ProFormance Racing School @ ORP

Fastest Man at ORP

OREGON RACEWAY PARK and S.T.A.R. Projects salute JAMES BLACKWELL, THE SECOND DRIVER TO WIN THE TITLE FASTEST MAN AT O.R.P.

1:37.187 Clockwise

Set at a I.C.S.C.C. Race Presented by Team Continental on October 3rd, 2010

JAMES BLACKWELL

OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

DRIVING A REYNARD 93-H FORMULA LEBRE

Volvo S60 Launch at ORP

Volvo Cars of North America selected Oregon Raceway Park to highlight the new S60. In 4 days, over 120 automotive journalists visited ORP to sampled the power and prowess of the new S60. The first two days, the journalists ran ORP clockwise. Keeping things fresh, journalists ran the course counter clockwise for the last two days.

To highlight the new S60's superb characteristics, Volvo brought the 2010 Speed World Challenge championship winning KPAX/3R race team. Famed professional race drivers Randy Pobst and Andy Pilgrim treated the journalists to some eye popping hot laps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29sW1HZ4Igk

Oregon Raceway Park thanks all who made this complex event possible. Being selected as a venue to demonstrate the superb new S60 is a real honor and we appreciate it. A special thanks to the following for visiting our facility and graciously overseeing the S60 launch activities:
-Doug Speck, President and CEO of Volvo Cars of North America
-Geno Effler, Vice President, Public Affairs of Volvo Cars of North America
-James Hope, Senior Manger, Product Communications, Volvo Cars of North America
-Frank Vacca, Product Spokesperson, Volvo Cars of North America
-Lennart Raneklint, Manager, Volvo Car Corporation
-Jim Haughey, Owner of KPAX Racing
-Bob Raub, Owner of 3R Racing
-Randy Pobst, Professional Race Driver, KPAX/3R Racing
-Andy Pilgrim, Professional Race Driver, KPAX/3R Racing

Finally, an extra special thank you to Randy Hanson and all the staff at Summit Events. It is a real pleasure to work with such skilled, competent professionals.

Sincerely

Oregon Raceway Park

Grand Prix - $1,000.00

STAR Projects Division of Master Mechanics Incorporated is posting a $1,000.00 prize fund and you (and that dubious ride of yours) have just as much chance of winning it as the big spenders (maybe better)...

Gumpert Apollo at Oregon Raceway Park

On Sunday August 22, Evolution Motorsports of Tempe AZ brought the Gumpert Apollo to Oregon Raceway Park for a private demonstration and test. This car’s serial number is #001.

The car ran flawlessly all day, only requiring fuel and torque of the wheels for safety. According to Todd Zuccone and Matt Carrick of Evolution Motorsports, this is typical for the car. After months of non-stop demonstration days, they should know.

Needless to say, everyone had a stupendously good time. Hopefully, Evolution Motorsports will come back next year and attempt to set an all out closed course lap record. We really hope that happens.

Meanwhile, feel free to check out the cool stuff at www.evoms.com

"Live from the Track" Update

The first ever "Live from the Track" Update. (And the weekend has just started)!!

93 sunny degrees and a cooling breeze. The meteor shower begins in earnest around 10:00 p.m.just after the moon sets. Come on out tonight and see natures incredible light show. Call on the gate radio until 1:00 a.m. for access.

Saturday and Sunday: Porsche Train!

Please help Josh

Josh Higgins works corners at Oregon Raceway Park. He is a volunteer firefighter and was seriously burned while working on a Fire Department Vehicle. See story below.


Grass Valley, Oregon –South Sherman Fire & Rescue

Firefighter Josh Higgins was seriously burned while working on a department vehicle on Tuesday July 27, 2010 at approximately 4:30pm. Several firefighters were transferring an antique fire engine from the Kent sub-station to the main station in Grass Valley for a restoration project. The vehicle had broken down approximately three miles outside of Grass Valley, Firefighter Higgins was working in the engine compartment attempting to get the vehicle started again when a fire erupted engulfing him in flames. Captain Hendrix, as well as Firefighters Atkins and Liddicoat came immediately to his aid and helped extinguish the fire and administer first aid.

