Let’s do a Texas racing Historical thread

Greg

Greg

2014 RF YAHOO CHAMP Your leader
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
24,149
Points
1,033
Let’s do a Texas racing Historical thread

This is loosely about Texas Motor Speedway due to it being this week’s race and the primary subject. However I will add any good Texas related race stuff that seems worth posting.

Please know that I cannot do a historical thread every week, the work schedule interferes. So if anybody wants to start a historical racing thread for any given week in the future go for it, I would not mind, because I am too hit and miss and I am not foolish enough to think I own the topic here at RF. Group interaction is better.

Don’t be afraid to add your historical perspective, it is all good. It is subjective anyway; everybody’s history is important, if you are young or new to racing and history sounds like five years ago then please share your remembrance from five years ago. Don’t be shy tell your Texas racing story it is a friendly atmosphere, folks that love racing should enjoy.



The winners at the current Texas track

Season​
Winning Driver​
Make​
1997
Jeff Burton
Ford Thunderbird
1998
Mark Martin
Ford Taurus
1999
Terry Labonte
Chevrolet Monte Carlo
2000
Dale Earnhardt Jr
Chevrolet Monte Carlo
2001
Dale Jarrett
Ford Taurus
2002
Matt Kenseth
Ford Taurus
2003
Ryan Newman
Dodge Intrepid
2004
Elliott Sadler
Ford Taurus
2005
Greg Biffle
Ford Taurus
2005
Carl Edwards
Ford Taurus
2006
Kasey Kahne
Dodge Charger
2006
Tony Stewart
Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
2007
Jeff Burton
Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
2007
Jimmie Johnson
Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
2008
Carl Edwards
Ford Fusion
2008
Carl Edwards
Ford Fusion
2009
Jeff Gordon
Chevrolet Impala SS
2009
Kurt Busch
Dodge Charger
2010
Denny Hamlin
Toyota Camry
2010
Denny Hamlin
Toyota Camry
2011
Matt Kenseth
Ford Fusion
2011
Tony Stewart
Chevrolet Impala



Most Wins
3
Carl Edwards
Most Top 5s
10
Matt Kenseth
Most Top 10s
13
Matt Kenseth
Starts
22
4 Drivers
Poles
2
4 Drivers
Most Laps Completed
6997
Jeff Burton
Most Laps Led
756
Matt Kenseth
Avg. Start*
8.0
Steve Park
Avg. Finish
8.7
Matt Kenseth


Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored their first wins at Texas.

Texas got one race date from the closure of North Wilkesboro (one date went to New Hampshire), and the second race date from the closure of Rockingham.

When Texas opened there was a lot of complaints about the track from the drivers do you remember “just shut up drive”?
^ (refer to link below for story)
http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/columns/story?columnist=hinton_ed&id=6304279
 
I am thinking the four most famous drivers from Texas are: Terry and Bobby Labonte, A.J. Foyt and Johnny Rutherford.
 
I have heard the name Jud Larson by some old timers enough times to make me curious, and Larson was from Texas, so here goes.

He was an open wheel racer in the 50s and 60s. The added you tube clip is short and well worth the time, this is Jud’s world and those guys were incredible. They should never be forgotten; when I was a boy they were who I wanted to grow up to be.

Jud was killed in a racing accident in 1966.



 
Great Video find Greg really enjoyed it! Those old USAC Champ cars on dirt where amazing, some great faces in there too not only Jud Larson but I caught glimpses of AJ Foyt, Parnelli Jones, Jim Hurtibise, Jim Rathburn among others.
The 35 car wreck scared the crap outta me Amazing they showed him crawling out at the end of the clip! Who was that guy? he was one Tuff MFer!
 
Great video Greg. It's hard to believe he walked away from that rag doll roll. They had to be crazy to get in a car with no protection and belts whose only function seemed to be keeping the body close to the wreck.
 
It pains me to say this, but I'd love it if Texas had another track. I love TMS, but I would also love it for another track closer to home. It funny that I live in Texas and it still takes me 8 hours to drive to TMS. Too bad that Houston Speedway never got off the ground.
 
