Portland International Raceway (PIR) is a motorsport facility in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is part of the Delta Park complex on the former site of Vanport, just south of the Columbia River. It lies west of the Delta Park/Vanport light rail station and less than a mile west of Interstate 5.
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 Portland International Raceway via the USGS satellite imagery | |
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| Location | Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
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| Time zone | GMT−8 |
| Coordinates | 45°35′49″N 122°41′45″W / 45.59694°N 122.69583°W |
| Capacity | 30,000 |
| FIA Grade | 2 |
| Owner | City of Portland |
| Operator | E. C. Mueller |
| Broke ground | 1960 |
| Opened | June 1961 |
| Major events | Current: Formula E Portland ePrix (2023–present) IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Portland (1984–2007, 2018–2019, 2021–present) NASCAR Xfinity Series Pacific Office Automation 147 (2022–present) ARCA Menards Series West (1986, 2009–2012, 2021–present) Trans-Am West Coast Championship (2017–2019, 2021–present) Former: IMSA Portland Grand Prix (1978–1994, 1999–2001, 2004–2006) Pirelli World Challenge Rose Cup Races (2001, 2004–2005, 2018–2019) Trans-Am Series (1972, 1975–1987, 1990–1995, 2001, 2004–2005, 2009) NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series LINE-X 225 (1999–2000) AMA Superbike Championship (1983–1984) |
| Website | http://www.portlandraceway.com/ |
| Grand Prix Circuit (2008–present) | |
| Surface | Asphalt/concrete |
| Length | 1.967 miles (3.166 km) |
| Turns | 12 |
| Race lap record | 0:58.7403 ( Carlos Muñoz, Dallara DW12, 2018, IndyCar) |
| Formula E Circuit (2023–present) | |
| Surface | Asphalt/concrete |
| Length | 2.001 miles (3.221 km) |
| Turns | 12 |
| Race lap record | 1:11.216 ( Mitch Evans, Jaguar I-Type 6, 2023, Formula E) |
| Grand Prix Circuit (1992–2007) | |
| Surface | Asphalt/concrete |
| Length | 1.944 miles (3.129 km) |
| Turns | 12 |
| Race lap record | 0.59.259 ( Will Power, Lola B02/00, 2006, Champ Car) |
| Grand Prix Circuit (1984–1991) | |
| Surface | Asphalt/concrete |
| Length | 1.922 miles (3.093 km) |
| Turns | 12 |
| Race lap record | 0:57.626 ( Wayne Taylor, Intrepid RM-1, 1991, IMSA GTP) |
| Grand Prix Circuit (1971–1983) | |
| Surface | Asphalt/concrete |
| Length | 1.915 miles (3.082 km) |
| Turns | 9 |
| Race lap record | 1:04.860 ( John Fitzpatrick, Porsche 935 K4, 1982, IMSA GTP) |
| Full Circuit (1969–1970) | |
| Surface | Asphalt/concrete |
| Length | 1.800 miles (2.896 km) |
| Turns | 9 |
| West Delta Park Circuit (1966–1968) | |
| Surface | Asphalt/concrete |
| Length | 1.964 miles (3.160 km) |
| Turns | 11 |
| West Delta Park Circuit (1961–1965) | |
| Surface | Asphalt/concrete |
| Length | 2.000 miles (3.217 km) |
| Turns | 11 |
The track hosts the IndyCar Series, Formula E, ICSCC and SCCA and OMRRA road racing, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, and SCCA autocross events. Additionally, the PIR grounds are host to OBRA (Oregon Bicycle Racing Association) bicycling races on the track and the surrounding grounds. The facility includes a dragstrip and a motocross track.
The road course is almost perfectly flat and runs clockwise. Two track configurations are possible. The modern Grand Prix circuit includes a hard chicane at the end of the front straight, referred to as the "Shelton Chicane" in honor of Vanport racing legend Monte Shelton, and involves 12 turns at a length of 1.967 mi (3.166 km). Without the chicane, the track has nine turns and a lap length of 1.915 mi (3.082 km). Portland is classified as an FIA Grade Two circuit.
PIR boasts a Winners' List starring some of the most accomplished open-wheel drivers of all time including Mario Andretti (1985, 1986), Emerson Fittipaldi (1989), Michael Andretti (1990, 1991, 1992), Bobby Rahal (1987), Sébastien Bourdais (2004, 2007), Will Power (2019), and Álex Palou (2021, 2023).