Sherman County Ambulance responded and transported Firefighter Higgins to Mid-Columbia Medical Center where he was later air lifted to the Oregon Burn Center in Portland with severe but non-life threatening burns. Captain Hendrix and Firefighter Atkins also suffered minor burns while extinguishing the fire. Firefighter Higgins has been with the department for seven months. He moved from New Hampshire to start a new life here in Sherman County. He is highly respected among fellow firefighters and loved in the community. This has been an extremely difficult time with our tight-knit firefighting family.

The members of South Sherman Fire & Rescue would like to thank Shaniko Fire Department and Moro Fire Department for covering calls during this time, Sherman County Ambulance for taking care of one of our firefighters, and the community for their support. A fund in Josh Higgins’ name has been started at the Bank of Eastern Oregon in Moro; however funds can be dropped off at any branch, or the Country Café in Grass Valley and the Tumbleweeds store in Shaniko.

We please ask that you do not call the Oregon Burn Center to respect Firefighter Higgins’ privacy, as he has a long road to recovery.

Team Continental Announces William D. Murray Grand Prix October 2nd and 3rd 2010

This race is sanctioned by ICSCC under the 2010 Competition Regulations and will be held at Oregon Raceway Park.

Entries Open: Upon receipt of this announcement

Entries Close: Postmark, fax or register on-line by September 24, 2010

1st entry: $ 275 Includes 1 ticket to Saturday night social

Special Race Group TBA $ 275 and dinner; additional tickets $10 each.

Additional entries: $ 125

Late entry fee: $ 50

Crew and Spectators: FREE

Submit Entries To: www.motorsportreg.com

Or contact:

Team Continental Race Registrar

Linda Blackburn

2600 NE Minnehaha St. C39

Vancouver, WA 98665

360-695-6335 (day)

360-258-6812 (to 8pm)

360-735-7938 (fax)

raceregistrar@teamcontinental.com

** RACE ROTATION 3 – MANDATORY TECH GROUP 2 **

Race Chairman Steve Leonard may be reached at 503-320-1028 until 9 pm.

JOIN US!

Please join Team Continental and the City of Grass Valley

Saturday October 2nd at the Pavilion to celebrate a fantastic season of racing!

• Choose from multiple on-site restaurants for your dinner (Included with your $10 admission ticket)
• No-host beer and wine
• Live music provided by the TC Blues Band
• Meet Sherman County officials and residents that support racing
• Race Officials Division recruitment presentation and information
• Presentation of Lap Record Awards and more…

Only $10! Buy tickets when you register at www.motorsportreg.com

ORP Update June 27/28

Lapping Day with Palatov Motorsport: June 28th

Oregon Raceway Park in Grass Valley, Oregon
June 28th


Registration for the June 28th event is now open for general registrations.

www.palatov.com/events/index.html


This is a new facility and a very technical track. The event is open to INTERMEDIATE and ADVANCED drivers/riders only. Registration is limited to a total of 40 participants (20 cars and 20 bikes). The emphasis of this event is on maximizing tracktime.

The event is open to both CARS and MOTORCYCLES - there will be two run groups, one for cars and one for bikes (cars and bikes will not be on the track at the same time). We anticipate seven 30 minute sessions for each group. Registration is per driver/rider. Participants can bring as many cars and/or bikes as they can haul (all cars and bikes must pass tech!). Race cars are welcome.

We are now offering motorcycle transportation to and from the track in our transporter. Space is limited so contact us early to reserve your spot and get all the details.

