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Old 29 Aug 2018, 18:46 (Ref:3846944)   #1
bjohnsonsmith
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Round 16: Grand Prix of Portland, Portland International Raceway. Aug 30-Sept 1

Round 16: Grand Prix of Portland, Portland International Raceway. Aug 30-Sept 1

Portland returns to AOWR after an 11 year hiatus, having previously been part of the CART/Champ Car schedule from 1984-2007.

Portland International Raceway is part of the Delta Park complex, on the former site of Vanport, just south of the Columbia River. The venue hosts ICSCC, SCCA and OMRRA road racing as well as the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West and SCCA autocross events.

The city of Vanport was hastily built by Henry Kaiser in 1942, to house World War II shipyard workers. Buildings went up quickly and soon Vanport had a population of more than 40,000, making it the the second largest city in the state of Oregon at that time and the largest public housing project in the nation. The city lay between the contemporary Portland city limits and the Columbia River, on reclaimed lowlands. Vanport was protected by a system of dykes which held the waters back. Tragically, after weeks of heavy rain, the dykes failed at 4.17pm on Memorial Day, May 30, 1948. A 10-feet high wall of water rushed in killing 15 people and within half an hour the entire city was flooded. When the waters eventually receded, all the buildings were destroyed, with no prospect of the remainder being habitable. After the debris was cleared away, the city was abandoned.

In 1960, the city of Portland bought the land from the Army Corps of Engineers for $175,000. Racing enthusiasts saw the potential of the land and the Portland Rose Festival Association was persuaded to sponsor a race and so the Rose Cup was born, with its first running in June 1961. The race has been an important part of the Rose Festival ever since. However, racing on the old city streets was dangerous, with drivers leaving the track unexpectedly or colliding with leftover concrete foundations or even finding themselves driving into ponds! Under threat of losing the Rose Cup races, as many of the sanctioning bodies refused to back races due to the deteriorating roads, the track was finally paved in the 1970s.

Funded by a $100,000 loan arranged by the Rose Festival Association from four banks, all of the monies were paid back by 1973 and the facility has operated as a commercial enterprise ever since, generating a profit for the City of Portland and meaning it requires zero funding by the taxpayer.

In 1975, the track changed its name from West Delta Park, to Portland International Raceway and hosted the third round of the Trans-Am Series, the premier series of the Sports Car Club of America, which was won by John Greenwood, driving a Chevrolet Corvette, who went on to win the championship that year.

On June 17, 1984, Portland hosted the fifth round of the CART PPG/IndyCar series, Stroh's 200 Miles, though for nearly its entire existence, the title sponsor of the race was G.I. Joe's sporting goods and auto parts store. It was won by Al Unser, Jr, in a March 84C-Cosworth DFX, driving for Galles Racing. The race became a perennial on the calendar, up until the last race as a Champ Car event on June 10, 2007, which was won by Sébastien Bourdais, in a Panoz DP-01-Cosworth XFE driving for Newman/Haas/Lannigan Racing. The race ws notable for two things. It the first standing start in Champ Car history, with all 17 cars getting away from the grid and there were caution flags.


Like many tracks on the IndyCar calendar, Portland has undergone a number of changes. In 1984, prior to hosting the fifth round of the CART/PPG IndyCar series, the track underwent some $800,000 worth of improvements. Most noticeably was to the track itself, with the addition of a chicane, known as the 'Festival Curves', toward the end of the main straight, while a permanent pit lane and paved paddock area was installed for the first time on the infield. Elsewhere, Victory Boulevard was widened and concrete barriers and fencing were installed along the inside of its entire length. The final turn was also repaved and widened near the new pit entry road. The entire front straight, Vanport's Cottonwood Street, was also repaved. The changes increased the track length to 1.967 miles (3.165 km).

By 1992, the speed of the CART race cars need to be slowed and the Festival Curves were reconfigured into a much tighter chicane and paved in concrete. The Festival Curves were again modified for the 2005 season, with the second turn widened and made faster to try and alleviate the traditional first lap pile-up.

In 2008 PIR went through a further track renovation, with a complete resurfacing with new asphalt and the reconfiguration of Turns 4 to 7. The fence on the inside of turn 6 was moved to provide a better sight-line, while Turn 7 was sharpened, to slow cars down prior to entering the back straight. FIA-specification curbing was also installed around the track which opened in its new form on February 23, 2008, with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

This year's race will be held in September on Labor Day weekend, promoted by Green Savoree Racing Promotions.

Some trivia:
Of the current crop of drivers, only five have previously raced at Portland.
Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan: 2002 G.I. Joe's 200.
Ryan Hunter-Reay: 2005 G.I. Joe's Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland.
Graham Rahal and Sébastien Bourdais: 2007 Mazda Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland.

Driver with most wins: Michael Andretti 3, Al Unser, Jr. 3
Team with most wins: Newman/haas Racing, 8

Track layout 1984-91:


Track layout 1992-2004:


Track layout 2005-07:


Track layout 2008 to now:


Lap record:
Justin Wilson, 2007 Mazda Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland, June 8, 2007. 58.000, 121.903 mph (196.184 km/h)
RSPORTS, Panoz DP-01-Cosworth XFE. Champ Car World Series.

Last race pole:
Justin Wilson, 2007 Mazda Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland, June 8, 2007. 58.000, 121.903 mph (196.184 km/h)
RSPORTS, Panoz DP-01-Cosworth XFE. Champ Car World Series.

Last race winner:
Sébastien Bourdais,
Newman/Haas/Lannigan Racing
Panoz DP-01-Cosworth XFE

Laps: 103
Distance: 202.292 Miles (325.557 Kms)
Race Time: 1:45:42
Speed: 114.816 mph (184.778 Km/h)

Cautions
0, lap 0.

TV Broadcast
Sep 2, 2:30pm ET.

Last edited by bjohnsonsmith; 29 Aug 2018 at 18:54.
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