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49th Rose Cup Races are the hottest show in town this weekend
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Trans-Am racing headlines this weekend's Rose Cup Races
This year’s Rose Cup races are more than just the 49th running of this iconic Pacific Northwest racing event. Auto racing in Portland stretches back almost to the invention of the automobile. In 1909, the Wemme Trophy race took place on oil-covered dirt roads from Portland to Gresham. That race was a major feature of the third annual Portland Rose Festival, and became the very first national championship auto race in the United States - two years before the Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened for the first Indy 500!
In 1961, the Portland Rose Festival Association, together with the Portland Jaycees and Cascade Sports Car Club, decided to get back into auto racing. They created the Rose Cup race and held the event on the old streets of Vanport in West Delta Park. Over time the track was improved and extended by the Rose Festival and the local racing community, and it was soon renamed Portland International Raceway.
This year marks the 49th annual running of the Rose Cup, and Portland’s signature racing event is still going strong with the help of Temp-Control Mechanical, who stepped forward in 2000 to become the presenting sponsor of the event. For the past 9 years, TCM has promoted the Rose Cup as a community celebration and brought thousands of fans out to see the races.
Several of the drivers who entered that first Rose Cup race 49 years ago are back this year. Monte Shelton entered the 1961 race in an Austin-Healey 100M, and Marshall Atherton in an MGA. This year, we can expect to see Monte in his trademark #57 Porsche, called “Ol’ Blue,” and Atherton in his silver and black #99 Nissan 350Z.
Since 1961, revenues from the Rose Cup events have continued to fund improvements to Portland International Raceway, and the larger economic benefits of Rose Festival racing events help bring jobs and prosperity to hundreds of our neighbors. Portland’s rich automotive history places it among the greatest racing cities in America, and each year of the Rose Cup adds a page to the book. It’s a unique legacy, and all of us here this weekend are a part of the story.
Portland International Raceway is located close to Interstate 5 at Exit 306B.
Admission:
3-day General Admission: $16 advance, $20 gate
Friday-only General Admission: $4 advance, $5 gate
Saturday-only General Admission: $5.50 advance, $7 gate
Sunday-only General Admission: $8 advance, $10 gate
Transportation & Parking:
1-day Parking Permit: $5
3-day Parking Permit: $10
Free Parking Available Outside P.I.R. Gate
Take MAX to PIR.
Tri-Met Yellow Line Schedule
Trans-Am will headline the Rose Cup
Trans-Am has raced in Portland 21 times from 1975 to 2005, and served as the Rose Cup race from 1975 through 1983. In 1984, Trans-Am became a regular support race for Portland’s annual Champ Car race. But with Champ Car dead and buried, Trans-Am is back as the Rose Cup headliner this year, and with all-new cars it’s sure to be a thriller.
The race goes off at about 2:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. You’ll want to get there early for a good seat in the festival chicane grandstand!
Fast Fact: SCCA Trans-Am is the only American racing series to have had a major automaker and a tire manufacturer name products after the series – the Pontiac Trans-Am and the BF Goodrich T/A line of tires.
Trans-Am has produced some of America’s finest racing drivers, including Mark Donohue, Parnelli Jones, Peter Revson, Tommy Kendall, George Follmer, and Wally Dallenbach. Familiar names such as Mario Andretti, Jim Hall, Dan Gurney, Swede Savage, and Sam Posey also raced Trans-Am.
Featured races at the 2009 Rose Cup
2009 marks the 49th running of the Rose Cup race, and the 10th time the Rose Cup race has been a feature of the Trans-Am pro racing series. But the Rose Cup is not the only feature race of the weekend. Here’s a list of other attractions:
Porsche Cup Race presented by Carrera Motors
Porsche Cup racing features factory-built 996 and 997 Porsche race cars. These are big, fast cars based on the street-going 911 chassis. Older Porsche Turbo Carreras will also be in the race, which is always fast, clean, and great to watch.
Festival Trophy Race presented by RothSport Racing
In 1997, the Portland Rose Festival created the Festival Trophy race, which rotates among all the SCCA regional race groups. This year, the Festival Trophy race includes SCCA's Touring 1, Touring 2, and V8-powered American Sedan classes, as well as crossover cars from the Porsche Club of America. This year’s Festival Trophy race is sponsored by RothSport Racing, a Porsche high-performance specialty shop located in Tualatin. This race happens at noon on Sunday.
Wemme Trophy Race presented by AAA Oregon/Idaho
To mark the 100th anniversary of Rose Festival auto racing, the Festival will once again award the Wemme Trophy to the driver of a vintage race car on Saturday afternoon, thanks to sponsor AAA of Oregon/Idaho.
Pro Drive Spec Racer Ford Challenge
SCCA’s popular Spec Racer Ford class allows drivers to compete in identical single-seat race cars, equipped with sealed engines to promote close racing. The SRF contests at this year’s Rose Cup are sponsored by Trans-Am competitor Todd Harris and his ProDrive racing school. ProDrive is Portland's professional racing school, offering SCCA competition license training, rental race cars, high performance driving, and SkidCar winter safety driving instruction. These races happen first thing in the morning, 8:30 AM both Saturday and Sunday.
Miatacage.com Spec Miata Smackdown
One of SCCA’s newest classes is the popular Spec Miata. These race cars are similarly prepared Mazda Miata sports cars. Engineered to keep costs under control, the Spec Miata class is among the largest racing fraternities in America. Some of the finest young drivers in the world are coming up through Spec Miata today. These races happen at 10:15 on Saturday and 11:00 on Sunday.
You can race at the Rose Cup Drags
Starting at 7:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights, you can be part of the action and race in the Rose Cup Drags. A tech card is $25 and any street-legal car may race. You can take as many runs as you like until midnight. On Friday, they’ll hold qualifications and then late in the evening on Saturday, they’ll race eliminations to see who takes home the Rose Cup Drag Racing trophies!
Celebrate car culture at Saturday's Rose Cup Cruise-in
All cars of any year, make, and model are welcome to Cruise to PIR on Saturday, and for $10, car show entrants will be divided into 30 separate categories for judging. Categories include cars from each decade of the 20th century, convertibles, classic foreign sports cars, modern import sports cars, motorcycles, trucks, and awards for the best classic muscle cars - Camaros, Mustangs, Mopars, and Corvettes. There are separate awards for the best club participation.
First and second place trophies in each class will be awarded by a panel of experienced judges, with additional awards for the best roadsters presented by the Mount Hood Miata Club. Each trophy awarded is a custom work of art made by Pearson’s Art Gallery, located along Highway 99E just south of Oregon City. Trophy presentation begins at 4 PM Saturday.
Entertainment at the Cruise In is provided by the popular KBOO disc jockey “Joey G.” Joey has over 30,000 tunes from the Cruising era at his fingertips, so if you’d like to hear your favorite song, just stroll on over and make a request.
Food and drinks will be available all day long in the shade of the willow trees, and there’s a vendor row set up where you can shop for the best in automotive memorabilia.
The Rose Cup Cruise In is designed to complete the automotive picture at the Rose Cup races – to bring the best of custom street cars out to the races where racers can enjoy the hot rod show, and hot rodders can enjoy the racing.
For more info: Find out more about the Rose Cup Races at www.rosecup.com.
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