The NASCAR K&N Pro Series is serious racing. Fast cars. Powerful engines. Drivers and crews focused on winning.
If you show up Sunday afternoon, you will see some exciting, wheel-to-wheel racing, but you will miss much of the behind-the-scenes action that makes this series entertaining and exciting.
Here is a visitor’s guide on how to enjoy the two-day show:
While the Great American Stockcar Series (GASS) and the vintage Stock Car Race Series (SCRS) practice at Portland International Raceway on Friday, the big guns of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series won’t arrive at the track until Saturday morning.
It is worth it to show up early Saturday, simply to see the parade of haulers lined up, moved into place and the cars and equipment unloaded.
The K&N Pro crews employ much of the same equipment used by the Sprint Cup and Nationwide teams, so what you will see Saturday morning is exactly what goes on at top level NASCAR races throughout the season, around the country.
Most teams will arrive with two cars, fully prepared for the twists and turns of the Portland road course. The cars are carried in the “attic” of the haulers, above the garage portion that is filled with things like extra springs, shock absorbers, tools, jacks and stands, gas cans etc.
Often, the first thing out of the trailer is the primary car. They are lowered to the pavement on a mechanical elevator ramp that also serves as the hauler’s rear door.
The second car – termed the back-up – usually stays in the attic until it is needed. It comes out only if the primary car isn’t performing well enough to be competitive, there is a major mechanical failure or the car is damaged in practice or qualifying.
The primary and back-up cars usually leave the team shop with identical suspension setups. During the day, crew members will document every change made to the primary car. If the back-up car has to be called into service, the crew can quickly transfer the changes to the new car.
In most cases, the crew will divide the unloading tasks. Those who work directly on the car will give it a quick once-over and begin pushing it to the NASCAR inspection stations. The remainder of the crew will begin unloading tools and parts they will need to fine-tune it for the demands of the road course.
The NASCAR inspection is time consuming and comprehensive.
It normally begins with a check of the bodywork to insure it conforms to the specifications. NASCAR uses a series of metal templates that fit over the body, from end-to-end, side-to-side and everywhere in between to be sure the skin hasn’t been “cheated up” beyond allowable levels.
There is a “fudge factor” built into the templates, which allows teams to massage the bodywork to the specific aerodynamic needs of the track it is at.
Unlike other NASCAR series, both all metal and all composite bodies are allowed in the K&N Pro Series, so some cars will be dressed in sheet steel and others will be clothed in fiberglass shells.
Cars also will be checked at specific points on the body, to prevent teams from running them too high or too low.
Safety items such as seats, seat belts, helmets and head restraints also are checked.
Inspectors will verify the engines meet the rules, both with a visual inspection for required parts and by “whistling” the engine with a device that measures the displacement of a single cylinder.
Some parts on a car that has already been raced (the Portland race is the second road course event of the season) may not require inspection if the component was sealed during the prior race and the seal remains intact.
All cars must pass an initial inspection before they are allowed on the course for practice.
Visitors who purchase a pass to go to the north pit where the haulers are parked and tech inspection takes place can get an up close look at the process.
Crew members are generally willing to answer a few questions about their cars and the process, but be aware they are very busy and things can get a bit intense during the inspection, so pick a good time and don’t be offended if they don’t have time to answer. Almost everything that is going on is pretty obvious, if you simply watch the action.
If you are new to NASCAR racing, practice may be a bit confusing.
Cars generally will run two or three laps, then come into the pits for work. In most cases, crews will concentrate on the suspension, changing sway bars and shock absorbers and adjusting the angle of the front tires in relation to the track surface and each other.
The car will be barely stopped before crew members stick a probe into the tire tread surface to measure the temperature. Tire temperatures tell a lot about what needs to be done to make the car perform better, because they indicate if the full tread is making contact with the track surface, if the tires have too much or too little air or if the car needs a change in the alignment.
