Portland International Raceway
Entrance to Portland International Raceway
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| Location | Portland, Oregon, United States |
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| Time zone | GMT -8 |
| Capacity | 86,000 |
| Owner | City of Portland |
| Operator | E.C. Mueller |
| Opened | 1960 |
| Major events | NASCAR K&N Pro Series West |
| Surface | Asphalt/Concrete |
| Length | 1.967 mi (3.17 km) |
| Turns | 12 |
| Lap record | 0:57.597 (Justin Wilson, RuSPORT, 2005, Champ Car) |
| Website | www |
Portland International Raceway (PIR) is 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 a light rail station and less than a mile west of Interstate 5.
The track hosts ICSCC and SCCA and OMRRA road racing, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, and 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 track.
The road course is almost perfectly flat and runs clockwise. Two track configurations are possible. One includes a hard chicane at the end of the front straight and involves 12 turns at length of 1.967 miles (3.17 km). Without the chicane, the track has nine turns and a lap length of 1.915 miles (3.08 km).
The City of Portland is working to establish the track as carbon neutral.
PIR is built on the former location of Vanport, Oregon, which was destroyed on Memorial Day, May 30, 1948, when a dike on the Columbia River broke and 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.
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Wikipedia