Phoenix Raceway


Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona, near Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually. Phoenix Raceway has also hosted the CART, IndyCar Series, USAC and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The raceway is currently owned and operated by NASCAR.
The raceway was originally constructed with a road course that ran on both the inside and the outside of the main tri-oval. In 1991 the track was reconfigured with the current interior layout. Phoenix Raceway currently has an estimated grandstand seating capacity of around 51,000. Lights were installed around the track in 2004 following the addition of a second annual NASCAR race weekend. A further reconfiguration in 2011 increased the banking slightly, removed the road course entirely and removed the grass and curbing inside of the dogleg, giving sanctioning bodies the option of whether or not to allow drivers to shortcut the dogleg and run on the now-paved apron that replaced the grass. Renovations in 2018 reconfigured the pit road and infield areas, and moved the start/finish line to just coming out of what was turn 2, before the dogleg.
Phoenix Raceway is home to two annual NASCAR race weekends, one of 13 facilities on the NASCAR schedule to host more than one race weekend a year. It first joined the NASCAR Cup Series schedule in 1988 as a late season event, and in 2005 the track was given a spring date. The now-Gander Outdoors Truck Series was added in 1995 and the now-Xfinity Series began running there in 1999.
NASCAR announced that its championship weekend events would be run at Phoenix for 2020, marking the first time since NASCAR inaugurated the weekend that Homestead-Miami Speedway would not be the host track. It is not clear whether NASCAR will continue to hold the championship festivities in Phoenix beyond that or if the 2020 season will resume due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

