Portland International Raceway and IndyCar Series races have a long history, dating back to 1984 when Al Unser, Jr. drove a March/Cosworth to victory in the inaugural Stroh’s/GI Joe’s 200.

There have been many memorable races at the 1.964-mile road course as it enters its third season on the NTT IndyCar Series schedule in 2020.

Tickets for the 2020 Grand Prix of Portland are now on sale. For more information, click here.

Portland was a regular stop on the CART and Champ Car World Series schedules from 1984 to 2007. High-speed, IndyCar action returned in 2018 and with enthusiastic support from the fans, it promises to be a highlight on upcoming schedules.

There have been many great moments at Portland, including back-to-back victories by Mario Andretti in 1985-86, three consecutive wins by Michael Andretti from 1990-92, two straight wins from Al Unser, Jr. in 1994-95 and two straight victories from Gil de Ferran in 1999-2000.

There was also Mark Blundell’s .027-of-a-second win over de Ferran in 1997, a finish that remains as CART’s closest ever contest to the checkered flag.

But there is one race that stands above the rest in terms of excitement and storyline and that took place on Father’s Day 1986.

To this day, Mario (seen here at Indianapolis Motor Speedway that year) considers his victory on June 16, 1986 as his “favorite win.”

It was the first season that his son, Michael, was his teammate at Newman-Haas Racing and was already pushing his “old man” on the race track. He had already won two of the four races contested that season including the 1986 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and the 1986 Miller American 200 at The Milwaukee Mile.

By the time the Andrettis got to the Pacific Northwest, Mario was trying to keep up with his fast son. But if Mario had written a script to how the Portland race would finish on Father’s Day, nobody would have believed the outcome.

“Not in 100 years,” Mario Andretti laughed. “Father and son. Father’s Day. Father winning a race that he should have never won. Son blowing him away big-time.

“I get so much joy out of that you cannot believe because it (made) Michael (so mad), and rightfully, so, because Michael was flying that day. I remember he and Danny Sullivan were on a planet of their own and Danny dropped out and I was left there with no chance of catching him. I was fighting for second with Al Unser, Jr. on my tail.”

With two laps to go, Mario heard over the radio from his race strategist that Michael’s car was having a fuel pickup problem. With Michael’s car sputtering around the course, Mario was running at full throttle trying to get up to the lead.

“Oh, man, I just stood up in that seat and must have set the all-time record,” Mario recalled. “We were coming down to the stretch side-by-side and his engine sneezed just enough that I beat him by seven-thousandths of a second.”

“People thought there was no way it was that close, so they called it seven-hundredths and that is what went on the record and I’ve been trying to rectify that for years,” Mario contends. “I can show anybody the photo and that is seven-one-thousandths of a second. Officially, we don’t have the record. I know it was announced on the podium s seven-one-thousandths of a second but the ‘experts’ corrected it for some reason.

“I assumed I won. The photo has Michael looking at me and me looking at Michael and Al Unser, Jr. right behind us. Think about it, 180 miles an hour, and I win by two inches. Michael was still thinking he won it and then they certified it.”

Michael was crushed by the outcome, especially having led 87 of the 104 laps.

“He was not very happy until somebody told Michael, ‘Cheer up, it’s Father’s Day,’” Mario recalled when they were on the podium. “Michael looked over at me all glum and, ‘Oh, Happy Father’s Day.’”

To this day, mention that race to Michael and he will roll his eyes, still thinking about a certain victory that got away.

“It was good that it was Dad, but at the time it hurt really bad,” Michael recalled. “I literally had a one-lap lead on the field on a road course, and that is almost impossible. Then, I had to coast the last few laps because I couldn’t pick up seven gallons of fuel in my tank.”

That day in Portland displayed just how badly the Andretti’s wanted to win. It didn’t matter if it were a father and a son going for the win, whoever crossed the finish line first was going to have to earn it.

That is why Michael was so disappointed that he lost.

“He was upset,” Mario said. “Michael wanted to win, just like me. That’s all you ever race for. I don’t know anyone who ever raced for the win more than Michael did. I know I did, too. Winning was the only thing that mattered and sometimes I made some mistakes that I probably could have settled for second and third. Sometimes, it was very smart on my part.

“But Michael really wanted to win. His biggest fear was not being able to win. But beating me gave him extra motivation, no question about it.”