12 Great Places In The Twin Tiers To Watch A Race

Summertime is the season for a lot of fun things we don't get to enjoy outside of the season. Obviously outdoor activities are the main thing with so much more to be a part of.

Swimming, outdoor sports, enjoying area parks, going on vacation, they are all great things to do during the warm weather months. And there's another that I grew up enjoying during summer - going to area racetracks.

I grew up just a few miles from the Watkins Glen International Race Track, and attended several of the Formula 1 races in the 1960s and early 1970s. My father worked part-time for the Schuyler County Sheriff's Office during those races, and loved being a part of such a huge event in the world of racing.

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I got the chance to be on the radio one year during a Formula 1 race event at Watkins Glen. I remember one police call coming in about a Greyhound bus on fire in the famous Bog area, which was a huge mud pit where vehicles sometimes found their way in, but never came out intact.

And I had lots of fun visiting area dirt tracks for a fun night of racing. One of my uncles raced a car at Woodhull Raceway in Steuben County. My favorite nights would be when they had the demolition derby. Those were so much fun to watch. I would pick out a car and root them on until they got knocked out of the race.

To be honest, it's been a while since I've been to a race track, either national, which we have two in the Twin Tiers or local dirt and paved tracks. I need to get back to the excitement of local race tracks whether it's cars, BMX or other types of racing on wheels.

Here are twelve tracks that you can enjoy in the Southern Tier of New York and Northeastern Pennsylvania. As best I can tell, these are all currently open for business. Did I miss any? Let me know and I will add to the list.