Michael Printup steps down as president of Watkins Glen International, set for retirement
Michael Printup, track president at Watkins Glen International since June of 2009, announced his retirement Friday.
His last day will be June 26, the day after the NASCAR-owned road course hosts IMSA's Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen.
Printup, 58, let his boss know officially Friday he is resigning, but he said he and his wife, Stephanie, have been discussing the decision since around Thanksgiving. Printup initially referred to this as a retirement/resignation in an email, but he categorized it as a retirement in an interview.
Why Printup says he's leaving WGI
"I'm going to retire. I'm going to relax," said Printup, who lives in Horseheads. "I've got a granddaughter down in D.C. with my son (Brendan) and his wife. I want to start spending some time with them."
Matthew Printup, their other son, graduated from Horseheads High School last year.
Family was only part of Printup's decision.
"I was running out of gas, I’ve got to be candid," he said. "And I’ve always promised myself I wouldn’t go in and do anything half-naked. I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to be able to go out on a high, I guess. This team up here has just done unbelievably well over the last 15 seasons, 14 years."
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Printup involved in other NASCAR ventures, concessions
Printup's other responsibilities include overseeing NASCAR's food service contract with Levy for 12 racetracks owned by NASCAR. He was previously president of Americrown, a NASCAR subsidiary that was responsible for catering, concessions and merchandise sales until 2020.
In addition, Printup has overseen golf carts rented to NASCAR facilities and the Mobil 1 show car program for Tony Stewart that is based in Michigan.
"I just wanted to kind of kick back and enjoy myself a little bit more," Printup added of his decision to retire. "After 25 years of being best friends with Delta, National and Marriott, I prefer those three not to be my best friends anymore."
Printup, a native of Hamburg in the Buffalo area, began working for International Speedway Corporation in 2000. ISC, which was Watkins Glen's parent company, merged with NASCAR in 2019. Printup was senior director of facility management at Michigan International Speedway before coming to Watkins Glen.
Expanding, improving The Glen
During Printup's tenure, Watkins Glen has undergone $56 million in capital improvement projects. Last year the track's featured NASCAR Cup Series weekend announced a seventh consecutive grandstand sellout. Watkins Glen hosted music festivals for legendary jam band Phish in 2011 and 2015 and has had success with its Wine Festival and other race weekends.
Printup said he has been extremely appreciative of his opportunity to work at Watkins Glen and during internal meetings has often put up pictures from The Glen's past, particularly its Formula One days.
"Somebody said the other day our team and me have just been a curator for the last 15 years of one of the best road courses in the world," Printup said. "I'll never forget that. I hope I get a tattoo on my forehead in my grave of the racetrack. Some people don't think about it that way, but I still get chills working here.
"We've put almost $60 million into this place since I've been here. That's a heck of an investment, but look at what we've done. We sell out, sell out, sell out. Attendance has gone up, up, up in every category. That's what I'm going to take away. I'm going to take away the success of the team, the success of the strategic planning and just being curator for a period of time."
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This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: NASCAR track president Michael Printup to step down at Watkins Glen
