The idea for a racing facility in the region came from two area attorneys, Tom Wettach and Tim Silbaugh, who met in 1998 and discovered a shared passion for motorsport. Silbaugh was a racing enthusiast and a board member of the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix Association; Wettach worked as counsel for the Society of Automotive Engineers. Together they formed the Speed4U limited partnership, attracting 40 individual equity investors and securing debt financing from the Employee Real Estate Investment Trust. Circuit designer Alan Wilson, who had previously designed 16 of the country's most successful racetracks, was retained to plan the facility. Wilson found the 384-acre plot near a former strip mine in Wampum, with its rolling terrain, well suited to an interesting road course. Construction broke ground in December 2001 and the circuit officially opened on July 1, 2002.
The initial facility included a 1.600-mile road course, a 0.82-mile kart track designed by Wilson, and a six-acre skidpad used for driver training and autocross. The total construction cost was approximately $6.7 million.
Pittsburgh International Race Complex offered three configurations. The North track ran 1.600 miles (2.575 km) and formed the original circuit from 2002. The South track of 1.200 miles (1.931 km) was added in 2015 and can be run independently or combined with the North track. The full course, combining both, measures 2.779 miles (4.472 km) and features 19 turns running in a clockwise direction. All configurations use the natural elevation changes of the hillside terrain to create a demanding and rewarding layout.
By 2010 the original Speed4U partnership entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings. Two of the original investors, Jim and Kathy Stout, accomplished Dodge Viper SRT racers, stepped forward to purchase the complex and embarked on a six-million-dollar renovation programme. The track was rebranded as Pittsburgh International Race Complex in 2011. The South course expansion, planned since 2004, was completed in 2015, some 12 years after it was first announced. A 12,000-square-foot event centre overlooking the North Track was also constructed. Both the North and South tracks were fully repaved in 2017 and a new timing and scoring building was added at the same time.
Pitt Race attracted a broad range of regional and national championships. The SCCA and NASA regularly held club events at the venue. From 2017 to 2023 the circuit hosted the MotoAmerica Championship; to accommodate Superbike speeds a new chicane was added to the full course in 2017 at the approach to Turn 16. The Trans-Am Series visited in 2018 and again in 2024. The track also ran a Total Vehicle Control driver training programme targeting commercial and emergency vehicle operators.
The Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix used Pitt Race for its Historics programme beginning in 2004, making the venue a cornerstone of vintage racing in the region for more than two decades.
On October 1, 2025, Jim and Kathy Stout announced they had sold the property and would be stepping away from ownership. The circuit closed after November 2025. Racing in the Pittsburgh area continues at Schenley Park under the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix.
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