Phoenix International Raceway was developed by a group formed by businessman Richard Hogue, who acquired a 320-acre plot of land in the Estrella Mountains in 1963. Hogue originally considered building only the road course before being convinced to add the oval by racing promoter J. C. Agajanian. The final complex, which cost approximately one million dollars to build, opened in January 1964 and included the 1-mile oval, the 2.700-mile road course, and a 0.250-mile dragstrip.
The road course was the first part of the facility to host a formal competitive event. In February 1964, Jack Hinkle won the first highlight race on the road course. The same year, the facility hosted its first FIA-sanctioned event, won by Dave MacDonald over 155 miles. The original road course layout used sections of the oval alongside purpose-built sections external to the oval, and the distinctive frontstretch dogleg on the modern oval — a mild kink visible in the track's profile — was originally added to accommodate the original road course routing.
The 2.700-mile external road course hosted sports car racing through the facility's early decades. In February 1972, United States Air Force captain Bruce Helfert died in a sports car crash on the road course, one of several fatalities the facility experienced in its first two decades. The road course also appeared on the schedule of the IMSA GT Championship in 1993 when Phoenix Raceway ran its first night race, using temporary lights for an IMSA event.
In 1990, plans were drafted to construct an infield road course to complement the existing oval layout. The new 1.510-mile (2.430 km), 11-turn circuit was completed in 1992. From 1992 to 1995, Phoenix Raceway hosted an annual IMSA GT Championship race, with the infield road course providing the venue for sports car competition within the existing oval perimeter.
Phoenix Raceway has been through several ownerships and name changes since its 1964 opening. International Speedway Corporation acquired the facility in 1997 for $46 million, and NASCAR took ownership in 2019 when ISC was absorbed by the sanctioning body. A $178 million renovation completed in 2018 transformed the frontstretch grandstands and infield, bringing seating capacity to 42,000 as of 2019. The facility hosts two annual NASCAR Cup Series races — the Straight Talk Wireless 500 and the Freeway Insurance 500 — the latter serving as the NASCAR Championship race for the season from 2020 through 2025.
Open-wheel racing also has a long history at Phoenix Raceway. The facility hosted USAC, CART, and IRL events from its earliest years through 2005, with IndyCar returning in 2016 and 2017 before attendance difficulties prompted another withdrawal. IndyCar is scheduled to return to Phoenix in 2026, sharing a weekend with NASCAR.
The road course origins of Phoenix Raceway shaped the physical character of the oval itself: the dogleg kink in the frontstretch of the modern 1-mile oval was installed to accommodate the original 1964 road course and has persisted as a distinctive feature of the layout ever since. The facility's evolution from a multi-discipline complex with separate road course, oval, and drag strip into a primarily oval-focused venue reflects broader trends in American motorsport, though its infield road course continued to host sports car competition into the 1990s.