The Impact: What Next Year’s NASCAR Race Means for Portland — Sport Oregon Voices
Sport Oregon Voices: After more than 20 years, NASCAR returns to Portland International Raceway for a NASCAR Xfinity Series race in 2022
It’s been more than two decades since a NASCAR national series event was held in Portland. But that changed Wednesday, with the announcement that plans had been finalized to bring a NASCAR Xfinity Series race to Portland International Raceway as part of next year’s schedule.
So, race fans, mark your calendars for Saturday, June 4, 2022.
NASCAR’s return to the Pacific Northwest has been a long time in the making, and it represents encouraging developments on a number of fronts.
For NASCAR, the addition of Portland to the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule fulfills a longtime goal of increasing its footprint in an underutilized corner of the country. Viewed as an untapped market for years, the race represents the first appearance for a NASCAR national series event in the Pacific Northwest since 2000, when the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visited both Portland International Raceway and Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash.
“The Pacific Northwest is a region of the country where we haven’t had a presence for quite some time, and as we continue to take steps to grow the sport, bringing the NASCAR Xfinity Series to Portland is an ideal and exciting next step,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR senior vice president of strategy and innovation. “Not only does this move give us the opportunity to reach new fans, but it also adds another new and unique road course to the schedule.”
For the city – and local tourism and sports event leaders, like Travel Portland and Sport Oregon – Wednesday’s development sends another strong message that Portland and the state of Oregon are very much open for business. Officials from Sport Oregon and Travel Portland have worked closely with the race promoters, Green Savoree Racing Promotions, and city and Portland Parks & Recreation officials to make it happen, and the race is expected to generate an estimated $15 million in economic impact for the area, and fill approximately 10,000 hotel room nights.
For fans, obviously the addition of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race goes a long way to satisfying the increased and fervent following of motorsports in the region. Kevin Savoree – co-owner of Green Savoree Racing Promotions along with his longtime business partner, Kim Green – says Portland and the greater Pacific Northwest show strong in leading indicators for the popularity of NASCAR, including encouraging TV data among other metrics, supporting a passionate following in the region. With that, the 2022 NASCAR race at PIR adds to an increasingly robust schedule of top racing events at the venue, accenting the successful return of INDYCAR SERIES races in 2018. All of a sudden, PIR – a city-owned asset and renowned, permanent-terrain road course – has ramped up once again, showcasing big-time events just as longtime Portland residents fondly recall from years gone by.
As one can imagine, it’s no small feat to obtain a NASCAR national series event. And while there had long been discussions about NASCAR’s return to the Northwest, things really shifted into high gear over the summer. Savoree – who also promotes the Grand Prix of Portland featuring the NTT INDYCAR SERIES at PIR – credits city leaders and everyone involved on the local level for their eager partnership and enthusiasm for the race. Site visits from NASCAR officials confirmed the racetrack’s viability on all fronts, and, soon, discussions went from kicking tires to finalizing plans for the addition of Portland to next year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule.
“We were very strong on Portland and Portland International Raceway, because it’s a great racetrack, a great facility,” Savoree said. “The city of Portland has a lot to offer, and we just really tried to keep the discussions around that, and obviously we were successful.”
A number of factors contributed to Portland’s appeal, not the least of which was the track’s location.
“When you can look at this location, and be just a couple miles from downtown Portland, and be right across the river from the state of Washington, it’s kind of like, ‘hey, this is a pretty good fit,’” said Savoree.
For its part, Travel Portland typically offers a wide array of services and support to similar events, including recruitment, promotion and helping to negotiate hotel blocks and additional spaces around the city. For this race, though, Megan Conway, Travel Portland’s chief strategy officer, recognizes the race’s ability to be a catalyst for not only increased tourism impact by attracting race fans from outside the immediate area, but also for its ability to serve as a tent pole, of sorts, to build additional convention, meeting and tourism activities around. The pent-up demand for the sport locally, given there hasn’t been a NASCAR stop in Portland since 2000, only adds to the appeal of next year’s race, says Conway.
“We know that there’s a real affinity for the sport – not only in Portland, but the surrounding region,” Conway said. “That, coupled with the fact there’s not another race in the Pacific Northwest, for us, makes it a win-win. Being able to bring this race to Portland fills that gap.”
Conway also indicates that the size and scope of this type of event has the ability to create positive lodging compression in the metro area, creating additional economic impact for outlying areas, as hotels within the city become full. For room nights booked in Portland proper, the city realizes significant benefits of this increased tourism to its general fund through its lodging tax, further extending the economic impact to its residents.
Sport Oregon’s role in securing an event of this stature can best be described as that of a trusted facilitator, connector and strategist – an entity that knows the landscape, the people, and the area’s appetite for sports. They help make concepts and opportunities into reality by serving as the connective tissue, so to speak, between all the various parties involved, to ultimately support the organization’s mission of driving economic impact and enhancing the quality of life in the state through sports.
“We so appreciate the partnership we have with Sport Oregon,” said Conway. “To have them be the ones going out, digging in, having these conversations and getting things to this point where groups looking to bring something to Portland are ready to turn the nozzle on and make it happen, allows them to then bring us to the table to support as we can. We are really appreciative of the work and the level of high-quality events they are able to bring in.”
Sport Oregon CEO Jim Etzel, for one, is quick to recognize the unique opportunity the Portland NASCAR race presents.
“Any time you have a sports property of the magnitude of NASCAR believe in a market and make a commitment like this, it sends a really strong message to the viability and potential of our sports market,” Etzel said.
As The Oregonian’s John Canzano summed up in his column Wednesday, the NASCAR-coming-to-Portland news was a nice win for the city. And for those diligently paddling under the water to continue to build on that streak, it’s another significant piece to rally around.
“The summer of 2022 has a real opportunity for many cities across the country, including Portland, to come back as the next iteration of itself,” Conway said. “To have a big anchor, signature event kicking off right at the start of summertime will be critical to drawing attention to the city, and this gives us something to hang our hat on as we re-enter the competitive tourism marketing landscape.”
To Stay Up to Date
Ticket prices for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Portland International Raceway, which will be held on Saturday, June 4 next year, have not been determined yet. Ongoing event updates will be posted at portlandgp.com. Stay up to speed on NASCAR’s visit to Portland on social media all year long by following #PortlandNASCAR.