Crews generally have an idea what needs to be done before the car arrives in the pits. As the driver and crew chief talk on the radio about how the car is handling, crew members monitor the conversations and can anticipate what they’ll be asked to do during a stop.
The best place to watch pit stop action is from the grandstands on the south side of the front straight. Field glasses will help to bring the action up close.
Sometime during a practice session you can expect the crew will end up pushing the car down the pit lane. It isn’t the result of a dumb mistake that had the driver run out of gasoline. It is intentional. The team will run the car out of fuel to see how much is left in the tank – in this case it is a fuel cell also filled with foam to reduce the risk of fire – so it knows how much of the tank’s capacity is available for racing. It is an important figure to know as the race winds down and the amount of fuel left can determine if the car needs another pit stop or can go all the way to the checker flag.
The Portland road course is notoriously difficult for engineers and crew chiefs. The track’s long front straight and even longer rear straight (actually a long, gentle curve) let the cars build up a lot of speed, but the tight corners at the chicane and the twists at the end of the back straight place a heavy demand on handling and having strong brakes that will last the entire race.
Drivers will shift many more time on a road course than they will on an oval, and transmissions must to be able to stand the abuse of multiple full-torque loads as the cars accelerate out of the corners.
Teams will be allowed to practice again Sunday morning, but expect it to be a brief session, and not all of them may elect to go out.
The cars have to go through inspection one more time before they are allowed to qualify.
Crews can’t work on the cars once they go through the pre-qualifying inspection. The cars will go directly from the last inspection station into an impound area, where they will be guarded by NASCAR officials to be sure no one tinkers with them.
Cars will be lined up in impound based on the order in which they will qualify. Because PIR is a road course, cars will go out in small groups (on ovals they qualify one at a time) for European-style qualifying. Each group will get the same amount of time on the track and their fastest lap will determine where they will start the race.
Roughly a half an hour before qualifying begins, teams will be allowed to pull up a portable generator used to power oil heaters. Unlike the engine in your street car, these engines are hand built to extremely close tolerances, and running cold oil through them would damage the internal parts. Crew members are also allowed to adjust tire pressures before qualifying, but aren’t allowed to do any other work on the car.
During qualifying, drivers will try to space themselves away from other cars, so they can get a clean lap, with no traffic around them. Generally, the fastest lap will be the second one, when tires are warmed up and have their greatest grip.
Once qualified, the cars again will go to impound until the race.
The best place to watch a race at PIR is all personal preference.
Some visitors prefer to sit in the stands across from the pits. Others grab a spot overlooking the chicane or those by the entrance to the front straight.
But the best view may be all around the track, walking a pathway that circles the track.
Portland International Raceway is a complex of left and right turns, with no two the same. The best way to watch a race is to walk around the track during the competition, spending a few laps at each location to watch how the cars and driver have to adjust to each one and to the traffic around them.
Begin the race along the front straight, near or at the chicane. This give you the full impact of the powerful cars thundering down the long straight, under the green flag and then braking hard as they fight for traction in the tight curves.
Moving in the same direction as the cars, the next spot is a short chute, where cars power out of the chicane and head into a quick right hand corner, followed by a series of curves that will test the racecar’s handling.
The track has been widened at the end of those corners, into a sweeping, slightly-banked right hander with enough rooms for the field to enter it four wide…but exit it only two abreast. It may be the place at PIR that sees the most passing and scrambling for position.
The perimeter pathway follows the long, curving back straight. The path is elevated, so visitors can look down on the cars as they speed by. This is often the fastest section on the track, and a great place for photos.
Portland’s turn 10-11-12 complex has been called among the best corners in road racing. After speeding down the long straight, drivers must negotiate a series of one-after-the-other curves, bouncing off the curbing on the left and right sides, and then rotating the cars and getting back on the throttle for a return run down the front straight, toward the flag stand.
With 125 miles of competition – 63 laps – visitors should have plenty of time to circle the course, and be back on the front straight for the final charge to the checker flag.
