The club began life in 1953 as the 4 Cylinder Sports Car Club of Oregon. The club name was changed to Cascade Sports Car Club in May of 1956. A year-round event schedule keeps members entertained. Activities include track days, driver education for street and track, road racing, road rallies, the year-end awards banquet and other social gatherings.
Cascade Sports Car Club's Road Rally program (aka Cascade Geargrinders) has been organizing time-speed-distance road rallies in and around Portland for more than 60 years. The Mountains to the Sea Rally, a scenic tour of western Oregon’s finest back roads from Portland to the Pacific Ocean, is a Cascade tradition. For many years, the Ghoul's Gambol Halloween rally included a haunted house haunted by club members. Ghoul's Gambol made a return to Cascade's rally program in 2018 following a hiatus. Also in 2018 the long-running Friday Nighter Rally Series was retired, and replaced by the Saturday Road Rally Series, Saturday morning-early afternoon rallies. The 2025 season promises to provide quality TSD road rally events, fun for beginners and veterans alike.
Cascade Geargrinders road rallies are conducted in accordance with the current version of the Road Rally Rules (RRR). Supplemental rules specific to an event may amend or augment these rules.
Cascade’s Saturday Series rallies are entry-level, appropriate for beginners, while still being challenging for rally veterans. Saturday Series rallies may be tour-style or “lightly trapped” containing some easy rally challenges.
Saturday Series rallies begin and end in the Portland, Oregon, area. The rally route may be from 75 to 100 miles long or so. The first car starts on Saturday mornings at 10:01 a.m. and finishes in three to four hours. Cars leave the start at one-minute increments. A short break may be included mid-rally.
Roads used for the rally route are paved public through roads. Mileage is provided for most course-directing route instructions.
Timing and scoring is in seconds. An app used by each team times and scores the team as they pass GPS checkpoints.
The goal is to accurately drive the prescribed speeds, pause the specified durations, and correctly follow the indicated route so you are in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. Teams best able to stay on course and on time will be most successful.
Come drive with us. The route is out there.
