Portland takes on international racing flair with E-Prix race this Saturday

Over the last five years, Portland International Raceway has returned to the racing spotlight nationally.

Now, the 12-turn, 1.967-mile road course will shine in the international spotlight.

Formula E comes to the Pacific Northwest for the inaugural Southwire Portland E-Prix on Saturday. The event marks the third major racing series to come to PIR in the last five years.

Once a staple of the CART/Champ Car calendar from 1984-2007, PIR was void of any major motorsport events for over a decade following the series’ reunification with the Indy Racing League in 2008.

However, IndyCar racing eventually made a triumphant return to PIR in 2018. NASCAR joined them in 2022 when the Xfinity Series made its debut in the Pacific Northwest.

Now, Portland will become the fourth American city to host Formula E since the series' inception in 2014. Miami, Long Beach and Brooklyn all previously have hosted the electric racing series.

Preparations for the event have been going on for several months, with crews physically on-site setting up the infrastructure to host a large international event like Formula E for roughly a month.

“It’s like a city now,” said Formula E Global Event Director Nacho Calcedo. “Usually, the time to set up all the structures takes about a month.

"However, we’re working six-seven months ahead with planning, marketing, etc. Each event takes a lot of work, with the very, very hard work taking place the last month on-site.”

Among the structures constructed are temporary garages, suites and a media center, as well as a massive fan village that will feature live music, a food court, a gaming area, kids zone and more. Tens of thousands of spectators are expected to attend Saturday’s race. The race has already been renewed for 2024.

Formula E left Brooklyn after 2022 due to a lack of space to host the race. The 1.475-mile circuit there was already small, and nearby construction would have limited event space even more.

"At some point we were thinking of doing a year or two without a race in the U.S.," Calcedo said. "But obviously all of our sitting sponsors said they need a race in the U.S., and we as an entity need to respect that."

While Formula E almost always races on city streets, Calcedo said the road course's location within city limits, as well as Portland's environmentally conscious image made PIR the perfect venue to host a race.

"Everyone is saying, ‘Why Portland?’ I say, ‘Why not?’," Calcedo said. "The track is amazing. It’s not the type of track we usually do (permanent road courses). The mentality towards electric mobility in Portland is crazy. That is part of our DNA."

To help promote the race, Formula E enlisted Green Savoree Racing Promotions - the same company that promotes the IndyCar and NASCAR races at PIR.

No stranger to race promotions, Green Savoree also promotes IndyCar races in St. Petersburg, Florida and Toronto, Canada. They also promote the IndyCar and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, which they own.

However, promoting a Formula E race has been something Green Savoree has been working on for a long time.

"Kim Green and I had an ongoing dialogue with Formula E for several years about different potential markets in North America and how to work together," said Green Savoree Owner, President and COO Kevin Savoree. "So for us, that ongoing dialogue became much more serious last year.

"We obviously thought PIR was a great market. Nothing says more about the environment than when you look out from PIR and see evergreen trees, Mt. Hood and the Columbia River. They had always raced in city streets in the past and nothing says a city like a city park, which PIR is obviously part of the city park system in Portland. There were so many things that just made PIR fit and so that’s what led us to get the agreement done."

Just like the IndyCar and NASCAR races at PIR, the Formula E race has full support from city hall. Additionally, Travel Portland and Sport Oregon - a non-profit dedicated to bringing major sporting events to the state of Oregon - have been major partners in promoting all three major races at PIR.

"I think all of our race events have been well received here in Portland and I don’t think Formula E is going to be any exception to that," Savoree said. "From the get-go, all of our due diligence pointed in that direction and we’re looking forward to a great race.

"None of these events happen without the support from the Mayor, the Parks Commissioner, the Parks Director and PIR’s General Manager, Ron Huegli. It really takes all of us pulling in the same direction to make good things happen. Certainly, I think that’s one thing that makes Portland and PIR an attractive place to come to and put on races and do business. Hopefully, that will continue on into the future."

With Formula E already scheduled to return to Portland next year, and Savoree optimistic both NASCAR and IndyCar will return as well, the future of racing in the Rose City appears bright.

"We'll work hard with the sanctioning bodies at IndyCar and NASCAR to keep them coming back," Savoree said. "I always tell our team our job is to do our best and put on great race events. The rest is in someone else's hands.

"As long as we do our job, that’ll happen. You can’t get caught up in all the other chatter that’s out there. Just do your job and if we do, good things will happen. I’m very confident in hopefully all of these events being back on the calendar for 2024 and beyond."

Tickets to Saturday's Southwire Portland E-Prix start at $35 and are available at raceportland.com. Live television coverage of the event starts at 7:30 pm ET on CBS Sports Network.