Portland International Raceway Rose Cup Half a century ago in the spring of 1961, something amazing happened in Portland, Oregon that changed the course of the city’s history as a racing and automotive town.  And it takes a little history lesson to really get what happened. When World War II came to America in December of 1941, the country suddenly needed a lot more ships than they had been producing. Portland was identified as a good safe place to build ships – it was 60 miles from the coast, and yet had good access to the Columbia River. So in just 6 months, Henry J. Kaiser built a city on a bunch of swampy floodplain at the north end of town. That new city, called Vanport (a mashup of Vancouver and Portland) produced ships all the way through the war, and provided both employment and housing to its workers. When the war ended, the shipyards shut down and the workers dispersed into Portland – the housing at the yards was not built to last and started falling apart into a slum. Then in 1948, Mother Nature did some urban...

The Oregon Rally and an Intro to Rallying At the beginning of the automotive era, all auto races were rallies – dedicated race tracks simply didn’t exist, and paved roads were rare outside of cities. So the only way to race cars was to start at Point A and race to Point B. That’s what they did in 1894 – the challenge was to get yourself and your car from Paris to Rouen – a distance of some 79 miles. The winning car made it in 6 hours and 48 minutes – 3 hours and 30 minutes ahead of second place.  That made the average speed about 11 miles per hour. But there it was – an auto race that used unpaved roads to get from one place to another.  Almost 117 years later, the Oregon Trail Rally happened May 13-15 weekend at Portland International Raceway and on roads up in the Columbia Gorge near The Dalles.  The cars are a little bit faster, but the fundamentals of the race are the same – get your car, driver, and navigator from one place to another as fast as you...

Track Day Racing - What you need to know Every car enthusiast wants to drive on a race track – whether it’s a chance to hit the oval, cut a great light at the strip, or test your skills at a road course, the allure of the race track is obvious: there are no cops, no stoplights, and no minivans to pull out in front of you. It’s just you and the pavement. And maybe some walls. Many clubs offer open track days, driver schools, and other events where you can get your car out on the race track. Some clubs require you to join up to participate, others are happy to take virtually anyone. If your club doesn’t do track days, just ask around and you’re sure to find at least one opportunity in your area. Fair Warning: Driving on a Race Track is Dangerous Before you sign up, there are three things you need to know: The first and most important thing to remember is that no matter how great your car drives and handles on the street, it’s likely to feel like a bowl of loose...