Advance registration: $200 per driver/rider
Day-of-event registration: $225
Motorcyle transport fee: $50

DINNER CANCELLATION

THE TEAM CONTINENTAL DINNER SCHEDULED FOR THIS WEEKEND AT OREGON RACEWAY PARK HAS UNFORTUNATELY BEEN CANCELED.
Team Continental regrets any inconvenience to those who were planning to attend.

Oregon Raceway Park is a track of dreams for some Oregon racing enthusiasts

Original article written by Quinton Smith and published by the Oregonian on May 19, 2010.

GRASS VALLEY -- Bob Caspell drove around central Oregon for two years looking to buy land for a racetrack when he finally stepped foot on the wheat field atop a ridge two miles east of here.

There had been close calls. Interest, then political resistance in Madras. Bad timing on a former radar station in Condon. A couple of willing sellers suddenly raising their prices. Then after a year of driving up and down U.S. 97 in Sherman County, someone pointed him to the property on Blagg Lane with a view from Mount Jefferson to Mount Rainier.

Five years after buying 463 acres of dryland wheat, a group of Portland-area racing enthusiasts will stage their first Sports Car Club of America-certified race this weekend on what many of its users call one of the top road race tracks in the United States. It matters little to racers that the $3.2 million Oregon Raceway Park is literally in the middle of nowhere.

"This is very much a 'field of dreams' for us," says Tom Miller of Portland, a longtime racer, retired garbage man and board chairman of Pacific Motorsports Management, the investor group that built and operates the track. "We think if we build a great track they will come."

Track developers do not envision 100,000 people watching NASCAR in central Oregon. Their dream is to attract the hundreds of private racers and car club enthusiasts who each weekend challenge themselves on a handful of West Coast road race courses.

For Portland-area road racers used to driving nine hours to Willows, Calif., three hours to Seattle or six to Spokane, there has been little hesitance making the 130-mile trip to Grass Valley because the track delivers the challenges and thrills they seek.

"I've driven hundreds of race tracks across the U.S. and it's in my top two or three," says Scott Adare of Spokane, who trains drivers and trucks their custom cars to tracks around the country. "We don't view it as a remote location, but we ask: 'Does it make sense going there?' The answer is 'Yes'."

How it started

The track has its roots in the 1950s with the formation of two Portland-area car clubs: first the Cascade Sports Car Club and then Team Continental. Cascade was awarded territory in western Oregon, making Portland International Raceway its home track.

If Team Continental wanted to organize races it was left to rent little-used airports around the Northwest. Eventually that lead Caspell and other Team Continental members to dream of a track of their own.

In 2002 Caspell started prowling around central Oregon. Two years later he found the land -- second-tier wheat land with gullies and draws and lots of basalt rock that could be mined for the track's gravel base and asphalt.

There was skepticism at first. A race track seemed like another wild idea for one of Oregon's declining counties. But track investors kept talking and locals kept an open mind.

Caspell and investors formed Pacific Motorsports Management in 2003 and bought the land in 2005. Still a small, volunteer operation, it would be three years before the start of construction.

Pacific Motorsports asked the county to rezone the land for racing. They pointed to Thunderhill Raceway Park near Willows in northern California as a model of what they wanted to do. A county delegation visited Thunderhill and came away convinced that operation could be replicated in the wheat fields of central Oregon.

Thunderhill, started by a San Francisco-based car club 14 years ago seven miles west of Interstate 5, now boasts two tracks, permanent support facilities and is booked nearly every day of the year.

Oregon Raceway Park took shape as Caspell and others walked the land and planted stakes. They wanted it longer than two miles, they wanted lots of turns and elevation changes and they wanted other racers -- like karters and motorcyclists -- to like it as well.

To finance construction, the investor group expanded to 27 people, new investors putting in a minimum of $100,000. Grading started in June 2008 and by November the 2.3-mile road course was finished -- two inches of asphalt 40 feet wide laid over a 16-inch base of gravel. There are 14 turns, several off camber. Each lap has 400 feet of elevation change -- twice that of most road race tracks.

