argetsinger Family - and was recorded in front of a live studio audience.[+] Show More
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Elton "Skip" McGoun is an emeritus professor of finance at Bucknell University and a visiting professor at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia and at the University of Donja Gorija ...in Montenegro. He has presented and published on the history and culture of finance as well as automotive history and culture and served as area chair of the Vehicle Culture Section of the Popular Culture Association. He considers the two senses of the word "Sports" - competition and recreation - and their relative roles in the creation of the class of vehicles known as "Sports Cars."
This episode is sponsored in part by: The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), The Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), The Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Argetsinger Family - and was recorded in front of a live studio audience.[+] Show More
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Joseph Freeman is an automotive historian, writer, publisher, vintage racer, and racing car collector, well known in the racing world for his expertise on automotive subjects and as owner of ...the award-winning publishing house Racemaker Press of Boston. His talk will cover the history of some of the earlier champion race drivers who but for a stroke of bad luck, and unfortunate last-minute mistake, or just the intervention of fate, were never able to win America's greatest race, the Indianapolis 500. Mr. Freeman's reflections are on his recent book: Second to One: All but for Indy.
This episode is sponsored in part by: The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), The Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), The Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Argetsinger Family - and was recorded in front of a live studio audience.[+] Show More
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Years of racing, wrenching and Motorsports experience brings together a top notch collection of knowledge, stories and information. #everyonehasastory #gtmbreakfix - gtmotorsports.org
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James Miller's engagement with Formula 1 includes chatting about race strategy with Nikki Lauda at the 1977 US Grand Prix, where Lauda won his second world championship. Now it involves ...at-home viewing of real-time, in-car camera images on a flat screen TV.
Dr. Miller is professor emeritus of communications at Hampshire College. He has studied new media as a Fulbright researcher in Paris and a visiting professor at MIT's Media Lab.
The history of international automotive competition falls within several realms, all of which are welcomed as topics for presentations, including, but not limited to: sports history, cultural studies, public history, political history, the history of technology, sports geography and gender studies, as well as archival studies.
The symposium is named in honor of Michael R. Argetsinger (1944-2015), an award-winning motorsports author and longtime member of the Center's Governing Council.[+] Show More
All of the production, recording, live-stream, post-production, technology support, editing and podcasting work for the IMRRC Symposium starting in 2022 has been provided by the team at Gran Touring Motorsports. We’re proud members of the IMRRC & the SAH and contribute our volunteer time and resources to help grow the success of this conference. Please consider supporting our work via Patreon.
Copyright International Motor Racing Research Center & The Society of Automotive Historians. This podcast is now part of Gran Touring Motorsports‘ Motoring Podcast Network and can be found everywhere you stream, download or listen! **To get in contact with the creators of these presentations, please reach out to symposium@racingachives.org
