Brainerd International Raceway is a

road course Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...

, and

dragstrip A dragstrip is a facility for conducting automobile and motorcycle acceleration events such as drag racing. Although a quarter mile (1320 feet, 402 m) is the best known measure for a drag track, many tracks are eighth mile (201&n ...

racing complex northwest of the city of

Brainerd, Minnesota Brainerd is a city in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 14,395 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Crow Wing County. Brainerd straddles the Mississippi River several miles upstream from its confluence wit ...

. The complex has a dragstrip, and overlapping and road courses. The complex also includes a

kart track Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on ful ...

. The raceway hosts the

National Hot Rod Association The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorspo ...

's Lucas Oil Nationals. It is a popular racetrack for the

Trans Am Series The Trans-Am Series is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of track types includi ...

. The spectator

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile tha ...

of the circuit is 20,000.

History

Opened in July 1968 as Donnybrooke Speedway, there were no safety barriers, run-out areas, grandstands or even restrooms. George Montgomery and Bud Stall cleared the racetrack through a wooded area on the south side of

North Long Lake At 6,000 acres (24 km²), North Long Lake is one of the larger lakes in the Brainerd Lakes Area of the U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country pri ...

. It was SCCA's first venue in the region. It was also an NHRA-sanctioned track, with the first official event there an NHRA race, at the opening;

Top Fuel Top Fuel is a type of drag racing whose dragsters are the quickest accelerating racing cars in the world and the fastest sanctioned category of drag racing, with the fastest competitors reaching speeds of and finishing the runs in 3.62 seconds ...

Dragster was won by Doc Halladay. With the help of St Paul sports promoter Dennis Scanlan, it hosted a 2-heat USAC Indy Car race in 1969. The heats were won by

Gordon Johncock Gordon Johncock (born August 5, 1936) is an American former racing driver. He won the Indianapolis 500 twice, and was the 1976 USAC Marlboro Championship Trail champion. Early career Johncock began racing at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan. J ...

and

Dan Gurney Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner who reached racing's highest levels starting in 1958. Gurney won races in the Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, ...

. Donnybrooke, played host to CanAm races in 1970, 1971, and 1972. These races were won by, respectively,

Denny Hulme Denis Clive Hulme (18 June 1936 – 4 October 1992), commonly known as Denny Hulme, was a New Zealand racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship for the Brabham team. Between his debut at Monaco in 1965 and his f ...

Peter Revson Peter Jeffrey Revson (February 27, 1939 – March 22, 1974) was an American race car driver and heir to the Revlon cosmetics fortune. He was a two-time Formula One race winner and had success at the Indianapolis 500. Background Peter Revson w ...

, and

François Cevert Albert François Cevert Goldenberg (25 February 1944 – 6 October 1973) was a French racing driver who took part in the Formula One World Championship. He competed in 48 World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one win, 13 podium finishes and 8 ...

. In 1973 Jerry Hansen bought the track and renamed it Brainerd International Raceway. In the 1970s, the Donnybrooke track began holding

Funny Car Funny Car is a type of drag racing vehicle and a specific racing class in organized drag racing. Funny cars are characterized by having tilt-up fiberglass or carbon fiber automotive bodies over a custom-fabricated chassis, giving them an appea ...

events, in particular the Crown Auto Funny Car Championships, and in time, NHRA was convinced to stage a national event at Brainerd: in 1982,

Shirley Muldowney Shirley Muldowney (born June 19, 1940), also known professionally as "Cha Cha" and the "First Lady of Drag Racing", is an American auto racer. She was the first woman to receive a license from the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) to drive a ...

(in Top Fuel Dragster),

Frank Hawley Frank Hawley (born 1954 in London, Ontario, Canada) is a two-time World champion drag racing driver. He won seven National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Top Fuel Funny Car and two Top Fuel Dragster national events during his 10-year drag racing ...

(Top Fuel Funny Car), and

Lee Shepherd Lee Alan Shepherd (August 30, 1944 – March 11, 1985) was an American drag racing driver from Arlington, Texas. In 1972, Shepherd drove a lime green Chevy Nova station wagon to the Modified finals at the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Sp ...

