The short course came into existence through circumstance rather than deliberate design. When Watkins Glen underwent its major 1971 reconstruction, engineers added the new Boot segment to extend the circuit for Formula One. However, the Boot construction was not finished in time for the 1971 Six Hours of Watkins Glen sports car endurance race scheduled for July of that year. The race organisers ran the event on whatever had been completed: the updated main loop without the Boot, but still using the original start/finish line and pit facilities of the old layout. That race, the 1971 Six Hours, permanently attached its name to the configuration, which became known as the 1971 Six Hours Course.
From Turn 5, the Loop-Chute, the short course bypasses the entire Boot complex. Rather than turning left downhill into the woods, cars continue straight and connect to Turn 10, which on the long course serves as the exit of the Boot. This shortcut removes four corners of significant elevation change and replaces them with a brief straight. Cars then continue through Turn 10 and Turn 11 back to the pit straight.
In 1992, track officials constructed a bus stop chicane along the back straight just before the Loop-Chute entry, responding to a sequence of serious accidents. In 1989 Geoff Bodine suffered a hard crash at the end of the backstretch when a tyre failed. In 1991, Tommy Kendall's prototype severely damaged his legs in an accident at the same location, and NASCAR Winston Cup driver J. D. McDuffie died at the site during the 1991 race. The new chicane, named the Inner Loop, led into what became the Outer Loop. This modification slightly lengthened both the short and long course layouts.
When NASCAR returned to Watkins Glen in 1986 after a long absence, the series adopted the short course, which had been available while the Boot was still under construction during the 1971 renovations. NASCAR has used this layout at every subsequent Watkins Glen event. The track provides one of only a small number of road courses on the Cup Series calendar and is regularly cited as among the most demanding circuits drivers encounter in that championship.
The NASCAR Busch Series — later the Nationwide Series and then the Xfinity Series — also raced at Watkins Glen on the short course from 1991, with Terry Labonte winning the inaugural race. IMSA eventually migrated from the longer Boot configuration to the short course as well for its sports car rounds at the venue.
Compared to the Grand Prix Circuit, the short course removes the most topographically dramatic section of the track. The Boot's blind downhill left-hander, consecutive uphill rights, and blind summit are replaced by a flat connection between the Loop-Chute and Turn 10. What remains is the front straight, The 90 (Turn 1), the Esses, the Inner and Outer Loop, and the connection back to the start/finish. The Esses, a series of quick direction changes descending the hill, remain the most technical section of the short circuit.
The short course has drawn periodic criticism from motorsport commentators who argue that the full Grand Prix Circuit would produce superior racing, including for NASCAR, whose Cup cars have demonstrated the ability to navigate road course configurations of greater complexity. As of the mid-2020s, the short course remains the NASCAR standard at Watkins Glen, with ongoing debate about a potential switch to the longer layout.