History

Phoenix International Raceway was built in 1964 around the Estrella Mountains on the outskirts of Avondale. Because of the terrain and the incorporation of a road course and drag strip, designers had to build a "dogleg" into the backstretch. The original roadcourse was in length and ran both inside and outside of the main oval track. The hillsides adjacent to the track also offer a unique vantage point to watch races from. "Monument Hill", located alongside turns 3 and 4, is a favorite among race fans because of the unique view and lower ticket prices. At the top of this hill lies a USGS bench marker known as Gila and Salt River Meridian, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Long before Phoenix Raceway existed, this spot was the original land survey point for all of what later became the state of Arizona.
Phoenix International Raceway was built with the goal of being the western home of open wheel racing. Sports cars and USAC began racing at the track in 1964, and the track quickly became a favorite of drivers and soon replaced the old track at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. In 1977, the first Copper World Classic was held, a marque event for USAC midget and Silver Crown cars.
NASCAR began racing at Phoenix International Raceway in 1978. However, it was not until 1988 when NASCAR's premier series, now the NASCAR Cup Series, began racing at the track. Following the announcement of NASCAR being added to the track schedule, Phoenix International Raceway built a 3-story suite building outside of turn 1 and increased grandstand capacity to 30,000. A year prior, the track's main grandstand was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, reconstruction was finished in time for the first NASCAR cup race. That first race was won by Alan Kulwicki where in his celebration he performed the first "Polish Victory Lap".
In 1991, the old road course was removed and replaced by a infield road course. In 1996 the grandstand capacity was increased to 65,000. International Speedway Corporation officially took ownership of Phoenix Raceway from Emmett "Buddy" Jobe in April 1997. Racing at Phoenix International Raceway began to dramatically change in 2003. Turn 2 was reconstructed by pushing back the outside wall to make racing safer. The wall originally came to an end where the old road course crossed the oval track. At the same time, an access tunnel was built under turn 4. Previously, vehicles had to use crossover gates and pedestrians used a crossover bridge. In 2004, NASCAR announced it would give a second annual race weekend to Phoenix International Raceway starting with the 2005 season. Following the announcement, the track installed lights to allow the newly scheduled NASCAR race to be run in the evening. The addition of a second NASCAR racing weekend had dramatic effects on the economy of the state of Arizona. A study at Arizona State University estimated that Phoenix International Raceway brings in nearly $473 million annually to the state. 2005 would also become the last year that a major open-wheel racing series would race at PIR, until it was recently announced that the track will return to the schedule for the 2016 IndyCar season. Despite the 2006 departure from the schedule, the track was still used by IndyCar for testing purposes.
In 2006, the Allison Grandstand was expanded from turn 1 to turn 2, increasing the reserved seating to 76,800. Included with the expansion is "Octane", an exclusive lounge on top of the grandstands overlooking turn 1. In 2008 Phoenix International Raceway added the SPEED Cantina, a one-of-a-kind at-track sports bar and grill, outside turn 2. In early 2010, some of the grandstands along the backstretch were removed to allow additional room for recreational vehicles, thus the seating capacity dropped to around 67,000.
In November 2010, ISC and the Avondale City Council announced plans for a $100 million long-term development for Phoenix International Raceway. $15 million would go towards repaving the track for the first time since 1990 and building a new media center. The plans also include a reconfiguration of the track. The front stretch was widened from 52 feet to, the pit stalls were changed from asphalt to concrete, the dogleg was moved outward by, tightening the turn radius of the dogleg from 800 feet to 500 feet. Along with the other changes, progressive banking was added to the turns: Turns 1 and 2, which had 11 degrees of banking, changed to 10 degrees on the bottom and 11 degrees on the top. Turns 3 and 4, which had 9 degrees of banking, changed to 8 degrees on the bottom and 9 on the top. Project leader Bill Braniff, Senior Director of Construction for North American Testing Corporation, a subsidiary of Phoenix International Raceway's parent company International Speedway Corporation, said "All of the changes – including the adjustment of the dog-leg – will be put in place in order to present additional opportunities for drivers to race side-by-side. We’re very confident that we’ll have multi-groove racing at Phoenix from Day 1 because of the variable banking that will be implemented.” The infield road course was also sealed off and removed from use, making Phoenix International Raceway an oval-only facility. The reconfiguration project was completed by mid-August 2011, and on August 29–30, five drivers tested the new track, describing the new dogleg and backstretch as a "rollercoaster" as now when they enter it dips, then rises on exit and dips down going into turn 3, due to the elevation changes. On October 4–5, several NASCAR Cup Series teams tested the oval which was open to the public. Over $7 million went towards connecting the track property to the Avondale water and sewer systems. Work began following the 2011 Subway Fresh Fit 500.
On June 11, 2015, Phoenix International Raceway announced the track would be renamed to "Jeff Gordon Raceway" for the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 in tribute to Gordon, who was contesting his last NASCAR season as a full-time driver in 2015.
After a 2016 INDYCAR Test in the West, INDYCAR measured the track as.
On January 30, 2017, Phoenix International Raceway and ISC announced a $178 million renovation called the Phoenix Raceway Project Powered by DC Solar. The project was completed in October 2018, just in time for their November race weekend. It was also noted that the facility would be referred to as Phoenix Raceway moving forward, signaling the removal of International from the track's name.
New amenities after it was completed:
Additional changes to the track after the project was completed:
In September 2017, PIR formed a partnership with Ingenuity Sun Media to rename the track to ISM Raceway starting in 2018.
On June 22, 2018 IndyCar announced it will not return to ISM in 2019 due to mediocre races and poor attendance.
On January 28, 2019, it was revealed on ISC's 2018 annual report that the raceway's track seating was reduced from 51,000 to 42,000.
On March 26, 2019 it was announced that starting in 2020, the track will become the host of the NASCAR championship weekend.
On January 3, 2020, the track mutually agreed to terminate the naming rights agreement with ISM Connect and its name reverted to Phoenix Raceway.

Movies and Television

Phoenix was mentioned in the TV series CHiPs in the episode Drive, Lady, Drive, but they used Riverside International Raceway in Moreno Valley, California as a stand in for Phoenix. Days of Thunder, starring Tom Cruise as Cole Trickle, used Phoenix as one of the racetracks used in the movie.

Racing events

Current events

Records

Most Wins9Kevin Harvick
Most Top 5s16Kevin Harvick
Most Top 10s24Jeff Gordon
Most Top 20s32Mark Martin
Starts34Mark Martin
Poles4Ryan Newman
Most Laps Completed9530Mark Martin
Most Laps Led1595Kevin Harvick
Avg. Start*8.1Rusty Wallace
Avg. Finish*5.2Alan Kulwicki
Closest Finish0.01Kevin Harvick

* from minimum 5 starts.