Jeffrey00 said:
It pains me to say this, but I'd love it if Texas had another track. I love TMS, but I would also love it for another track closer to home. It funny that I live in Texas and it still takes me 8 hours to drive to TMS. Too bad that Houston Speedway never got off the ground.
Click to expand...

ARCA ran a race at College Station in the 90s. In fact, that race is on YouTube, search 1993 ARCA Western Auto Shootout.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
ARCA ran a race at College Station in the 90s. In fact, that race is on YouTube, search 1993 ARCA Western Auto Shootout.
Click to expand...


Yes the Texas World Speedway is still there. Greg Biffle even tested there in 2010 I believe. However that track is not race ready. It would be cool if someone bought it and restored it though.
 
Jeffrey00 said:
Yes the Texas World Speedway is still there. Greg Biffle even tested there in 2010 I believe. However that track is not race ready. It would be cool if someone bought it and restored it though.
Click to expand...

The track is race ready, Rousch secretly funded part of the reno for biffle to test. I've talked to the facility owner. The property around the track and the infrastructure can't handle a serious race crowd though. The grandstands as they are, don't exactly exist. The infield track is raceable but the pits are useless. All it's used for is road racing.

With COTA opening up, that might hurt TWS a little. But TWS has that oval, and I can't rule out a series like ARCA coming back if somebody invested in the property further.
 
Aside from the current Texas, and old Texas World Speedway there has only been one other Sprint Cup race (was actually the Grand National Series then).
Held at Meyers speedway in Houston Texas.


There are not many details, but I did find an eyewitness account from another
Forum.

http://www.lonestarspeedzone.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t7915.html


Pasted below (TWS details can be found on wiki



May 31 2005, 04:43 PM For the record, Meyer hosted a Grand National (as it was known then) race on 23 June, 1971. This was the only time that a Grand National race was held there. If NASCAR ran there any other time, it was weekly series racing similar to San Antonio. Bobby Allison won the race by two laps, called the "Space City 300" in a race that had only 14 starters.


The race results: 1. Bobby Allison 2. James Hylton 3. Walter Ballard 4. Elmo Langley 5. Frank Warren 6. Cecil Gordon 7. Richard Petty 8. Henley Gray 9. Charlie Roberts 10. J.D. McDuffie 11. Ed Negre 12. Ronnie Chumley 13. Fred Hill 14. Pete Arnold


The last three were not running at the end.


Jun 1 2005, 03:58 PM txtom:


I attended the Space City 300 at Meyer Speedway in Houston on Wednesday night, June 23, 1971. I don’t believe the event was a sanctioned NASCAR Grand National race (now called Nextel Cup). NASCAR did help conduct the race as a market
research project to measure possible full sanctioned return races to Houston. NASCAR never returned to Meyer Speedway. Bobby Allison won the race. Richard Petty lost the lead when he had to pit for electrical system repair. Allison and Petty drove 427 CID Hemi Dodges.

The reason Meyer Speedway was able to attract the fourteen cars that it did, was because NASCAR had just held a sanctioned race on Sunday at Riverside Speedway in California. A Wednesday night race in Houston was selected because the teams who wished to compete would be returning home through Houston on I-10. A stop at the half mile Meyer Speedway would be convenient because in those days most NASCAR teams used short track cars for road races. They had the right type car with them on their open trailers, which most teams commonly used in those days. Several race teams opted to pass up the race because their car may have broken down in California or because the event was not a points race.

A note on the track configuration. Meyer Speedway was an half mile asphalt oval on east side of South Main Street in Houston. It was reasonably wide. The banking in the turns was progressive, that is, no bank on the inside of the turns which increased progressively to the steepest degree of banking at the guard rail. I don’t recall what the degree on banking was, but most drivers at speed ran the outside groove the entire lap. The track did use Armco guard rails for the entire outside length of the track as well as to protect the pit road, which couldn’t accommodate much more than a fourteen car field.

The electronic timing system was unique. Ed Hamblen developed a photo lab sweep hand clock that measured in tenths of a second. It was started and stopped by cars running over two pressure sensitive hoses (like those which rang the bell at full service gas stations). Ed’s system wouldn’t time but one lap at a time. The hoses were removed after time trials.

Race Control, PA Announcer and Press Box was the open air type on the start-finish line. The race office was located in the parking lot in a travel trailer. Ed Hamblen also had a side business in that parking lot which operated every day except race days. It was a golf driving range.

