Portland Speedway was a half-mile race track for auto racing in Portland, Oregon, U.S. It was in existence from 1924 until 2001.
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Location | Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
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Opened | 1924 |
Closed | 2001 |
Major events | NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series NASCAR Winston West Series World of Outlaws |
Oval | |
Surface | Clay (1924–1946; 2000–2001) Asphalt (1946–2000) |
Length | 1/2 and 1/4 miles (0.8 km) |
Turns | 4 |
The track began as a five-eighths-mile (one km) clay oval in 1924 on the site of a field in north Portland. The track hosted big cars, midget cars, and stock cars before the suspension of racing during World War II.[1]
The track was paved in 1946 as a half-mile oval. NASCAR sanctioning came to Portland after Western Speedways, Inc. leased the track in 1984. It hosted four NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races from 1995 to 1998.[2] Mike Skinner and Ron Hornaday Jr. won at Portland during their championship seasons, 1995 and 1996 respectively.[2] Rich Bickle and Stacy Compton won the final two events there.[2]
The NASCAR Winston West Series ran 36 Portland races between 1971 and 2000 with Hershel McGriff winning a series high five times.[2] Other notable winners included future NASCAR Winston Cup champion Bobby Allison, 1990 Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope, and NASCAR drivers Chad Little, Greg Biffle, and Ken Schrader.[2] 1994 Portland winner Rick Carelli competed in all four Portland Craftsman Truck Series races, with three top tens and a best finish of third in 1998.[3]
The last race on the pavement surface was on July 30, 2000.[1] The track was converted to a clay surface and hosted the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars in 2000 and 2001.[4][5]
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Professional venues |
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College venues |
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Golf courses |
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Other venues |
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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race venues | |||||||||||
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West |
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Tracks of the NASCAR Elite Division | Northwest (1985–2006) | |
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Ovals |
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Road Courses |
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series race venues | |
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Former |
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