Portland International Raceway — Local services in Portland

This review is specifically for the annual Christmas light show. What they do right: they keep their traffic jam from affecting the nearby streets. What they do wrong: just about everything else. If you attend at a peak time - say any evening 7 days or less from Christmas - you will wait. And wait. And wait. With your engine idling, with your kids increasingly desperate for the bathroom, with most of your attention on the car in front of you in case it moves up a length, with absolutely no clue how much longer it will be, and with your engineer husband absolutely Fuming as he brainstorms in excruciating detail the 4 or 5 things they could do to change the experience from excruciating to easy. There are several options. The easiest would be to sell tickets with a limited arrival window. Make it an hour wide if you want. Definitely charge more for peak times. If you arrive before your window, park and wait. If you arrive late, exchange your ticket for a new window. Or get a refund. Second, there is a lot of parking. Use it. Give vehicles a card stating when they can enter the line. Let people turn off their engines. Look, I'm anything but a wide eyed idealistic environmentalist, but the sheer amount of wasted gasoline releasing fumes into the air upset even me. Third, give the trapped animals information. How long will it be? (approx 19 hours from this point.) Where can I bail out? (Nowhere.) Are there restrooms? (Yes, but only near the front of the line that we stood idling in for over a hour.) Fourth, give the waiters something to do. Please! Vendors seem like a nice idea. Seriously. You have hundreds of trapped families. Can't someone at least sell them an overpriced hot cocoa? And give them a station to listen to Christmas music. Do something to make use of all that attention. Although the kids enjoyed the trip and the lights, my husband and I will do anything in our power Not...

Welcome - Portland Swap Meet April 1-3 2022

As I drove north on 1-5 to Vancouver near delta park I looked to my left and it appeared as though the entire infield and parking lot was full of what looked like tents at Portland International Raceway. I concluded my business in Vancouver and headed back over the 1-5 bridge headed home but a mouth to a flame my curiosity got the best of me and I found myself taking the off ramp leading to PIR. Prior to entering the gate I spoke with a security guard who directed me to some free parking, and waved down a free shuttle bus. This is how my adventure began. There and a half hours later I was back at my car.

Tickets to enter the swap meet are $10 and can be purchased online or at the front gate. Friendly local Venders, most of whom from the Pacific Northwest purchased spots along both sides of the 1.9 miles raceway. Most of the offerings were somehow related to cars or had wheels like classic cars trucks, motorcycles, and bicycles. As well as their parts and tools to put the parts on. Food and Beverages, conveniently located bathrooms. However, it is a swap meet and I found a wide variety items for sale that could interest almost any gender, age, race color or creed. The swap meet is also located at the Expo Center. There is a free shuttle between the two locations.

If you plan on buying bring something with wheels. If you forget off don’t have a tote with wheels golf carts are available for a small fee. Dogs on leashes are welcome.

The Swap Meet goes until...

This is a review for Prodrive which operates here at PIR. Its nice to have an air conditioned room to retreat into during the summer heat. Readily accessible and clean bathrooms are also a nice amenity not often present at other tracks. As a Portland local it's great to have a track just 15 minutes away. Can't wait for Indy car this August.

So as for Prodrive: I have had 2 sessions with prodrive with a third already booked. Make sure you visit Portland International Raceway's website for coupon codes to shave $100 off the price of the high performance drivers course. At $399 its a definite bargain. You get 5 total sessions so a bit shorter than other HPDE days. First 3 sessions are 15 min each, last 2 sessions are 20 min. You are split into three groups based on experience. Designated passing zones on the front and back straights. Dont feel like you need to have a high performance car when you go, i have seen everything from Honda Accords to Ferraris. I had Dan for my instructor most recently and he was great. Maybe it was because I knew the track better this time around but he seemed much more comfortable with me than my first instructor last year. Its a worthwhile experience to learn about car handling and improve your driving abilities while meeting new people. If your the least bit interested, do yourself a favor...