Fri, Sep 25 - Sun, Sep 27, 2026

Can-Am Challenge BMW Club Race - Watkins Glen

About this event

Please join us September 25th thru 27th for the BMW CCA Club Race weekend at Watkins Glen - this will be a North American Challenge points event; (three 150% position point races and one 100% position point race)

Come out and represent your country in the Can-Am Challenge! It will be Team USA vs Team Canada in part 5 of our event series: 1) Watkins Glen in May, 2) NJMP-Thunderbolt the beginning of June, 3) CTMP (Mosport) the end of June, 4) NJMP - Lightning in August, and 5) this Watkins Glen race in September, paying homage to the historic Can-Am series that spanned the Canadian and United States border from 1966-1974. A team-based points scheme determines the annual winner, with a special Can-Am trophy to be presented for the country that wins the challenge! This trophy will again be “up for grabs” in the 2026 season and presented at this race.

The Finger Lakes area is beautiful in the fall and Watkins Glen is one of the greatest tracks in North America. BMW CCA Club Racing will once again be running as part of an all-race weekend with the Vintage Racing Group (VRG). For 2026 the VRG feature group is BMW! There will be a BMW Feature race on Saturday and all VRG BMWs as well as any VRG-legal (Pre-1/1/1993) BMW CCA Club race cars can participate in this race. BMW CCA Club Racing drivers can signup for this feature race via the VRG MotorsportReg event here:

Just click through the VRG registation as there is an option to register for and join the BMW Feature race for just $150.

An additional perk for this event, we will be running the NASCAR circuit on Sunday, i.e. no "boot". You have to experience this...Turn 10 becomes a whole new adventure!

Registration is $875, and includes three days of racing Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!

A limited number of garages are available for rental at $150 the weekend. First come, first served - please reserve them at $0 at the time of registration and pay VRG directly by check (better, no fees) or Venmo/Paypal before the event - details to be provided.

Camping in the Paddock area is included. You will need to coordinate with track security after you arrive for an electrical hookup if you desire that.

PLEASE NOTE: 85 Car limit for registration. Register now. Wait list after 85 racers have signed up.

When registering please say "YES" to Receive text messages? We use MotorsportReg text messaging service to communicate with you during the event.

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Similar to last year we are planning on running two race groups. To accommodate morning practice sessions for everyone (including VRG) we have purchased additional track time and will have practice on Fri, Sat, & Sun. with one group immediately followed by the 2nd group. There will be a qualifying session on Friday and then the 1st Sprint Race. Saturday's races will be a Sprint Race in the morning with the Feature Race in the afternoon. Sunday will have the 4th Sprint Race.

Spec E46 and PWR3 racers - At our May race at Watkins we had a great turnout for these classes and accomodated split starts. Bring out the numbers again for this race and we will do split starts again! :)

Similar to the last few years we will be running a BimmerWorld BMW CCA Race School hosted by Trackmasters the Wednesday and Thursday before our race weekend, and once again there are options to dial in both you and your car prior to the Friday morning start to our race weekend.

Those options are:

Run the two-day open track option with Trackmasters on Wednesday & Thursday
Run the one-day open track option with Trackmasters on Thursday
Run one hour of practice on Thursday afternoon from 4:30 to 5:30

Here is the link that Racers can use to sign up for any of these options with Trackmasters: Link to Trackmasters event for BMW Racers

In addition to getting on track for extra practice time, with Trackmasters, you'll also benefit by avoiding the race registration scrum getting into the track on Thursday evening. We will have registration for the race weekend available to you Thursday later afternoon.

Fine print - You must have a valid BMW CCA Club Racing license to participate in the one-hour Thursday practice that will run under HPDE rules.

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Event requirements

You must be a current BMW CCA member to participate in this event
You must have a BMW CCA Club Racing license to take part in this event. If your license is current but will need to be renewed before this event, you will be allowed to register but must process your license renewal before the September race.
If you do not have a BMW CCA Club Racing license and are interested in obtaining one, you can follow the information here: https://bmwccaclubracing.com/how-to-race-with-us/
All racers and racecars must conform to BMW CCA Club Racing Tech and Safety requirements.
Your car must have an annual technical inspection done before you can race. A list of approved technical inspectors and the annual tech form itself can be found here: https://bmwccaclubracing.com/tech-information/
Any damage caused to the paddock or track, including safety barriers, or liquid clean-up is the responsibility of the participant.

For questions related to this event please contact the Race Chair Wayne Dobson at: wayneldob@aol.com