The inaugural race took place on September 2, 1990, with Al Unser Jr. taking victory on the original circuit. From 1998 onward, a revised circuit configuration was introduced to the east of the former Pacific Place development, retaining only a small portion of the original layout. Despite the change, the circuit remained popular with drivers and consistently produced close, exciting racing.
At its peak, the Molson Indy Vancouver held the record for the largest single-day attendance at a Canadian sporting event. In 1996, that record stood until it was surpassed by the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. The final edition in 2004 drew a race-day crowd of 63,000, with a total weekend attendance of 158,420.
The race was a consistent source of civic debate throughout its run. Local residents objected to the noise and disruption caused by the event, and as the former Expo 86 lands were developed into the large-scale Concord Pacific condominium project, arguments intensified over whether the Indy enhanced Vancouver's reputation as a world-class city or constituted an unacceptable imposition on the urban environment. This tension was documented by academic Mark Douglas Lowes in his 2002 book, Indy Dreams and Urban Nightmares: Speed Merchants, Spectacle, and the Struggle over Public Space in the World-Class City.
The official reason given for the race's cancellation was that the business model was no longer viable. Jo-Ann McArthur, president of sponsoring Molson Sports and Entertainment, stated that "the bottom line is the business model couldn't work." Contributing to the difficulty was the impending construction of the Olympic Village for the 2010 Winter Olympics on the southern end of the course, which left only two seasons remaining before the circuit would be permanently disrupted. Without a long-term commitment to the event's future, attracting sponsors proved increasingly difficult.
Champ Car continued to race in Canada at Toronto, Montreal, and Edmonton in the 2005 season following Vancouver's departure from the calendar.
In July 2021, it was announced that Vancouver would host a round of the FIA Formula E World Championship — the Vancouver ePrix — on a reconfigured 2.21-kilometer version of the original circuit site. However, on June 18, 2022, the race contract was terminated before the event took place.
Over fifteen years, the Molson Indy Vancouver gave Canada a second regular CART fixture alongside the Toronto event and introduced North American open-wheel racing to a Pacific Northwest audience that responded enthusiastically. Its cancellation left a gap in the CART schedule and marked the end of an era for motorsport in the city. The debate surrounding the race also contributed to a broader civic conversation about the role of large-scale sporting events in urban environments.