While Watkins Glen brought sports car racing back to the U.S., it was the Sebring 12-hour race that brought international racing to the States. Russian expatriate Alec Ulmann founded the race on an abandoned WWII training airfield in the middle of central Florida orange groves.
Because they ran it on the old concrete runways, Sebring was hard on drivers and cars. It had two long straights that enabled the cars to reach high speeds, making good brakes essential.
As one of the international races counting towards the Worlds Manufacturers’ Championship, the top drivers and teams in the world came here to race.