If you show up Sunday afternoon, you will see some exciting, wheel-to-wheel racing, but you will miss much of the behind-the-scenes action that makes this series entertaining and exciting.
Here is a visitor’s guide on how to enjoy the two-day show:
While the Great American Stockcar Series (GASS) and the vintage Stock Car Race Series (SCRS) practice at Portland International Raceway on Friday, the big guns of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series won’t arrive at the track until Saturday morning.
It is worth it to show up early Saturday, simply to see the parade of haulers lined up, moved into place and the cars and equipment unloaded.
The K&N Pro crews employ much of the same equipment used by the Sprint Cup and Nationwide teams, so what you will see Saturday morning is exactly what goes on at top level NASCAR races throughout the season, around the country.
Most teams will arrive with two cars, fully prepared for the twists and turns of the Portland road course. The cars are carried in the “attic” of the haulers, above the garage portion that is filled with things like extra springs, shock absorbers, tools, jacks and stands, gas cans etc.
Often, the first thing out of the trailer is the primary car. They are lowered to the pavement on a mechanical elevator ramp that also serves as the hauler’s rear door.
The second car – termed the back-up – usually stays in the attic until it is needed. It comes out only if the primary car isn’t performing well enough to be competitive, there is a major mechanical failure or the car is damaged in practice or qualifying.
The primary and back-up cars usually leave the team shop with identical suspension setups. During the day, crew members will document every change made to the primary car. If the back-up car has to be called into service, the crew can quickly transfer the changes to the new car.
In most cases, the crew will divide the unloading tasks. Those who work directly on the car will give it a quick once-over and begin pushing it to the NASCAR inspection stations. The remainder of the crew will begin unloading tools and parts they will need to fine-tune it for the demands of the road course.
The NASCAR inspection is time consuming and comprehensive.
It normally begins with a check of the bodywork to insure it conforms to the specifications. NASCAR uses a series of metal templates that fit over the body, from end-to-end, side-to-side and everywhere in between to be sure the skin hasn’t been “cheated up” beyond allowable levels.
There is a “fudge factor” built into the templates, which allows teams to massage the bodywork to the specific aerodynamic needs of the track it is at.
Unlike other NASCAR series, both all metal and all composite bodies are allowed in the K&N Pro Series, so some cars will be dressed in sheet steel and others will be clothed in fiberglass shells.
Cars also will be checked at specific points on the body, to prevent teams from running them too high or too low.
Safety items such as seats, seat belts, helmets and head restraints also are checked.
Inspectors will verify the engines meet the rules, both with a visual inspection for required parts and by “whistling” the engine with a device that measures the displacement of a single cylinder.
Some parts on a car that has already been raced (the Portland race is the second road course event of the season) may not require inspection if the component was sealed during the prior race and the seal remains intact.
All cars must pass an initial inspection before they are allowed on the course for practice.
Visitors who purchase a pass to go to the north pit where the haulers are parked and tech inspection takes place can get an up close look at the process.
Crew members are generally willing to answer a few questions about their cars and the process, but be aware they are very busy and things can get a bit intense during the inspection, so pick a good time and don’t be offended if they don’t have time to answer. Almost everything that is going on is pretty obvious, if you simply watch the action.
If you are new to NASCAR racing, practice may be a bit confusing.
Cars generally will run two or three laps, then come into the pits for work. In most cases, crews will concentrate on the suspension, changing sway bars and shock absorbers and adjusting the angle of the front tires in relation to the track surface and each other.
The car will be barely stopped before crew members stick a probe into the tire tread surface to measure the temperature. Tire temperatures tell a lot about what needs to be done to make the car perform better, because they indicate if the full tread is making contact with the track surface, if the tires have too much or too little air or if the car needs a change in the alignment.