Race winners

SeasonDateWinning DriverMakeDistanceAvg SpeedMargin of Victory
1988November 6Alan KulwickiFord Thunderbird312 mi18.500 sec
1989November 5Bill ElliottFord Thunderbird312 mi0.470 sec
1990November 4Dale EarnhardtChevrolet Lumina312 mi0.670 sec
1991November 3Davey AllisonFord Thunderbird312 mi11.440 sec
1992November 1Davey AllisonFord Thunderbird312 mi3.220 sec
1993October 31Mark MartinFord Thunderbird312 mi0.170 sec
1994October 30Terry LabonteChevrolet Lumina312 mi3.090 sec
1995October 29Ricky RuddFord Thunderbird312 mi0.530 sec
1996October 27Bobby HamiltonPontiac Grand Prix312 mi1.230 sec
1997November 2Dale JarrettFord Thunderbird312 mi2.105 sec
1998October 25Rusty WallaceFord Taurus257 mi*0.170 sec
1999November 7Tony StewartPontiac Grand Prix312 mi2.081 sec
2000November 5Jeff BurtonFord Taurus312 mi0.854 sec
2001October 28Jeff BurtonFord Taurus312 mi2.645 sec
2002November 10Matt KensethFord Taurus312 mi1.344 sec
2003November 2Dale Earnhardt Jr.Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS312 mi0.735 sec
2004November 7Dale Earnhardt Jr.Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS315 mi**1.431 sec
2005April 23Kurt BuschFord Taurus312 mi2.315 sec
2005November 13Kyle BuschChevrolet Monte Carlo SS312 mi0.609 sec
2006April 22Kevin HarvickChevrolet Monte Carlo SS312 mi2.774 sec
2006November 13Kevin HarvickChevrolet Monte Carlo SS312 mi0.250 sec
2007April 21Jeff GordonChevrolet Impala SS312 mi0.697 sec
2007November 11Jimmie JohnsonChevrolet Impala SS312 mi0.870 sec
2008April 12Jimmie JohnsonChevrolet Impala SS312 mi7.002 sec
2008November 9Jimmie JohnsonChevrolet Impala SS313 mi**0.295 sec
2009April 18Mark MartinChevrolet Impala SS312 mi0.734 sec
2009November 15Jimmie JohnsonChevrolet Impala SS312 mi1.033 sec
2010April 10Ryan NewmanChevrolet Impala SS378 mi**a0.130 sec
2010November 14Carl EdwardsFord Fusion312 mi4.770 sec
2011February 27Jeff GordonChevrolet Impala SS312 mi1.137 sec
2011November 13Kasey KahneToyota Camry318.844 mi0.802 sec
2012March 4Denny HamlinToyota Camry318.844 mi7.315 sec
2012November 11Kevin HarvickChevrolet Impala SS326.018 mi**0.580 sec
2013March 3Carl EdwardsFord Fusion322.952 mi**1.024 sec
2013November 10Kevin HarvickChevrolet SS318.844 mi1.796 sec
2014March 2Kevin HarvickChevrolet SS318.844 mi0.489 sec
2014November 9Kevin HarvickChevrolet SS318.844 mi1.636 sec
2015March 15Kevin HarvickChevrolet SS318.844 mi1.153 sec
2015November 15Dale Earnhardt Jr.Chevrolet SS223.818 mi*Under caution
2016March 13Kevin HarvickChevrolet SS313 mi**0.010 sec
2016November 13Joey LoganoFord Fusion331.128 mi0.802 sec
2017March 19Ryan NewmanChevrolet SS320.908** mi0.312 sec
2017November 12Matt KensethToyota Camry318.844 mi1.207 sec
2018March 11Kevin HarvickFord Fusion318.844 mi0.774 sec
2018November 11Kyle BuschToyota Camry318.844 mi0.501 sec
2019March 10Kyle BuschToyota Camry318.844 mi1.259 sec
2019November 10Denny HamlinToyota Camry318.884 mi0.377 sec
2020March 8Joey LoganoFord Mustang318.884 mi0.276 sec

Track records

NOTE: Calculations based on the 1.022 mile standard established in 2016 by INDYCAR.