Racing in the
Pikes Peak Region included 19th century horse tracks (e.g., to the west of Colorado Springs'
Palmer House along
Fountain Creek by 1882 and to the north by 1903, the "
Roswell Racing Park"), and the annual
Pikes Peak International Hill Climb started in 1916 on the 1915
Pikes Peak Highway. In 1938, a track was north of
the Alexander Aircraft factory and another was to the factory's southeast at the south end of the
Nichols Field taxiway. On the
Pike's Peak Ocean-to-Occan Highway west of the city was the end of the 1951 Colorado sports car rally (terminus at the
Crystola Inn), a 1953 dirt
dragstrip "some four miles east of Colorado Springs" was used for "the first statewide drag race", and a stock car track was along Powers Road in the early 1960s. The "last local track" for auto racing east of the city through the late 1970s was the Colorado Springs International Speedway which "had crowds in the 3,000-4,000 range on summer weekends". The Platte Avenue go-kart track closed , the greyhound track closed and is now an off track betting facility, and the
Olympic velodrome in
Memorial Park is one of the remaining racing venues within the city.
Pikes Peak Meadows Pikes Peak Meadows was a dirt horse racing track facility opened in 1964 south of
Colorado Springs and north of
Pueblo, Colorado, with a large, blue, covered grandstand on the west. After its horse racing ended in 1993,
C. C. Myers "announced plans in May 1996 to build a major auto racing facility" at Pikes Peak Meadows.
Speedway development In 1997, "
Apollo Real Estate Advisors LP formed a joint venture January 30 with Raceway Associates, a partnership headed by California contractor and developer C.C. Myers Inc, to own and run the 1,300-acre" speedway complex. The asphalt track was constructed below the "normal ground level", C.C. Myers planned "to get a big-time NASCAR race in 1998", and the facility had an open house for the local community on May 31, 1997. The first race's attendance (June 8) was 16,810, the Richard Petty Driving Experience used PPIR from July 2–17, the first IRL Series race on June 28 was televised, and a
Winston West 500K race was held in July 1997.
International Speedway Corporation Earlier in 1996, a competing track near Denver in
Adams County, Colorado was attempted by
Penske Motorsports, Inc. which merged in 1999 with the
International Speedway Corporation. In 2002 ISC gained "the right of first refusal should PPIR owners decide to sell their 1,200-acre complex" and in October 2005 for $11 million, "bought out the owners of Pikes Peak International Raceway" (racing operations were suspended and the scoreboard was moved to
Texas Motor Speedway.) In 2006, meetings "between attorneys representing [Commerce City, near Denver] and International Speedway Corporation" were conducted before ISC "announced in February [1997] that it was eyeing land in
Commerce City as well as eastern Aurora for the track. It envision[ed] a $360 million to $400 million track and stadium that could hold 75,000 to 80,000 fans." A new opposition group, Commerce City Citizens and Business Alliance, endorsed anti-raceway candidates which won local elections, and in May 1997 "ISC executive Wesley Harris said the 1,300-acre parcel the company was considering near Denver International Airport was not compatible with its needs". ISC sold PPIR in November 2006 (the purchase closed in the first quarter of 2007), and PPIR operations resumed in 2008.
Series and Races On December 6, 2012,
USAC announced that PPIR would be on the 2013
USAC Traxxas Silver Crown Series schedule. Pikes Peak International Raceway would host the richest event in
SRL Southwest Tour history as announced on April 23, 2013. PPIR currently hosts a variety of grassroots motorsports events including,
SCCA Solo (
Autocross), time trials, National Auto Sport Association (
NASA) events, as well as local enthusiast events such as track days, drifting, festivals, and car shows. PPIR previously held the largest autocross racing series in the Rocky Mountain Region, PPIR Time Attack. The series consisted of 8-10 races per year on varying courses on the infield of the track. Courses ran from 40 seconds to 1 minute 5 seconds with competitors taking five runs to best their times. The series is based on weight to power and drivetrain classes, including front wheel drive, rear wheel drive, all-wheel drive and a XX class for non-conforming cars or non-street-legal cars. ==Lap records==