Crews generally have an idea what needs to be done before the car arrives in the pits. As the driver and crew chief talk on the radio about how the car is handling, crew members monitor the conversations and can anticipate what they’ll be asked to do during a stop.
The best place to watch pit stop action is from the grandstands on the south side of the front straight. Field glasses will help to bring the action up close.
Sometime during a practice session you can expect the crew will end up pushing the car down the pit lane. It isn’t the result of a dumb mistake that had the driver run out of gasoline. It is intentional. The team will run the car out of fuel to see how much is left in the tank – in this case it is a fuel cell also filled with foam to reduce the risk of fire – so it knows how much of the tank’s capacity is available for racing. It is an important figure to know as the race winds down and the amount of fuel left can determine if the car needs another pit stop or can go all the way to the checker flag.
The Portland road course is notoriously difficult for engineers and crew chiefs. The track’s long front straight and even longer rear straight (actually a long, gentle curve) let the cars build up a lot of speed, but the tight corners at the chicane and the twists at the end of the back straight place a heavy demand on handling and having strong brakes that will last the entire race.
Drivers will shift many more time on a road course than they will on an oval, and transmissions must to be able to stand the abuse of multiple full-torque loads as the cars accelerate out of the corners.
Teams will be allowed to practice again Sunday morning, but expect it to be a brief session, and not all of them may elect to go out.
The cars have to go through inspection one more time before they are allowed to qualify.
Crews can’t work on the cars once they go through the pre-qualifying inspection. The cars will go directly from the last inspection station into an impound area, where they will be guarded by NASCAR officials to be sure no one tinkers with them.
Cars will be lined up in impound based on the order in which they will qualify. Because PIR is a road course, cars will go out in small groups (on ovals they qualify one at a time) for European-style qualifying. Each group will get the same amount of time on the track and their fastest lap will determine where they will start the race.
Roughly a half an hour before qualifying begins, teams will be allowed to pull up a portable generator used to power oil heaters. Unlike the engine in your street car, these engines are hand built to extremely close tolerances, and running cold oil through them would damage the internal parts. Crew members are also allowed to adjust tire pressures before qualifying, but aren’t allowed to do any other work on the car.
During qualifying, drivers will try to space themselves away from other cars, so they can get a clean lap, with no traffic around them. Generally, the fastest lap will be the second one, when tires are warmed up and have their greatest grip.
Once qualified, the cars again will go to impound until the race.
The best place to watch a race at PIR is all personal preference.
Some visitors prefer to sit in the stands across from the pits. Others grab a spot overlooking the chicane or those by the entrance to the front straight.
But the best view may be all around the track, walking a pathway that circles the track.
Portland International Raceway is a complex of left and right turns, with no two the same. The best way to watch a race is to walk around the track during the competition, spending a few laps at each location to watch how the cars and driver have to adjust to each one and to the traffic around them.
Begin the race along the front straight, near or at the chicane. This give you the full impact of the powerful cars thundering down the long straight, under the green flag and then braking hard as they fight for traction in the tight curves.
Moving in the same direction as the cars, the next spot is a short chute, where cars power out of the chicane and head into a quick right hand corner, followed by a series of curves that will test the racecar’s handling.
The track has been widened at the end of those corners, into a sweeping, slightly-banked right hander with enough rooms for the field to enter it four wide…but exit it only two abreast. It may be the place at PIR that sees the most passing and scrambling for position.
The perimeter pathway follows the long, curving back straight. The path is elevated, so visitors can look down on the cars as they speed by. This is often the fastest section on the track, and a great place for photos.
Portland’s turn 10-11-12 complex has been called among the best corners in road racing. After speeding down the long straight, drivers must negotiate a series of one-after-the-other curves, bouncing off the curbing on the left and right sides, and then rotating the cars and getting back on the throttle for a return run down the front straight, toward the flag stand.
With 125 miles of competition – 63 laps – visitors should have plenty of time to circle the course, and be back on the front straight for the final charge to the checker flag.
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