The track's signature area is a 330-yard stretch containing two tight turns, one of which is banked 14 degrees. The track is constructed so it can be run clockwise or counterclockwise, giving it twice the variety because every turn is different driven the opposite way.

"If you build a track so you can run it in both directions you really get two tracks for the price of one," says Jonathan Clark of Vancouver, director of business development.

Can it succeed?

Oregon Raceway Park quietly opened to car clubs, private drivers and other renters in November 2008, but was not certified by the Sports Car Club of America until August 2009 to hold official auto races. The track is also sanctioned by the International Karting Association and investors are working to get the track certified for motorcycles.

The track rents for $3,500 a day during the week and $6,000 per day Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Racers must retain fire and ambulance services, which can run $2,000 a day, and also pay for timers and 12 course marshals. This weekend, for example, Team Continental will charge each car $275 for a set of four races plus $125 for any additional races. Organizers expect 225 entries.

Clark said Oregon Raceway Park was rented 27 days its first year and so far has more than 40 days booked between May and October, enough to break even. Miller and Clark say growth in rental income will pay for the next round of improvements such as a permanent gasoline facility, upgrades to electrical and water systems, permanent restrooms and another paved paddock area.

Investors are betting there is enough business for a new track in the Northwest. Portland International Raceway in Portland is booked much of the year. PIR is a flat, fast course and Oregon Raceway Park's owners believe drivers will be drawn to their slower but more technical track. Owners have also priced their rents 10-20 percent lower than PIR.

Mark Wigginton, track manager of PIR, believes there is room for another road race track in the Northwest, but says the biggest question is whether a new track can operate profitably in a down economy that has hit the discretionary sport of racing very hard.

"Two years ago I had eight open days in the whole year," Wigginton says. "Now there are months with that many open days. The economy has been tough and they'll face the same issues."

PIR both benefits and is hurt by being the only track on the West Coast inside an urban area. It is near hotels, restaurants and other racing services but is subject to restrictions to mitigate noise. And because PIR is operated as a park by the city of Portland, it could theoretically be closed if it somehow became a problem.

Grass Valley, population 160, has two small cafes and a run-down RV park. The nearest motel is nine miles away in Moro and has 12 rooms, which fill quickly on race days, pushing visitors to facilities in Biggs, 27 miles to the north.

"They've done a tremendous job acquiring the land and getting it built," says Todd Butler of Yamhill, who sits on the SCCA's national board. "But I think they're going to have to make it a destination and it will take time for them to develop the amenities that we take for granted at PIR."

So far, racers say they are willing to put up with roughing it a bit if the track delivers the challenges and if they can see infrastructure improvements on the horizon.

Blair Nelson of Seattle organized a karting race at Oregon Raceway Park last month, drawing 63 racers from as far away as Alberta, Canada.

"It's an extremely challenging course; one of the most technical in the country," says Nelson. "Everything about the event was better than we hoped. I'd go back there in a heartbeat."

Adare, the custom car organizer from Spokane, rented the track for two days for 12 clients. The key for Adare was that his customers loved the course and asked to return this year.

"Time will tell if the track is busy enough," Adare says. "It took Thunderhill a couple of years to get going. I suspect it will be the same case here. But the track is absolutely fabulous."

--Quinton Smith, Special to The Oregonian

Full online article can be found here.

Fuel at ORP

ORP will be selling Premium Unleaded Gas at events in May. Price is $4.50/gal.

We expect to have high octane unleaded and leaded race fuel on site shortly there after.

First Competition Event at ORP: Green Flag

WE ARE RACING.

Thank you to NW Road Racers for putting on a Double First! It was NWRR 1st event as a club and ORP's first competition event.

Congratulations to Ryan Kurpiewski for the outright official lap record of 1.42

Announcing ORPC

Oregon Raceway Park Club (ORPC) is a private, prepaid track day package. Details available under the Track Rental and Club Info tab of this website.