PHOENIX – Auto racing has always been a part of Phoenix sports history.
NASCAR has been traveling to Phoenix Raceway since 1988, and has made a second annual trip since 2005. IndyCar currently visits the track, and its predecessors have been going there since 1964. Formula One even visited the downtown Phoenix streets from 1989 to 1991.
But there was racing in Phoenix long before 1964. Well, more like racing to Phoenix. The Cactus Derby was a race from Los Angeles to Phoenix that took place annually from 1908 to 1914, when World War I began…