Round 14: Bitnile.Com Grand Prix of Portland, Portland International Raceway, Aug 23-25
This will be the 6th running of the Grand Prix of Portland since the race returned to AOWR in 2018, having previously been part of the CART/Champ Car calendar from 1984-2007.
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History
Portland International Raceway is part of the Delta Park complex, on the former site of Vanport, which is 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.
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.
Since then, the race has been an important part of the Rose Festival. 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, a number of the sanctioning bodies refused to back the event, 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. It was won by Al Unser, Jr, in a March 84C-Cosworth DFX, driving for Galles Racing.
From 1986, the event became synonimous with new title sponsors Budweiser and G.I. Joe's sporting goods and auto parts store, with the race itself becomimg 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 idriving a Panoz DP-01-Cosworth XFE for Newman/Haas/Lannigan Racing.
The race was notable for two things. One, it was the first standing start in Champ Car history, with all 17 cars getting away from the grid and two, there were no caution periods.
In 2018 Portland was added to the IndyCar calendar. The start of the race was chaotic, as the field negotiated the chicane on the start/finish strait, resulting in a pile up that brought out the yellow flag. The start for 2019 was not much different, again with the yellow coming out, though minus the pile up. In 2020 the race was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic but was reinstated for 2021, with the start virtually a repeat of 2019. In 2022, in order to prevent a pileup at the chicane, the drivers agreed to have the start further back on the main straight than previous years. As result there was no pile up and the race ran without a single yellow.
Some trivia
Driver with most wins: 3, Michael Andretti, Al Unser Jr.
Team with most wins: 8, Newman/haas Racing.
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Track
Like many tracks on the IndyCar calendar, Portland has undergone a number of changes over the years.
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.
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 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.
West Delta Park layout 1961-65
Original PIR Layout 1971-1983
Current layout
Length: 1.967 miles (3.166 km)
Turns: 12
Lap record
Will Power, September 1, 2018. 57.2143, 123.577 mph (198.877 km/h).
Team Penske, Dallara IR18-Chevy Indy V6
Verizon IndyCar Series
Last year's race
https://www.indycar.com/news/2023/09...land-nics-race
Pole
Graham Rahal,
RLL Racing,
Dallara IR18-Honda HI23TT V6
Winner
Alex Palou,
Chip Ganassi Racing,
Dallara IR18-Honda HI23TT V6
Laps: 110
Distance: 216.04 Miles (347.683 Km)
Race Time: 1:57:01.9814.
Speed: 110.758 Mph (178.247 Km/h)
Fastest lap
Josef Newgarden - Team Penske,
Lap 16, 59.5874 sec.,
119.067 Mph (191.619 Km/h)
Cautions: 2
Lap: 6
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Practice and Qualifications
Practice 1
Friday, Aug 23
5:55 PM - 7:10 PM ET
Practice 2
Saturday, Sep 24
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM ET
Qualifications - Round 1 Group 1
Saturday, Aug 24
3:30 PM - 3:40 PM ET
Qualifications - Round 1 Group 2
Saturday, Aug 24
3:55 PM - 4:05 PM ET
Qualifications - Round 2
Saturday, Aug 24
4:20 PM - 4:30 PM ET
Qualifications - Firestone Fast 6
Saturday, Aug 24
4:45 PM - 5:00 PM ET
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TV broadcast
Sunday; Aug 25
USA, Peacock, 3:00 PM ET, 7:00 PM UTC
Sky Sport F1: 8:00 PM BST
