Pacific Raceways, Racing CircuitDrag Strip

Pacific Raceways is a mixed-use road and drag racing facility set in wooded terrain near Kent, Washington, a short drive from Seattle. It owes its existence to the Fiorito family, whose patriarch Dan Fiorito Sr., a road-construction contractor, built and paved the track in 1959 to give local teenagers a safe alternative to street racing. The circuit opened in 1960 and proved anything but a flat drag-strip add-on: the 2.25-mile road course plunges through more than 110 feet of elevation drop, threads a series of switchback hairpins, then climbs back up through the trees to rejoin the strip, earning praise as a genuine driver's track. Its early years saw SCCA competition and even a 1969 USAC Champ Car round won in heats by Mario Andretti and Al Unser, plus Team Penske's very first professional victory. The drag strip became an NHRA mainstay, hosting national events for decades and the Northwest Nationals each August. Leased out from 1976 and renamed Seattle International Raceway, the venue saw its last professional road race in 1985, a NASCAR Winston West win for Dale Earnhardt Sr., before reverting to club and regional racing. The Fiorito family resumed control on the lease's expiry in 2002 and restored the original Pacific Raceways name, investing heavily to bring the road course back up to SCCA safety standards with a new start-finish straight and widened corners. Today it hosts SCCA US Majors, vintage racing and motorcycle road racing, and remains in Fiorito family ownership.

Operated by: Fiorito family