I just got back from Oregon Raceway Park in Grass Valley, OR. Personally, I think it is a great track. 15 turns and only one of those turns has something hard you can hit and that is the inside wall of the turn.

Facilities:
They are basically non-existent. The access road is a nice gravel road, no pot-holes but it is a little long (couple of miles) and dusty. The paddock (upper and lower) is paved. There is no running water and thus only port-a-johns. They do keep the place very clean.

The nearest 92 octane is Biggs junction which is 1 hour round trip. however, the track owners organized a fuel run at no cost to us. Just put your name on your fuel cans give them cash and they'll be back in an hour or so with change. I gave them a $20 for a 5 gallon can and had them keep the change. This gas situation is not likely to change soon. The Grass Valley gas station owner does not want to pay for a new tank in the ground. Apparently, the owners are trying to get one of the gas companies to put in stuff at the track, but they'll need a couple years of operating numbers first.

Places to stay are sparse. I actually camped, with most of the Oregon Porsche folks, at the track. If you do camp, be aware of the wind. For us it got pretty blustery. There is also no shade out there.

The road course:
In addition to my note above, this course is very technical. I do not recommend this to anyone that is just getting started. I think to enjoy this course, you need about 10 track days. The reason, is that every corner has some rather advanced trick to it to be fast. For example, all but one of the four straights (they are short!) have a blind kink or two in them. It can be unnerving in a way that i have only felt at the Nurburgring, and to a lesser extent, the crows nest at Thunderhill. About half of the turns are off camber. This is great fun! But you need a sensitive right foot.

The half-pipe! I love this thing. The Lotus just gobbles the pavement in this section. This is a very very positive camber set of two turns that comes at the end of a short STEEP down hill section. The grip and compression is just immense.

There is plenty for the high horsepower cars here as well. Notably, the hills. There are 3 sizable hills on the course. This levels the playing field and gives the high horse power cars a chance to shine and keep up with the grip machines (Lotus, Atom, etc).

I'm not sure that I will make it out to this track again this year but I hope to. Here is a list of the northwest tracks in my current order of preference from top to bottom given the facilities, the road course enjoyment, etc. If I were just learning, or had a different car it might be a different order.

1) Infineon
2) Thunderhill
3) ORP
4) Portland
5) Spokane
6) Pacific Raceways

Once ORP paves that road, they'll be above thunderhill. I doubt they will ever make it above infineon. Come on, wine country? You just can't beat a race track in the middle of wine country. Besides, Infineon has sheep to cut the grass, how cool is that?

 

Nice write up!

If infineon and orp were right next to each other and all the amenities were the same -- would you still put Infineon above ORP?

(I haven't been yet)

 

hopefully i can make it to that track on the bike this year

 

Nice write up ... just curious, why do you prefer Spokane above Pacific?

 

The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa is less than 30 minutes away as well. Slightly more luxurious than the Days Inn at The Dalles .

This is an awesome report, thanks for sharing!

 

................."very technical"................."every corner has some rather advanced trick to be fast"........................"blind kink"..................."half the turns are off camber"............................."half pipe........the grip and compression is just immense"

You had me at "very technical" but why so much more written

That tracks basically the same as almost every other track. Nothing Good anywhere close. Trevor as you know Sebring (kind of popular place) is in the middle of a Hole..Most likely one of the worst places on earth. It's the nature of the beast. Motorsports and Cities just don't get along


Sounds like it's well worth the trip down to me. Can't wait to set up a day down there myself. As long as my motor home has a full tank of fuel

 

Dean, who was at the kart track with us, was instructing down there this weekend. Here's an in car video from Dean's car: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_AuWYfgR3U

 

Three reasons primarily. The pavement lacks potholes at Spokane and is in just a better state of repair for one. I get nearly 300 track miles in a day at Spokane. At PR, depending on who runs it i get between 120 and 200 miles. The final reason is Spokane, relative to PR, lacks stuff to hit.

Pacific is a fine track and I think it is beautiful. It has potential for sure.

 

I just spelled out what technical meant in case someone read this that does know. I'd personally hate to see a track built c lose to city. I'm sure in short order the local HOA would put a 20 dB limit on the cars.

Mark, are you thinking of renting the track and taking down just a few experienced friends?

 

Yeah, I just really enjoyed Infineon. I think if you just compared the road courses to one another, Infineon is an 8 out of 10 and ORP is a 6 or 7. Pacific (the track most people here have experience with) would be about a 3 or a 4.

 

Thanks for the vid. Were you in the LNXDOOD car? If so BJ and I saw you on I-90 for a while. Black Exige and Silver Elise.

Yes that car was fast for sure. I ran with it in the instructor and advanced run groups. Good driver and a crazy fast car.

 

The owners of Pacific Raceways are in the dubious position of seeing their track with sustainably high demand, regardless of how bad the pavement is getting. So I guess if they will come anyway, why spend a few hundred grand on resurfacing it?

 

That wasn't me unfortunately. I was stuck here. I had the pleasure to run with Dean the first time out after he received his license. He is very smooth for sure and his car has only received safety and drivetrain modifications. It does move out quick.

 

Except for the 20% unbooked schedule they have along with the racing community getting pissed off about how dangerous it is. Other than that, they are doing very well.

Honestly, it is a shame that PR doesn't do better. However, the track management has taken some positive steps in recent years and, like our President, they have a plan.

 

Ah, it must have been a different car. This was very far from stock.