( Pro Stock) were the headline winners at the first Quaker State North Star NHRA Nationals. In Pro Stock,

Bob Glidden Bob Glidden (August 18, 1944 – December 17, 2017) was an American drag racer. He was retired from Pro Stock racing in 1997 and returned in 2010. Glidden retired as the driver with the most wins in National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) history ...

won at Brainerd in 1983, 1985, 1986, and 1992. The Brainerd strip became known as "one of the quickest and fastest in the world". It was completely resurfaced in 2003. In 2005,

Tony Schumacher Tony Schumacher may refer to: * Tony Schumacher (drag racer) (born 1969), American drag racer * Tony Schumacher (kayaker) (born 1976), Australian sprint canoeist * Tony Schumacher (German author) (1848–1931), German children books author * Ton ...

turned in a speed of , "the fastest quarter-mile time ever", and in 2016 and 2017, national NHRA records in Funny Car were set there.

Kenny Bernstein Kenneth Dale Bernstein (born September 6, 1944) is an American drag racer and former NASCAR and IndyCar team owner. He is nicknamed the "Bud King" for his success in the Budweiser King funny car and dragster. He has also been nicknamed the ...

won at Brainerd five times, 1983 and 1987 (in Top Fuel Funny Car) and in 1991, 1996, and 2002 (in Top Fuel Dragster)). In the summer of 2006, Jed and Kristi Copham of

Forest Lake, Minnesota Forest Lake is a city in Washington County, Minnesota, United States, located 27 miles northeast of Saint Paul. The population was 20,611 at the 2020 census. The 2021 population is 20,608. History Forest Lake began as a stop on the St. Paul ...

, became the new owners of Brainerd International Raceway. The track hosted two

NASCAR K&N Pro Series West The ARCA Menards Series West, formerly the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, NASCAR AutoZone West Series, NASCAR Winston West Series and NASCAR Camping World West Series, is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Racin ...

events between 2012 and 2013. The track also hosted one

NASCAR Midwest Series The ARTGO Challenge Series was a late model short track racing series that ran in the Midwestern United States from 1975 until 1998. Many race car drivers have used the ARTGO series as a stepping stone to get into ASA, ARCA, and NASCAR. Art Fri ...

race in 2004. Brainerd International Raceway was damaged during a severe thunderstorm that struck portions of Minnesota on July 12, 2015.

Track Information

Brainerd International Raceway consists of 2 road tracks and 1 drag strip.

Donnybrooke Road Course

Brainerd International Raceway maintains the original name of the now 50-year-old course. The course is used for automotive and motorcycle racing. The Donnybrooke Road Course has 10 turns and is considered wide – the main straight is wide. There is essentially no elevation change. BIR is a high-speed course; vehicles can reach speeds of nearly and take the slowest corners around . There are wide runoff areas at most of the corners, which makes BIR's road course extremely safe. This configuration uses the dragstrip as part of the course.

Competition Road Course

The 2009 racing season was the first for the course which was completed in the 2008 summer. Turn 1 on the Competition Road Course is the same as Turn 1 on the three-mile road course. Turn 1 is a narrow but very high-speed banked right-hand 60-degree turn, which is intended be taken flat out by all vehicles. Turns 1 through 8 of the original road course are used for the new circuit. At Turn 8, a 240-degree right-hand Clover Leaf transitions drivers from the old course to the new stretch of asphalt that winds its way back across the infield, eventually tying back into the original circuit just before Turn 1, avoiding the dragstrip. In all, the Competition Road Course features 13 turns and very little elevation change.

Dragstrip

The dragstrip dates back to 1969, when Donnybrooke converted the mile-long straightaway on its road course to a drag strip and hosted an NHRA Divisional Points Race. In 1977, BIR hosted the Crown Auto Funny Car Championships and the Crown Auto Winston Points Championship. It was reconstructed in 2005, adding a concrete launch pad and new asphalt for the remaining 600 feet was installed.

, set the world record for top fuel dragsters with a run in 2005. This speed and time are recorded at the end of a standing start quarter mile acceleration race, before the NHRA shortened top fuel and funny car races to the current since 2008.

Lap records

The fastest official race lap records at the Brainerd International Raceway for different classes are listed as:

References

External links

brainerdraceway.com
Official website
Circuit Photos
Aerial Photos
Trackpedia guide to Brainerd including videos with telemetry and track notes
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Crow Wing County, Minnesota Motorsport venues in Minnesota NHRA Division 5 drag racing venues Superbike World Championship circuits IMSA GT Championship circuits NASCAR tracks Tourist attractions in Crow Wing County, Minnesota Brainerd, Minnesota Road courses in the United States Drag racing venues 1968 establishments in Minnesota Sports venues completed in 1968