Brainerd International Raceway - BIR Competition Road Course- CW
The Brainerd International Raceway (BIR) is a multi-purpose racing facility near the coast of the North Long Lake just outside Brainerd, a 2-hour ride away from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area in Minnesota. It began operating under the name of Donnybrook Speedway back in 1968 as a private initiative by the NHRA champion and American Motorsports Hall of Famer George Montgomery. The BIR road course has a 2.5-mile (4.02-km) Competition layout and a longer 3.1-mile (4.9-km) layout known as Donnybrook. The Motorsports complex includes a quarter-mile drag strip that holds the world record of speed in any dragster competition, thanks to the 337.58 MPH (543.28 km/h) reached by Tony Schumacher in 2005.
The Brainerd International Raceway hosts a wide variety of motorsports competitions such as the NHRA Nationals, MotoAmerica Superbike, the F4 US Championship, the TransAm Championship, and many other local club racing events. Winters in Minnesota are some of the coldest in the United States, with subzero temperatures and up to 44 inches of snow all over the place, enough reason for the Brainerd International Raceway to remain closed from November to March. During the rest of the year, racing enthusiasts are welcome to enjoy their favorite sports and even stay in some of the world-class accommodations available at BIR.
The Competition Road Course clockwise at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota utilizes the facility's racing layout in clockwise direction at this storied venue operating since 1968. The Competition designation indicates the racing-optimized configuration serving championship events and competitive club racing, with clockwise flow creating intended corner sequences. This variant serves as BIR's primary format for serious motorsport competition at Minnesota's premier road racing facility.
Operating the Competition Road Course CW showcases Brainerd International Raceway's comprehensive infrastructure where multiple configurations serve diverse disciplines from drag racing to road course events. Minnesota's northern climate creates distinct seasonal racing windows with operations primarily May through September, winter weather preventing year-round use. The Competition clockwise configuration provides the championship-level experience serving Minneapolis-St. Paul area motorsport community at this facility that has hosted professional racing for over five decades of Minnesota motorsport history.
