MINIs at The Glen

from Miniology Magazine - Volume 1, Issue 1

Racing Breeds Innovation NOT in This Case!

April 17th 2016 was a great day for many reasons, the weather was great, not a cloud in the sky. It was Opening Day 2016 at Watkins Glen International Raceway and the track was freshly paved; MINIs at The Glen 2016 was revving up ready to take laps on the new billiard table smooth surface. The MINI Clubs in Buffalo, Rochester and Carlisle brought together last year under the Mini Mafia name, had what we thought was a great turnout in 2015. 103 Coopers turned out for Opening Day and as 2015 went on, the Mini Mafia added more clubs to the family. Clubs in Canada, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia and others stretching as far south as Alabama came on board to get the word out about the event. The Mini Mafia had gone from being a local family to controlling much of the Eastern Seaboard. Not unlike the real Mafia, the bosses of all the clubs communicate behind the scenes to make sure the word gets out on events, both to pump

up attendance and to make the participating Motorers happy. Often, as in the case with Opening Day at the Glen they give back to the community through charitable contributions. WGI doesn’t make a dime out of the entrance fees for Opening Day. The fee of $25 per carload for three laps is very affordable and if you want more laps, you can pay $50 for 9. You really can’t refuse the deal, especially with all the proceeds going to local charities; it’s a winner all around. The track gets publicity about the upcoming events, the clubs get a lot of exposure and the Motorers all have a blast. It’s a great thing to do on a Sunday afternoon and most of all it helps families throughout the area. This year the contributions were tied in with Feeding America, the same charity that was associated with MINI USA’s ‘Track to Track’ event MINI Takes The States. Torrey Ridge Winery, home of Redneck Red, accidentally chosen last year, but officially chosen this year as the rendezvous for the clubs before cruising their way to the former Formula 1 track nestled in the rolling hills above Watkins Glen Village. From North, South, East and West MINI after MINI poured in and spilled out over the lawn. Row after row formed until the front lawn and parking lots were full of the iconic British brand. The grand total of cars topped out at 206. Exactly double worries. The staff at WGI were truly professional in every sense of the word, a big thank you goes out to Robbie Roessel and Jeff Nelson for helping to pull this job off. After laps, the Motorers headed over to the Seneca Lodge for a great after party. Again, everything went off flawlessly. You’d think that it would be a problem with 206 cars and somewhere north of 320 people, but Jack...a fellow Motorer...and Brett and Gloria and the staff at the Lodge also performed flawlessly. the food was great, music was great, staff were great and the Lodge itself was such a perfect place for an event like this. The Seneca Lodge has a such a great history with racing, it’s really the best place to gather after any event at The Glen. You never know when you sit on a barstool there, if one of its prior occupants might have Stirling Moss, Andy Granatelli, Mario Andretti or even Paul Newman. It was a good choice, made possible by help from Towne MINI and MINI of Rochester, Mike Monteith and Jon Mariotti, respectively and MINI USA. Everything went off without a hitch. So, what’s in store for next year? The Mini Mafia doubled the attendees from last year, so who

A huge part of MATG is enticing MINIacs to come support the MINI JCW team when they come to town with IMSA the number of the previous year. Happy Motorers climbed out of their cars and began checking out other MINIs and talking to those already arrived. Once again, the Mini Mafia had got the job done. After about a half an hour of pleasantries, engines were fired up and the Motorers headed to a 1:00 p.m. appointment at WGI, escorted by local Sheriffs, Police Departments and even a couple New York State Troopers. These guys did a great job of getting everybody there, not only in one piece, but with plenty of time left for staging. The guys in blue really came through for us, and they can’t be thanked enough. Once at WGI, staging began. Normally with such a huge number of cars, that could be a problem, but it wasn’t for the crew and volunteers at WGI, they performed their jobs flawlessly and our lapping went off without a hitch. No problems, no knows? Will it be 300? 350? 400? We’d like to see MATG grow into a national level event, not unlike MTTS, MOT and MOTD but the Mini Mafia would like to have MATG right up there with the rest of them. We’d like to see it grow until those in power at WGI say we have too many MINIs coming. Join us there next year for WGI Opening Day and MINIs at The Glen.