If you had been at the third annual Portland Rose Festival in 1909, you would have had a chance to witness an important piece of motorsports history. One of the first national championship automobile races took place right here in Portland.
The original Wemme Trophy race ran east on Division Street from Portland to Gresham, and then back into Portland on Stark Street. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of that historic race, the Friends of PIR established the modern Wemme Trophy to celebrate the people who have had a consistent positive impact on Portland’s vintage sports car racing community.
The modern Wemme Trophy has been awarded to Renny Watt, Norm Daniels, Greg Baldwin, John Zupan, Tim Scott, Monte Shelton, Paul Ingram, Bob Ames, David Franks, Arnie Loyning, Erik Dolson, Jess Heitman, Mike Smith, Curt Kallberg, and Robert Macherione.
The Wemme Trophy will be awarded in Victory Circle at the conclusion of Sunday’s Vintage feature race.