Brainerd International Raceway is a 3.1 miles (4.989 km) road course, dragstrip

Dragstrip

A dragstrip is a facility for conducting automobile and motorcycle acceleration events such as drag racing. Although a quarter mile is the best known measure for a drag track, many tracks are eighth mile tracks...

 and kart track near Brainerd, Minnesota

Brainerd, Minnesota

Brainerd is a city in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,590 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Crow Wing County and one of the largest cities in Central Minnesota...

, USA. The raceway hosts the National Hot Rod Association

National Hot Rod Association

The National Hot Rod Association is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and host events all over the United States and Canada...

 Nationals.

History

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

North Long Lake

At 6,000 acres , North Long Lake is one of the larger lakes in the Brainerd Lakes Area of the U.S. state of Minnesota.-External links:**...

. It hosted a 2 heat USAC Indy Car race in 1969. The heats were won by Gordon Johncock

Gordon Johncock

Gordon Johncock is a former racing driver, best known as a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 and the 1976 USAC Marlboro Championship Trail champion. Johncock was most often simply referred to as "Gordy."...

 and Dan Gurney

Dan Gurney

Daniel Sexton Gurney is an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner.The son of a Metropolitan Opera star, he was born in Port Jefferson, New York, but moved to California as a teenager...

.

In 1973 Jerry Hansen bought the track and re-named it Brainerd International Raceway. It played host to CanAm

CanAm

The Canadian-American Challenge Cup or Can-Am, was an SCCA/CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1986.-History:Can-Am started out as a race series for Group 7 sports racers with two races in Canada and four races in the United States of America . The series was initially sponsored by Johnson...

 races in 1970, 1971, and 1972. These races were won by, respectively, Denny Hulme

Denny Hulme

Denis Clive "Denny" Hulme, OBE was a New Zealand racing driver, the 1967 Formula One World Champion for the Brabham team....

, Peter Revson

Peter Revson

Peter Jeffrey Revson was an American race car driver who had successes in Formula One and the Indianapolis 500.-Background:Peter Revson was born in New York City, the son of Julie and Martin Revson....

, and Francois Cevert

François Cevert

Albert François Cevert Goldenberg was a French racing driver who took part in the Formula One World Championship.-Family background:...

.

John Force

John Force

John Harold Force is an NHRA drag racer, a 15-time Funny Car champion driver, and a 17-time champion car owner. Force owns and drives for John Force Racing. He is one of the most dominant drag racers in the sport with 133 career victories...

, who races Funny Cars, has won 10 races since 1989.

In the summer of 2006, Jed and Kristi Copham of Forest Lake, Minnesota

Forest Lake, Minnesota

Forest Lake is a city in Washington County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 18,375 at the 2010 census. It is located on Minnesota's 94th largest lake .Interstate 35 and U.S...

, became the new owners of Brainerd International Raceway.

3.1 Mile Donnybrooke Road Course

Brainerd International Raceway maintains the original name of the now 40 year old course. The course is used for automotive and motorcycle racing.

The 3.1-mile Donnybrooke Road Course has 10 turns and is considered wide – the main straight is 60 feet wide. There is essentially no elevation change. BIR is a high-speed course; vehicles can reach speeds of nearly 180 mph and take the slowest corners around 80 mph. There are wide runoff areas at most of the corners, which makes BIR’s road course extremely safe.

2.5 Mile Competition Road Course

The 2009 racing season was the first for the 2.5 mile course which was completed the previous summer.

Turn 1 on the 2.5-mile 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 3.1-mile road course are used for the new circuit. At Turn 8, a 300-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. In all, the Competition Road Course features 13 turns and very little elevation change.

Dragstrip

The dragstrip dates back to 1969, when BIR 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 700-foot concrete launch pad and new asphalt for the remaining 600 feet was installed.
Tony Schumacher, set the world record for top fuel dragsters with a 337.58 mi/h run in 2005.

External links

• brainerdraceway.com Official website
• Grounds Map Detailed Map
• Trackpedia guide to Brainerd including videos with telemetry and track notes