Victory Racing Camp Races Featured at Portland International Raceway
Portland International Raceway plays host this weekend to the Victory Camp Racing Regional races with six important events counting towards the season-long Oregon Region class championships.
Portland, OR (PRWEB) August 25, 2006 -- Portland International Raceway plays host this weekend to the Victory Camp Racing Regional races with six important events counting towards the season-long Oregon Region class championships.
Sanctioned by the Oregon Region of the Sports Car Club of America, nearly 200 drivers will compete in up to 50 Regional Championship race classes on the 1.967-mile road course in North Portland. Race cars range from purpose-built sports racers and open-wheel formula cars, to GT, sedan and vintage car classifications.
Qualifying begins Saturday at 9 a.m. for sports racing and open wheel formula classes and concludes at 4:30 p.m. with qualifying for a variety of production car and sedan classes. The green flag falls on the first of six regional championship races at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday. An additional series of six bonus races begin at 1:30 p.m. and conclude at 4:40 p.m. Sunday.
General Admission, seating and parking are free for the weekend, courtesy Victory Racing Camp. Miatacage.com and the Spec Miata drivers sponsor the SCCA workers/driver/crew barbeque Saturday night.
Only two more events are scheduled in the Regional Championship Series: The Monte Shelton Jaguar September Regionals on Sept. 16-17 and The Monte Shelton Jaguar October Regionals on October 7-8.
Portland International Raceway is owned and operated by the City of Portland through its bureau of Parks and Recreation. The raceway is operated as an Enterprise Fund, meaning that its operating expenses and capital improvements are covered by the revenues that it generates, as Portland International Raceway receives no general fund tax dollars. The raceway's varied, year round activities bring between $30 and $40 million into the surrounding community each year.
About Victory Racing Camp
Victory Racing Camp is the brainchild of David Glass, ordained minister, race driver, and businessman. Victory Racing Camp is designed to give junior high and high school youth an opportunity to experience real racing first hand, and in so doing encouraging them to achieve more in life than they might have ever thought possible.
“Some of the kids that came to camp are at risk of drugs, gangs, depression, or just wasting their lives away,” comments Glass. “Our goal is to show them that if they put their minds to it, they can do more and be more than what they might be settling for in life. Probably a very small number of these kids will ever continue on as race drivers, and that’s fine. But now that they know they can do something that demands as much concentration and discipline as racing, they can apply that same effort to other areas -- and relationships -- of their lives, and see the same kind of exciting, successful results.”
Campers spent about 4 hours each day at Pat’s Acres Racing Complex in Canby, Oregon, where they learned to drive French-made Sodi-Kart racing karts with 9 hp Honda engines, capable of 40-50 mph on the front straight. Each track session was preceded by an hour long Racing Lab, in which safety, rules, and skills needed to negotiate the track were taught. For some of the kids, driving anything—let alone a racing kart—was a new experience, so on-track experiences and skills started easy and built up. The campers did not expect the strength and stamina necessary to wrestle a kart around a racetrack like Pat’s Acres at high speed. But by Thursday and Friday, the campers were experiencing 15-minute sprint races, building up to the 100-minute endurance team race on Saturday.
When the campers weren’t at the track, they were working on team building “initiatives” which helped them discover each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Under the guise of a game, like the “Electric Fence” (where the entire team has to get over the “fence” without touching it) or “Tar Pit” (where the team has to get as many members across to the other side without getting “stuck”), the campers learned how to work with each other -- to appreciate their differences -- and molded themselves into true teammates.
Terry Borcheller, winner of 46 international races and 5 championships in the last 7 years, this year running a Saleen S7 at LeMans, was one of pro drivers that came to speak to the kids. His inspirational message was highlighted when he spent extra time with the campers.
“Seeing Terry Borcheller -- who has been on the podium at LeMans -- playing ‘sprout-ball’ with a bunch of middle school kids, or slam-dunk swimming pool basketball with the high school guys really underlines what he says about the importance of relationships,” said Glass. “No wonder the kids called both the speakers ‘awesome’ and ‘soooo coooooool’!”
Other drivers have included Randy and Teri MacDonald (brother/sister NASCAR Busch and Trucks drivers), Mario Haberfeld (Champ Car and Grand Am driver), Sammy Maloof (Hollywood stunt driver), Reggie Showers (NHRA pro stock bike racer), Quinn Micheals (National Quad racer champion), and others from the IRL, sprint car and NASCAR series.
Campers from as far away as Pennsylvania and Florida participate each year in these camps, and we’re getting international interest now in our fourth year as well.
Victory Racing Camp is headquartered in North Plains, Oregon, and can be reached by calling 503-640-1199 and at www.TeamVRC.org.
For more information about Terry Borcheller, see www.TBorcheller.com.
For more information about Pat’s Acres Racing Complex, see www.PatsAcres.com.
About Oregon Region SCCA
The Oregon Region of the Sports Car Club of America was established in the 1960's and has grown to its present membership of over 1,200 members. The Region obtained its charter from SCCA in 1962. It is a member oriented, member operated club with the primary purpose of "promoting, maintaining and improving automobile sports and interest in the ownership, operation of, and safety of sports cars."
The roots of SCCA and Oregon Region run deep in racing history. The origin of SCCA can be traced back to the pre-World War II "Auto Racing Club of America" which disbanded because of World War II. Originally, the State of Oregon was included in the territory of Northwest Region, SCCA (NWR), and it remained that way until the official creation of Oregon Region in 1962.
From its beginning, Oregon Region SCCA has been organizing and administering sports car/club racing events at Newport, Goshen (South of Eugene) and Portland's West Delta Park (now Portland International Raceway - PIR). The Region's first race was held at the Newport municipal airport (an ex-WWII air base) in 1962.
Currently, Oregon Region has active programs in Club Racing, Vintage Racing, Road Rally, Rallycross, and in Solo II - SCCA's autocross program where competitors compete against the clock in a controlled atmosphere. The Oregon region also provides workers and officials to major professional international racing competitions here in Oregon and across North America. Their Web site is www.oregonscca.com and may also be reached at 503.224.9469.
Media Contact: Oregon Region SCCA: Randy Unsbee, ABC - 503-544-5944
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