[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11288]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF CAMERON ARGETSINGER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Kuhl) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, millions of Americans and auto 
racing enthusiasts around the world look forward to each weekend for 
the invigorating sights, sounds, and experience of professional sports 
car racing. These fans owe a great thanks to one of the founding 
fathers of road racing, Watkins Glen's own Cameron Argetsinger who 
passed away this last month.
  Today I join these fans in mourning the loss of this auto racing 
pioneer who has left an indelible mark on the automobile world and on 
the community of Watkins Glen, New York. What Cameron Argetsinger began 
in 1948 as a road race through and over the streets of Watkins Glen, 
New York, has grown over the last 60 years to now a private track that 
has hosted the best drivers in the world, from NASCAR to Formula 1, 
including the United States Grand Prix.
  He has made the small town of Watkins Glen famous throughout the 
country. Almost every legendary auto racer over the last 60 years has 
visited Schuyler County to race at the Glen and to pay homage to a man 
who helped make auto racing what it is today.
  Cameron Argetsinger inherited a love for fast cars from his father 
and in 1947 bought his first sports car so he could become a member of 
the nascent Sports Car Club of America. With the desire to race his 
car, he organized a sports car race designed to appear like a European-
style road race through the streets of Watkins Glen. That first race in 
Watkins Glen had only 23 cars participating and followed the route that 
Cameron Argetsinger laboriously planned on his living room floor.
  Ten years later, after the road races moved to a new 2.3-mile course, 
Argetsinger brought full international races to Watkins Glen. In 1961, 
he inaugurated the U.S. Grand Prix for Formula 1, which had a 
successful 20 years' run in the Watkins Glen circuit.
  After leaving Watkins Glen in 1970, he was executive vice president 
of Chaparral Cars and was subsequently director of professional racing 
and executive director of the Sports Car Club of America, SCCA, from 
1971 to 1977. He also served as commissioner of the International Motor 
Sport Association from 1986 to 1992. Cameron Argetsinger was a member 
of the inaugural induction class of the Hall of Fame of the Sports Car 
Club of America in January of 2005. He is also in the Schuyler County, 
New York, Hall of Fame.
  Cameron Argetsinger loved sports cars and never looked back when 
chasing his dream. He was an attorney, a father, a grandfather, a 
racer, a husband, and an inspiration. He did what he loved, and he will 
be missed by the people of Watkins Glen, Schuyler County, and the 
world.

                          ____________________