Road Trips for People Who Love Racing: The Mountain West

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Take a trip to the Mountain West in our next installment featuring dream trips to race tracks across the country.

The seasons are in flux high atop the Rockies, but that just means the action never stops! Come along with RacingJunk as we plan your getaway in this next installment of our series of enthusiast dream destinations.

From the grandiose views of Big Sky Country to the year-round warmth of the Mojave, there’s plenty to explore around the Mountain West, especially when it comes to racing! Let’s tap those Rockies, kick the tires, and light the fires!Click Here to Begin Slideshow

Near both the United States - Canada border and the Montana/Idaho border in Polson, Montana is the Mission Valley Super Oval. This high-banked 3/8-mile paved tri-oval is the only paved oval in all of Montana, hosting late model stocks, hobby stocks, super late models, and more. MVSO’s biggest event, the MT 200, is held every July.

On the dirty end of the spectrum is Big Sky Speedway in Billings, Montana. The 3/8-mile clay oval was established in 2002, and was on the World of Outlaws schedule as recently as 2019. Named in honor of its home state’s nickname by owner Jerry Brey, the schedule includes WISSOTA Super Stocks, Midwest Mods and Street Stocks, ASCS Sprint Cars, IMCA Sport Compacts, and INEX-Legends.

Established in the 1970s as part of the Sweetwater Events Complex, Sweetwater Speedway in Rock Springs, Wyoming has kept racing alive in Southwest Wyoming through the decades since. Operated by the non-profit Sweetwater Dirt Track Racing Alliance since 2015, the 3/8-mile dirt oval is a major stomping ground for International Motor Contest Association, any given weekend filled with the organization’s sport compacts, modifieds and sport mods. Go kart races and demo derbies fill out the rest of the schedule.

Named after its discoverer, Lt. Zebulon Pike in the early 1800s, a carriage road was built in 1900 to allow travelers to easily scale Pikes Peak. Spencer Penrose took things to the next level in 1915 by turning the narrow road into the Pikes Peak Highway, then throwing a race to the top to promote not only his hotel, but the road itself. Paving of the famed road began in 2002, with 2011 being the last time anyone would race to the clouds partly on dirt. The current quickest time up Pikes Peak belongs to Romain Dumais, who piloted his Volkswagen I.D. R to the top in 7:51.148 in 2018.

Opened in May of 1997, Pikes Peak International Raceway hosted IndyCar and NASCAR events up through 2005, when the one-mile paved oval closed that August. Today, PPIR is closed to sanctioned professional events due to a clause in the agreement made between PPIR LLC and International Speedway Corporation when the oval was purchased in 2008. Various amateur racing events and groups visit the track, which includes a 1.3-mile road course, a drag strip, and a .25-mile short oval, every year.

Formerly known as Miller Motorsports Park, the 511-acre facility opened in 2006, the same year it was awarded “Motorsports Facility of the Year” by the Professional Motorsport World Expo in Cologne, Germany. In its early years, UMC hosted the Pirelli World Challenge, Trans-Am, IMSA, and even the ARCA Menards Series West. The current quickest lap on the full 4.5-mile road course belongs to Timo Bernhardt, who piloted his Porsche RS Spyder Evo LMP2 around the course in 2007 at a time of 2:18.128.

Established in 1971 as the Las Vegas International Speedrome, Las Vegas Motor Speedway has been under the ownership of Speedway Motorsports, LLC since 1999. The facility includes the 1.5-mile tri-oval, a 1/4-mile oval along the front stretch, a 2.5-mile road course, a half-mile paved oval called “The Bullring,” and a four-lane quarter-mile drag strip dubbed “The Strip.” The big tri-oval hosts two NASCAR events per year, its first race held in the spring of 1998. The Strip hosts two NHRA events per year, as well, while The Bullring hosts various modified, late model, and midget series throughout the season.

Opened in 1964 as Phoenix International Raceway, Phoenix Raceway’s main attraction is its 1-mile dogleg oval, which has hosted NASCAR events since 1978. IndyCar visited the circuit from 1979 to 2018, while the first NASCAR Cup event arrived in the desert in the fall of 1988. Speaking of, Phoenix Raceway has been the final stop for the NASCAR calendar since 2020, hosting the organization’s championship weekend. The track is located near a USGS bench marker, the Gila and Salt River Meridian on Monument Hill.

Opened in 1983 as Firebird International Raceway, then changed its name to Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in 2013 before taking on its current name in late 2023, Firebird is a 450-acre motorsports complex 18 miles southeast of downtown Phoenix. The complex includes a quarter-mile dragstrip that has hosted NHRA events since 1985, as well as an off-road course that hosted the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series until 2020, succeeded by Nitro Rallycross, a 1.6-mile road course, a 1.25-mile road course, a 1.1-mile road course, and a lake for boat racing.