Phoenix Raceway

On 10 July 1963, The Arizona Republic reported that a group formed by businessman Richard Hogue had acquired a 320-acre plot of land in the Estrella Mountains, formerly used to grow cotton, with plans to build a US$500,000 motorsports complex called Phoenix International Raceway (PIR). Hogue had originally considered only building a road course but was persuaded to add an oval by racing promoter J. C. Agajanian. The plan faced opposition from the competing Arizona State Fairgrounds, but the Fairgrounds' paving plan was vetoed by the Arizona Fair Commission on 26 August, and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors passed a construction permit the same day. Groundbreaking took place on 19 September 1963. By the end of construction the entire complex had cost approximately US$1 million.

PIR opened with informal SCCA events in January 1964. The first formal events were held a month later, with Jack Hinkle winning the first highlight race on the road course. The oval held its first race on 22 March 1964, with A. J. Foyt winning a USAC event. In April 1964, PIR ran its first FIA-sanctioned event, won by Dave MacDonald over 155 miles.

The facility experienced several fatalities in its early years. The first occurred on 1 March 1964 when drag racer Robert Snyders was killed during a qualifying run on the dragstrip. In November 1964, Bobby Marshman died from burns suffered in a tire testing crash on 27 November. In August 1965 a 17-year-old named Phil Miner died in a dragstrip crash at approximately 160 mph. In February 1967, 13-year-old Maurice Gallegos suffered major head injuries in a go-kart race and later sued PIR for inadequate safety provision. On 27 February 1972, US Air Force captain Bruce Helfert died in a sports car crash on the road course.

Ownership of PIR passed from Richard Hogue to his wife Nancy around 1965–1967. J. C. Agajanian took over as promotional director in February 1967. PIR held its first major stock car events on 23 January 1968, with Don White winning a USAC event.

In January 1973, businessman Malcolm Bricklin's General Vehicle Inc. purchased PIR and rebranded it "FasTrack International Speedway". Financial difficulties related to the Bricklin SV-1 vehicle led to bankruptcy; General Vehicle filed for reorganisation in October 1975 and was declared bankrupt in January 1976. Davis allowed FasTrack to continue hosting races to pay creditors.

In August 1976, a group led by Bob Fletcher, Tom Taber, and Bill Hardy purchased the facility for approximately $400,000, reverting the name to Phoenix International Raceway. The track surface was repaved in 1977. The first NASCAR-sanctioned race occurred on 27 November 1977, with Cale Yarborough winning a NASCAR Winston West Series event.

By 1981, Dennis Wood and contractor Bill Krug took on a three-year lease to run the facility; Wood subsequently bought PIR outright. In 1985 the oval was repaved after an IndyCar race was cancelled due to concerns about the deteriorating surface. That year, Buddy Jobe and Patrick Johnson purchased the facility; Jobe bought out Johnson's share in February 1986 and became sole owner. During Jobe's ownership, seating capacity expanded from around 10,400 to approximately 42,000, and significant infrastructure was constructed. Two fires in 1987 damaged the frontstretch grandstands — the first caused by a lightning strike on 26 April, the second by a blowtorch accident in June — leading Jobe to construct a new grandstand with a capacity of 10,000.

The facility was awarded its first NASCAR Cup Series race weekend for 1988. The first Cup Series race ran on 6 November 1988, with Alan Kulwicki winning the event.

In July 1997, the International Speedway Corporation (ISC) purchased PIR for $46 million, with Jobe remaining as president. In 2002, Jobe retired; Watkins Glen International president Bryan Sperber became PIR president. In 2003 the dogleg was widened for increased safety and passing opportunities, and the turn two wall was extended to fully enclose the track. SAFER barriers were installed around the oval perimeter in 2003–2004.

A second NASCAR Cup Series race weekend was awarded for 2005 after Arizona officials approved $5 million in state funding. A $5 million permanent lighting system completed in March 2005 enabled night racing.

In November 2010, ISC announced a $100 million long-term development project. In February 2011, officials announced a repave and reconfiguration: the frontstretch was widened by 10 ft to 62 ft, pit road was pushed back, and the dogleg was "pushed out" by 95 ft. The apron beneath the dogleg was paved over, leading drivers to frequently cut it. The repave was completed by October 2011, receiving positive reactions from drivers including Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards. A ceremonial groundbreaking featured Jeff Gordon breaking old pavement with an excavator.

In November 2016, the ISC board approved a $178 million renovation project, which included demolishing the frontstretch grandstands, extending the Allison Grandstand, redesigning the infield, and shifting the start-finish line to after turn two and before the dogleg. In September 2017, Ingenuity Sun Media (ISM) purchased naming rights for 2018, renaming the facility "ISM Raceway". The renovation was completed in time for the 2018 Can-Am 500. In 2019, capacity was reduced to 42,000 when ISC was bought out by NASCAR, transferring ownership of the track to the sanctioning body. The ISM naming rights relationship ended in 2020, returning the track to "Phoenix Raceway".

In November 2022, Sperber's successor Julie Giese stepped down as president to run operations for the Chicago Street Course; Bell Bank executive Latasha Causey took over the position.

In its current form, Phoenix Raceway measures 1.022 mi with 9° of banking in turns one and two, 11° in turns three and four, 9° on the frontstretch, and 3° on the backstretch. The frontstretch dogleg is a defining feature of the track. An 11-turn infield road course measuring 1.510 mi has been included in the facility's layouts since 1992. The original 2.700 mi road course and 0.250 mi dragstrip opened with the oval in 1964.

Phoenix Raceway hosts two annual NASCAR race weekends. In 2020, the fall events became the championship-deciding race for all three NASCAR national series, replacing Homestead–Miami Speedway. After six years, the championship race is scheduled to return to Homestead–Miami Speedway in 2026. Support events include races from the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Phoenix Raceway hosted open-wheel events under USAC, CART, and IndyCar throughout its history. Until the mid-1980s, two annual open-wheel races — the Jimmy Bryan Memorial and the Bobby Ball Memorial — were held each year. Both were inaugurated in 1964 and held by USAC until 1979, when CART took over. The Bobby Ball Memorial ran until 1986. The Jimmy Bryan Memorial transferred to the Indy Racing League in 1996 and ran until 2005. IndyCar returned in 2016 but departed after 2018, citing poor attendance despite considerable investment from both parties. In 2025, it was announced that IndyCar will return to Phoenix in 2026, sharing a weekend with NASCAR.

From 1977 to 2009, the facility hosted the annual Copper World Classic, a multi-division race weekend. From 1992 to 1995, PIR hosted annual IMSA GT Championship races. PIR ran its first night race in 1993, installing temporary lights for an IMSA GT Championship event.

This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.