Open Wheel Racing 2021, anyone there to watch?

[Jimjamesak]

That stadium ain’t hosting baseball anytime soon. Unless you want a real short porch in left field…

[Kepler]

The stadium is hideous now and has been since the mid-90s. It's like being jammed in a sardine can.

They should build something beautiful in the crappy part of North Portland that still has the river. Gentrify like with Anacostia. Drive out the homeless.

[Russell Jaslow]

I lived in Portland for 6 years and I never saw the Portland International Raceway mentioned, in any form of media, once. I had no idea it existed.

You must not have been paying much attention.

PIR has been around since 1961. It was built on the old Vanport area which was destroyed in 1948 when a railroad berm failed causing the Columbia River to flood the town. So, with just the paved streets and building foundations left, they built a racetrack on the remains.

During the CART Indycar heyday, it held a very popular round of the series as well as hosting an IMSA event. It also from the beginning hosted the Rose Cup to coincide with the Portland Rose Festival, one of the top amateur sports car events in the country. (Indy car has since returned, but IMSA has not.)

It also has a dragstrip (which is why the front stretch is so wide) and a motocross track.

[Kepler]

It also has a dragstrip (which is why the front stretch is so wide)

DRS, baby.

[Jimjamesak]

You must not have been paying much attention.

PIR has been around since 1961. It was built on the old Vanport area which was destroyed in 1948 when a railroad berm failed causing the Columbia River to flood the town. So, with just the paved streets and building foundations left, they built a racetrack on the remains.

During the CART Indycar heyday, it held a very popular round of the series as well as hosting an IMSA event. It also from the beginning hosted the Rose Cup to coincide with the Portland Rose Festival, one of the top amateur sports car events in the country. (Indy car has since returned, but IMSA has not.)

It also has a dragstrip (which is why the front stretch is so wide) and a motocross track.

In fairness to Kepler, the dates he was living there would’ve been smack dab in the middle of the CART/IRL split so it’s understandable he wouldn’t have known.

[Kepler]

In fairness to Kepler, the dates he was living there would’ve been smack dab in the middle of the CART/IRL split so it’s understandable he wouldn’t have known.

Also my awareness of vroom vroom at that time was subzero.

[Spartanforlife4]

I don't own the Racing Capitol of the World, so they probably know something I don't, but why would IMS combine Indy and NASCAR's road course races into a single weekend? Maybe you'll get fans buying tickets to races for both orgs whereas they might not come out for one if it was just an Indy or NASCAR weekend alone, but I would think you'd rather fill two weekends than have one big one. Though with NBC having rights to all the races maybe they had some say in it.

[MichVandal]

I don't own the Racing Capitol of the World, so they probably know something I don't, but why would IMS combine Indy and NASCAR's road course races into a single weekend? Maybe you'll get fans buying tickets to races for both orgs whereas they might not come out for one if it was just an Indy or NASCAR weekend alone, but I would think you'd rather fill two weekends than have one big one. Though with NBC having rights to all the races maybe they had some say in it.

And additional question- why race at a track twice? They already did a race here in May before the 500.

It's a good race and all, but repeating a track?

[Russell Jaslow]

And additional question- why race at a track twice? They already did a race here in May before the 500.

It's a good race and all, but repeating a track?

Originally because they had trouble finding venues...

But now, I think they will dump the second trip to Indy. Especially since next year NASCAR will use the oval for their race. And it's too much logistical setup work to go back and forth.

[MichVandal]

Originally because they had trouble finding venues...

But now, I think they will dump the second trip to Indy. Especially since next year NASCAR will use the oval for their race. And it's too much logistical setup work to go back and forth.

That certainly does not speak well of Indycar.

[Spartanforlife4]

And additional question- why race at a track twice? They already did a race here in May before the 500.

It's a good race and all, but repeating a track?

It’s a different course at least. Better than NASCAR going to the same tracks twice and weather is the only change, though to their credit they’re beginning to change that by doing rovals at some of their repeats or just going to single dates at tracks.

Originally because they had trouble finding venues...

But now, I think they will dump the second trip to Indy. Especially since next year NASCAR will use the oval for their race. And it's too much logistical setup work to go back and forth.

I’m probably underestimating this by a lot, but is it that much work to change it? The infield course is already there, so isn’t it just moving barriers to turn 1 and painting a couple more lines?

[solovsfett]

Originally because they had trouble finding venues...

But now, I think they will dump the second trip to Indy. Especially since next year NASCAR will use the oval for their race. And it's too much logistical setup work to go back and forth.

Yes. INDYCAR had trouble finding an additional venues for a while with Pocono falling off, New Hampshire, Phoenix, etc but… the good news is the 2nd Indy road course race is getting replaced going forward with Milwaukee. Evidently they want to run Milwaukee like Iowa and have concerts, etc.

question in my mind given the news this weekend is this: Is Alex Palou a dishonest ***** or is Zack Brown and McLaren dishonest? How is he not under written contract at McLaren after all of the promises of an F1 opportunity and then the lawsuit with Ganassi?

[Russell Jaslow]

I’m probably underestimating this by a lot, but is it that much work to change it? The infield course is already there, so isn’t it just moving barriers to turn 1 and painting a couple more lines?

Yes, you're underestimating it ... by a lot. :-)

When SVRA first went to Indy to put on the Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational, I was lucky enough to work it. In that first year, they offered to the drivers not just the road course for the usual races, but exhibition laps on the oval at racing speed. Needless to say, it was a huge selling point.

However, the time it took to convert the track was tremendous. The oval requires a certain setup of walls, especially on the inside of turns 1 and 2, which cannot be there for the road course. Mainly due to the angles the drivers would otherwise inpact inside barriers if they spun to the inside of the oval. They also have to add barriers in Turn 4 when they run the road course in order to protect emergency vehicles which sit there for rapid deployment for the early part of the infield circuit. They also have to add walls in the short chute between 1 and 2 for the cars exiting the infield, again all due to angles. And if I remember correctly, the entrance to pit lane when running the road course is different than the exit of pit lane when running the oval, requiring more wall movement.

So, they only wanted to do this conversion once a day. Thus, they would setup for the oval at the end of one day after racing was complete, run the oval the next morning, and then change it back during a long lunch.

After two years of this format, they abandoned the idea of providing racing speed laps on the oval. It was just too much of a hassle. (Occasionally they did have some ceremonial runs on the oval, but they were very slow speed, so they just shoved the walls that were placed on the oval out of the way.)

And yes, I did get to drive the oval -- in a Jaguar F-Type. It was one of the most overwhelming experiences of my life.

[Russell Jaslow]

question in my mind given the news this weekend is this: Is Alex Palou a dishonest ***** or is Zack Brown and McLaren dishonest? How is he not under written contract at McLaren after all of the promises of an F1 opportunity and then the lawsuit with Ganassi?

It's a mess. And I don't know if we'll ever know the whole truth from all sides.

[Kepler]

why would IMS combine Indy and NASCAR's road course races

Is there significant overlap? My stereotypes of those sets (gearheads; racists) do not intersect.