The City of Portland is working to establish the track as carbon neutral. In 2023, an investigation revealed the use of leaded gasoline at the track, which poses significant health risks for spectators and residents near the track. This occurs primarily during drag races, as unleaded fuel (often alcohol based) is used in major weekends.
History
PIR is built on the former location of Vanport, Oregon, which was destroyed on Memorial Day, May 30, 1948, when a railroad berm broke and water from the Columbia River flooded the city. After the flood, all that remained were the paved streets and concrete foundations of destroyed buildings.
The first races took place on these old city streets in 1961 during the Portland Rose Festival. Since then, the Rose Cup has become an annual event. Racing at "West Delta Park", as PIR was known back then, was quite dangerous. Racers leaving the track unexpectedly could collide with leftover concrete foundations or fall into ponds.
Under the threat of losing the Rose Cup races, since many of the sanctioning racing bodies would no longer sanction races due to the deteriorating roads and dangerous obstacles, the track was finally paved in the 1970s.
In 1975, Portland International hosted the Trans-Am Series, the premier series of the Sports Car Club of America, which was won by John Greenwood, driving a Chevrolet Corvette. Greenwood would go on to win the 1975 Trans-Am Series Championship.
Beginning in 1984, Portland International began hosting the cars and stars of the PPG Indycar World Series, with Al Unser Jr. taking his first win, driving a Cosworth powered March.
Portland is best-remembered as being the site of two of the closest finishes on a road course in Indy car racing history. In 1986, Michael Andretti lost fuel pressure on the final turn of the final lap, which allowed his father Mario to catch up and beat him to the finish line by 0.070 seconds. At the time, it was the closest finish of any race in Indy car history. In 1997, in a three-wide finish, Mark Blundell beat second place Gil de Ferran by 0.027 seconds, and beat third place Raul Boesel by 0.055 seconds. For a road course race, it was the all-time closest finish in CART series history, as well as the closest three-car finish in series history.
In 1999 and 2000, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series ran a race at Portland International Raceway. The race was added after the demise of the ½-mile Portland Speedway that hosted races early in the series. The 1999 running saw the first (and as of 2021, the only) time there were more than one African-Americans competing in the same NASCAR top-three division race, with Bill Lester and Bobby Norfleet on the grid.
At the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008, PIR went through a track renovation. The track was repaved with new asphalt and some minor changes were made to the track layout. Turns 4-7 were widened. The fence on the inside of turn 6 was moved to provide a better sightline through the corner. Turn 7 was sharpened to slow down racers prior to entering the back straight. Formula One-style curbs were also installed on the track. The track reopened on February 23, 2008, with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
In September 2018, the Grand Prix of Portland returned after an 11-year hiatus, now an IndyCar Series race. The qualifying record is 0:57.3467, set by Will Power during the 2018 Grand Prix of Portland. Álex Palou (2021, 2023) has won twice since the race has returned to the calendar.
On September 29, 2021, it was announced that the NASCAR Xfinity Series would race there in the regular season.
On December 8, 2022, it was announced that Formula E would race in there with a modified layout in the 2022–23 season instead of Brooklyn Street Circuit. Nick Cassidy won the inaugural Portland ePrix in June 2023.
Lap records
The unofficial outright all-time lap record set during a race weekend is 55.760 seconds, set by Wayne Taylor on the old circuit layout, in an Intrepid RM-1-Chevrolet, during qualifying for the 1991 G.I. Joe's/Camel Grand Prix Presented by Nissan. As of September 2023, the fastest official race lap records at Portland International Raceway are listed as:
Lead contamination
40% of races at the Portland International Raceway use leaded gasoline. The urban location of the track, near the Portsmouth, Kenton and Piedmont neighborhoods of Portland, OR, has raised concerns about the potential for the Raceway to contribute to lead poisoning of nearby residents and a movement to end the use of leaded fuels at the Raceway.
IndyCar race history
IMSA Sports Car race history
Formula E race history
See also
References
Further reading
- Zurschmeide, Jeffrey (2013). Portland International Raceway. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4671-3065-3.
External links
- Portland International Raceway official site
- Trackpedia guide to driving this track
- Friends of PIR
- Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association OMRRA
- Unofficial History of PIR
- Aerial imagery from Google Earth of Portland International Raceway as an overlay on an old photo of Vanport City, Oregon
- Short video about, and on the history, of Portland International Raceway