Since 2015 the SAH has co-hosted the Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History in association with the International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC) at Watkins Glen, New York.
The Argetsinger Symposium provides scholars, writers and researchers with an opportunity to present their work on the history of motor sports to peers, the wider motor sports community, and to the general public. Submissions on all topics relating to automotive competition are welcome, including: motor sports history and historiography, social, cultural and institutional studies, gender studies, oral history, public history, political history, the history of technology, the evolution and development of motor sport technology, sports geography, and communications studies.
Open to the public, the event has established itself as a unique forum and has a growing audience of motor sports enthusiasts. If you love motor sports, be sure to attend in person or virtually. If you are a racing historian, be sure to submit a paper abstract when the Call for Papers is issued in the summer.
This 2024 Argetsinger Symposium will take place November 1-2 in Watkins Glenn. The call for papers has been issued with a deadline of August 22rd.
Independent motor sport scholars and historians, independent researchers, and undergraduate and graduate students are invited to submit abstracts, not exceeding 200 words, to the Symposium Administrators by August 2, 2024.
Abstracts should summarize the content and thesis of the proposed presentation in a succinct and compelling manner and should include representative graphic images that the presenter intends to use as visual accompaniments to the presentation.
Please also indicate whether the presentation will given in person at Watkins Glen, or remotely by Zoom. Submission review, selection, and notification will be completed the week of August 19, 2024.
Read the full call for papers here.
The symposium is named in honor of Michael R. Argetsinger (1944-2015), who was a sports car racer himelf, the author of five books on racing, and a founding member of the IMRRC. Michael was the son of Cameron and Jean Argetsinger, who brought Formula One racing to America and founded the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course, as well as the later Watkins Glen International. Michael inherited his parents’ passion for motor sports.
The Seventh Annual Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History took place November 3rd & 4th at the Watkins Glen International Racetrack Media Center building in the track infield. The event is co-hosted by the International Motor Racing Research Center(IMRRC) and the SAH.
Symposium co-founder Don Capps returned as Master of Ceremonies for the event, which was streamed live and recorded for the second year in a row thanks to SAH and IMRRC member Eric Monterastelli of Grand Touring Motorsports.
There were 18 live presentations, four pre-recorded presentations, and a keynote address on Watkins Glen at 75 by former driver Rob Dyson.
Videos of the presentations are available here and here.
After watching a video, you can send questions for the presenter to the IMRRC. Your questions will forwarded to the presenter for replies.
F1: From Circus To Media Spectacle
by James Miller (39 min.)
Has Formula One left behind its gritty, dangerous and somewhat esoteric past to become a cross between the World Cup and Disneyland?
Living Loud, Living Fast: Connections Between Musicians and Motorsports
Mark Howell (34 min.)
How several well-known professional musicians from diverse genres took their interests in high perfomance vehicles to different levels of motor racing competition.
Racing as a Paradigm for Pursuing the Best
Mario Felice Tecce (36 min.)
Race car driving as an example of making general life choices between good and bad, in joint competition with others to pursue the best possible outcome.
ROUNDTABLE: Aspects of Media Treatments of Motor Racing Topics
Mike Stocz, Kate Sullivan and Timothy Robeers (45 min.)
Three perspectives on media treatments of motor racing.
Lessons Learned: A Pedagogical Approach to Teaching Motorsports History
Trey Cunningham and Quinn Beekwilder (38 min.)
Detailed review of the evolving curriculum and program administration of the Department of Sport and Motorsport Management course of study at Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, NC.
Putting the “Sports” in “Sports Cars”
Elton “Skip” McGoun (33 min.)
The two senses of the word “sports” – competition and recreation – and their roles in the class of vehicles that have become known as “sports cars.”
Motor Racing as a Mediated Experience
Jonathan Summers (24 min)
The evolution of the methods in which stories of motor racing have been told and the related history preserved.
Second to None
Joe Freeman (36 min)
Three accomplished and highly respected drivers who never won the Indianapolis 500.
Truth is the Daughter of Time
Trevor Lister and Don Capps (47 min)
The historical record implications of 1950’s Maserati race cars being identified by engine number, rather than the more common chassis number identification protocol.
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