Pikes Peak International Raceway ( PPIR ) is a racetrack in the Colorado Springs area within the city limits of Fountain, Colorado , that by October 12, 1997, was "the fastest 1-mile paved oval anywhere". The speedway hosted races in several series including the Indy Racing League and two NASCAR series ( Busch and Truck ) until operations were suspended from August 2005. A wide variety of amateur racing groups use PPIR for racing and training as the circuit is now closed to sanctioned professional auto racing due to the purchase of the track by PPIR LLC from NASCAR/ISC in 2008 after the track was put up for sale in 2006. The sale included a clause that prohibited sanctioned professional auto racing, as well as the need for additional safety upgrades at a cost of $ 1 million+ for professional racing series that the new ownership had no interest in implementing with the clause in place.
16-586: Racing in the Pikes Peak Region included 19th century horse tracks (e.g., to the west of Colorado Springs' Palmer House along Fountain Creek by 1882 and to the north by 1903, the " Roswell Racing Park "), and the annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb started in 1916 on the 1915 Pikes Peak Highway . In 1938, a track was north of the Alexander Aircraft factory and c. World War II another
32-541: A $ 360 million to $ 400 million track and stadium that could hold 75,000 to 80,000 fans." A new opposition group, Commerce City Citizens and Business Alliance, endorsed anti-raceway candidates which won local elections, and in May 1997 "ISC executive Wesley Harris said the 1,300-acre parcel the company was considering near Denver International Airport was not compatible with its needs". ISC sold PPIR in November 2006 (the purchase closed in
48-649: A XX class for non-conforming cars or non-street-legal cars. As of July 2005, the fastest official race lap records at Pikes Peak International Raceway are listed as: NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Midwest Series USAC Western States Midget Series USAC Western States Midget Series USAC Western Sprint Car Series USAC Western States Midget Series USAC MCI WorldCom Western Midget Car Series USAC MCI WorldCom Western Midget Car Series Ryan Newman USAC Western States Midget Series USAC Western States Midget Series Pikes Peak Region The Colorado Springs, CO, Metropolitan Statistical Area
64-441: A joint venture January 30 with Raceway Associates, a partnership headed by California contractor and developer C.C. Myers Inc, to own and run the 1,300-acre" speedway complex. The asphalt track was constructed 6 ft (1.8 m) below the "normal ground level", C.C. Myers planned "to get a big-time NASCAR race in 1998", and the facility had an open house for the local community on May 31, 1997. The first race's attendance (June 8)
80-652: Is a United States Office of Management and Budget defined Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) located in the Colorado Springs region of the State of Colorado . The 2020 United States census counted a population of 755,105, an increase of 17.0% since the 2010 United States Census . The Colorado Springs MSA is the 79th-most populous MSA in the United States . The Colorado Springs MSA encompasses El Paso County and Teller County , Colorado. Approximately 88.40% percent of
96-690: The MSA's population live in cities or CDPs. The Colorado Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area is the second-most populous component of the Front Range Urban Corridor . ARTGO The ARTGO Challenge Series was a late model short track racing series that ran in the Midwestern United States from 1975 until 1998. Many race car drivers used the ARTGO series as a stepping stone to get into ASA , ARCA , and NASCAR . Art Frigo created
112-728: The McKarns licensed the name to NASCAR and NASCAR took full control of the series. The series went through different name changes with different title sponsors, including the RE/MAX Challenge Series, International Truck & Engine Midwest Series, and finally the AutoZone Elite Division, Midwest Series. Under the NASCAR era, the series had identical rules to three other NASCAR regional series (Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest). In 2006, after dwindling car counts and lack of races on
128-600: The city through the late 1970s was the Colorado Springs International Speedway which "had crowds in the 3,000-4,000 range on summer weekends". The Platte Avenue go-kart track closed c. 1990 , the greyhound track closed c. 2005 and is now an off track betting facility, and the Olympic velodrome in Memorial Park is one of the remaining racing venues within the city. Pikes Peak Meadows
144-660: The first quarter of 2007), and PPIR operations resumed in 2008. On December 6, 2012, USAC announced that PPIR would be on the 2013 USAC Traxxas Silver Crown Series schedule. Pikes Peak International Raceway would host the richest event in SRL Southwest Tour history as announced on April 23, 2013. PPIR also hosts regional club road course races such as the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) and SCCA as well as local enthusiast events such as track days, drifting events, and car shows. PPIR currently hosts
160-466: The largest autocross racing series in the Rocky Mountain Region, PPIR Time Attack. The series consists of 8-10 races per year on varying courses on the infield of the track. Courses run from 40 seconds to 1min 5 secs with competitors taking five runs to best their times. The series is based on weight to power and drivetrain classes, including front wheel drive, rear wheel drive, all-wheel drive and
176-521: The owners of Pikes Peak International Raceway" (racing operations were suspended and the scoreboard was moved to Texas Motor Speedway .) In 2006, meetings "between attorneys representing [Commerce City, near Denver] and International Speedway Corporation" were conducted before ISC "announced in February [1997] that it was eyeing land in Commerce City as well as eastern Aurora for the track. It envision[ed]
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#1732851618443192-819: The schedule NASCAR finally shut down the AutoZone Elite Division. To replace the NASCAR Midwest Series, the ASA Midwest Tour was created in 2007 by Racing Speed Associates, LLC as a new touring series that was similar in format to the former ARTGO Challenge Series. The ARTGO series had drivers like Paul Menard , Matt Kenseth (2003 NASCAR Cup Series Champion), Butch Miller , Dick Trickle , Joe Shear , Jim Sauter , Eddie Hoffman, Steve Carlson, Kevin Cywinski , Jim Weber, Justin Diercks , Tim Schendel , Jason Schuler and Jeff Frederickson. This NASCAR -related article
208-526: The series with the help of Bob Roper and John McKarns. He came up with the name by taking his first full name and the last two letters of his last name, coming up with the name ARTGO. The first race was held on September 7, 1975, at the Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Illinois . The inaugural Wayne Carter Classic was won by Tom Reffner. Frigo sold the series to John & Sue McKarns in 1979. In 1998
224-827: Was 16,810, the Richard Petty Driving Experience used PPIR from July 2–17, the first IRL Series race on June 28 was televised, and a Winston West 500K race was held in July 1997. Earlier in 1996, a competing track near Denver in Adams County, Colorado was attempted by Penske Motorsports, Inc. which merged in 1999 with the International Speedway Corporation . In 2002 ISC gained "the right of first refusal should PPIR owners decide to sell their 1,200-acre complex" and in October 2005 for $ 11 million, "bought out
240-410: Was a dirt horse racing track facility opened in 1964 20 mi (32 km) south of Colorado Springs and 25 mi (40 km) north of Pueblo, Colorado , with a large, blue, covered grandstand on the west. After its horse racing ended in 1993, C. C. Myers "announced plans in May 1996 to build a major auto racing facility" at Pikes Peak Meadows. In 1997, " Apollo Real Estate Advisors LP formed
256-605: Was to the factory's southeast at the south end of the Nichols Field taxiway. On the Pike's Peak Ocean-to-Occan Highway west of the city was the end of the 1951 Colorado sports car rally (terminus at the Crystola Inn ), a 1953 dirt dragstrip "some four miles east of Colorado Springs" was used for "the first statewide drag race", and a stock car track was along Powers Road in the early 1960s. The "last local track" for auto racing east of
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