Neil Upchurch

Jun 1 2005, 10:20 PM


I beg to differ:

1971 Space City 300 Winston Cup race number 25 of 48 June 23, 1971 at Meyer Speedway, Houston, TX 300 laps on a .500 mile paved track (150.0 miles) Time of race: 2:02:28 Average Speed: 73.489 mph Pole Speed: 78.226 mph Cautions: none Margin of Victory: 2 laps + Attendance: 9,000

Fin St # Driver Sponsor / Owner Car Laps Money Status Led 1 1 12 Bobby Allison Bobby Allison '70 Dodge 300 2,200 running 253 2 14 48 James Hylton Hylton Engineering (James Hylton ) '70 Ford 298 1,500 running 9 3 11 30 Walter Ballard Ballard Racing (Vic Ballard ) '71 Ford 292 1,000 running 0 4 3 64 Elmo Langley Elmo Langley '69 Mercury 290 700 running 0 5 5 36 Frank Warren H.B. Bailey '70 Pontiac 289 650 running 0 6 7 24 Cecil Gordon Cecil Gordon '69 Mercury 286 550 running 0 7 2 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises '71 Plymouth 279 475 running 38 8 10 19 Henley Gray Henley Gray '69 Ford 270 450 running 0 9 8 77 Charlie Roberts Charlie Roberts '70 Ford 254 425 running 0 10 6 70 J.D. McDuffie J.D. McDuffie '69 Mercury 249 400 running 0 11 4 8 Ed Negre Ed Negre '69 Ford 239 370 running 0 12 12 00 Ronnie Chumley R.B. Chumley '69 Ford 136 360 transmission 0 13 9 14 Fred Hill '69 Ford 116 350 rear end 0 14 13 3 Pete Arnold '70 Ford 58 340 steering 0

This was sanctioned and it was a points race, it's the only NASCAR race ever held there

Sep 5 2006, 03:30 PM
 
Magnethead said:
The track is race ready, Rousch secretly funded part of the reno for biffle to test. I've talked to the facility owner. The property around the track and the infrastructure can't handle a serious race crowd though. The grandstands as they are, don't exactly exist. The infield track is raceable but the pits are useless. All it's used for is road racing.

With COTA opening up, that might hurt TWS a little. But TWS has that oval, and I can't rule out a series like ARCA coming back if somebody invested in the property further.
Click to expand...


Race ready as in could sanction a Nascar top series event. As you stated it is not ready for that.
 
Jeffrey00 said:
Race ready as in could sanction a Nascar top series event. Has you stated it is not ready for that.
Click to expand...

That's what I took your statement to mean. I looked at some recent pictures of that track and it would need a pretty massive investment to make the facility race ready. But it won't happen.
 
Matthew2470 said:
That's what I took your statement to mean. I looked at some recent pictures of that track and it would need a pretty massive investment to make the facility race ready. But it won't happen.
Click to expand...


Nope, but as Magnethead was saying the track itself isn't bad, just need new infield and grandstands. LOL.
 
Jeffrey00 said:
Nope, but as Magnethead was saying the track itself isn't bad, just need new infield and grandstands. LOL.
Click to expand...
The way that track was built, the infield actually wouldn't take much, just some pavement and something resembling a garage. For RCA or trucks, a garage would just be optional. It's the grandstands that would pose a problem. They're built into the hillside, so you can't exactly tear out the old ones and put new ones in. And if you want to sit at the top...have fun climbing. They're steep. The whole hill would have to be dug out to make new grandstands work.

When I drove through the tunnel, I could have sworn there was no way for an 18 wheeler to fit through there, but people at the track said they do. I don't know if they fold the mirrors in and empty the airbags, or what.

But the track, both oval and road course, are race-ready as they are, give or take the safer barrier.
 
I seem to remember a place called Yellowbelly Drag strip. an 1/8 mile track on the border of Arlington and I believe Fort Worth[could have been Dallas] back in the early 80's when I was living there. Anyone remeber this place? You could drive right in and dragrace anyone.
 
TMS is one of the best if you stay in a camper and enjoy life, also the road network makes it one of the easiest and fastest to get into and out of.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom