Phoenix International Raceway
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| Location | Avondale, Arizona |
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| Track length | 1 miles (1.6 kilometres) |
| Track shape | "D"-shaped Tri-Oval |
| Banking | Turns 1 and 2 - 11° Turns 3 and 4 - 9° Backstretch - 9° Frontstretch - 3° |
| Major events | NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series |
| Capacity | 76,800 |
| Address | P.O. Box 13088, Avondale, AZ 85002 |
| Owner | International Speedway Corporation |
Phoenix International Raceway (or known as PIR), is a one mile tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona. It opened in 1964, but wasn't used by NASCAR until 1988, with the first race won by the late Alan Kulwicki. After winning, Kulwicki debuted his Polish Victory Lap. It is an unusual tri-oval shape, more like a "D" shape. This is because the owner did not wish to alter the infield road course to accommodate a traditional NASCAR oval. In the past, several leagues including the NASCAR Southwest and the USAC Silver Crown Series have been hosted at the track. It has since been used by the Indy Racing League and an infield road course has been used by the Grand American Road Racing Association. The infield road course was redesigned in 1991, taking it's current form on 1.51 miles long and 11 turns. In 1996, the capacity of reserved seats at the track grew to over 65,000 and in 1997, the track was bought by the ISC. In the summer of 2003, the wall coming off turn 2 was moved out to increase the safety of the drivers. In the winter of 2004, lights were installed at the track to accommodate the first of two NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series dates of 2005. In 2005, the track hosted a second NASCAR race, replacing the spring race formerly held at Darlington Raceway, in South Carolina. After the 2005 season, the Bobby Allison grandstand was expanded in the vicinity of Turns 1 and 2.
Contents |
Records
Edit
NASCAR Sprint Cup SeriesEdit
- Qualifying Record: Ryan Newman, 26.499 sec(135.854 mph), 2004
- Race Record: Tony Stewart, 2 hrs. 38 min. 28 sec(118.132 mph), 1999
NASCAR Nationwide SeriesEdit
- Qualifying Record: Denny Hamlin, 26.872 sec(133.968 mph), 2009
- Race Record: Jeff Burton, 1 hr. 44 min. 13 sec. (115.145 mph), 2000
NASCAR Camping World Truck SeriesEdit
- Qualifying Record: Johnny Benson, Jr., 27.137 sec(132.660 mph), 2006
- Race Record: Kevin Harvick, 1 hr. 24 min. 26 sec(108.104 mph), 2002
See alsoEdit
External linksEdit
- Phoenix International Raceway Official Site
- Phoenix International Raceway Page on NASCAR.com
- High Resolution image from Google Maps
