Initially, public roads in the village were used for the race course. In 1956 a permanent circuit for the race was built. In 1968 the race was extended to six hours, becoming the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen. The circuit's current layout has more or less been the same since 1971, although a chicane was installed at the uphill Esses in 1975 to slow cars through these corners, where there was a fatality during practice at the 1973 United States Grand Prix. The chicane was removed in 1985, but another chicane called the "Inner Loop" was installed in 1992 after J.D. McDuffie's fatal accident during the previous year's NASCAR Winston Cup event.
The circuit is known as the Mecca of North American road racing and is a very popular venue among fans and drivers. The facility is currently owned by International Speedway Corporation.
The first practice session would occur on Friday, August 3, at 12:35 PM EST and would last for 50 minutes. Heavy rain pelted the session, leaving only six teams making a lap as most felt that it wasn't worth the risk.[2]Tyler Reddick of JR Motorsports would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:38.533 and an average speed of 89.513 miles per hour (144.057 km/h).[3]
The second practice session would occur on Friday, August 3, at 2:05 PM EST and would last for one hour and 20 minutes. Once again, rain would majorly affect the session, leaving many teams not making a lap.[2]Mike Skeen of JD Motorsports would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:32.240 and an average speed of 95.620 miles per hour (153.885 km/h).[3]
Qualifying would occur on Saturday, August 4, at 11:35 AM EST.[2] Since the Watkins Glen International is a road course, the qualifying system was a multi-car system that included two rounds. The first round was 25 minutes, where every driver would be able to set a lap within the 25 minutes. Then, the second round would consist of the fastest 12 cars in Round 1, and drivers would have 10 minutes to set a lap. Whoever set the fastest time in Round 2 would win the pole.[4]
Joey Logano of Team Penske would win the pole, with a lap of 1:11.710 and an average speed of 122.995 miles per hour (197.941 km/h) in the second round.[5]