Mike Joy and his son, Scott Joy, will serve as grand marshals for the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Festival, a free event set for 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11, in the village.
The father and son will share racing stories and display their 1970 Camaro Z28s during the festival, which celebrates the origins of American road racing on Watkins Glen streets.
Mike Joy has been the lead race announcer for Fox NASCAR since 2001 and has called the Daytona 500 for 47 years across radio and television. He also raced at Lime Rock, Pocono and Watkins Glen, competed in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and was inducted into the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame.
Scott Joy, a Hartford, Connecticut, native who lives in Atlanta, began racing at age 10 and later competed in Legends cars at tracks including Atlanta, Stafford, Waterford, Bowman Gray Stadium and New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He won a Historic Trans Am race at Lime Rock in 2013 and finished second there to his father in 2022.
The pair will appear at the Legends Speak program at 3 p.m. in Lafayette Park before leading vintage racers around the original 6.6-mile Grand Prix circuit used from 1948 to 1952. They plan to bring the Camaros to the festival after competing in a qualifying Trans Am event at Watkins Glen International.
Festival organizers said more than 650 sports cars will be displayed throughout village streets. The program also includes live music, food and craft vendors, laps of the original circuit, car rallies and a Watkins Glen International Grand Prix tribute in which vintage race cars line North Franklin Street before heading to the track.
The 33rd annual festival is sponsored by Chemung Canal Trust Company. More information is available at grandprixfestival.com and on the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Festival Facebook page.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to news@fingerlakes1.com.