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Longhorn Speedway


TPS18

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Lanny:

 

The 1/4 mile asphalt track formerly known as Austin Speed-O-Rama, then Longhorn Speedway and lastly "Bad Boys Speed-O-Rama" tried four times to become reborn.

 

The first attempt was made by Sam Hill of Austin. He lost money and closed.

 

Then the Chambers brothers of Austin tried their hand at track operations. They closed because the new Thunder Hill Raceway was to much to compete against.

 

The track was closed for quite some time. The grass and weeds grew high, the rattlesnakes and rats found a nice home just off highway183.

 

A couple of men from the midwest wanted to make it into a dirt track, but they gave up when they discovered the phrase "dirt cheap" was literally an incorrect statement.

 

Finally a fellow from South Austin by the name of Paul Miller took over the lease in 2000. He announced he'd re-open and call it "Bad Boys Speed-O-Rama". He cleared the grass and weeds, killed the rattlesnakes and the rats. He then discovered that several parts of the facility no longer met city code. It would be more expensive to update than he was willing to afford. He surrendered. The grass, weeds, rattlesnakes and rats moved back in.

 

Apparently the formerly colorful and historic 1/4 mile Friday night track that operated for more than 50 years may never hear the roar of racing engines again.

 

Neil Upchurch

PA Announcer (12 years)

President of TIDA (who ran about 100 races there)

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actually...........................neil , directflo has bought the track and says it will fit the format perfect for his ' ever sooo popular ' run what you brung race. very suprised you TPS guys haven't heard yet.

.............and it will be a figure eight 'call you mamma a whimp for spraying an X on your door ' race.......LOL.

 

 

ps- buried it , it's dead .......i wish not ,but it is.

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Yep, ................ and a lot of history was made there as well over those 40 years. Lord, the list of drivers that ran there is, ......... is ......... well, just incredible. To walk that ground out there right now would make the hair stand up on the back of my neck. :):(

 

It really IS hallowed ground.

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Yep, ................ and a lot of history was made there as well over those 40 years.  Lord, the list of drivers that ran there is, ......... is ......... well, just incredible.   To walk that ground out there right now would make the hair stand up on the back of my neck.  :):(

 

It really IS hallowed ground.

budman the hair standing up on your neck .is that the only hair you have on your head . and crazy its a good horse pasture .now . :blink: .i always hate to see a race track close .never got to race there always wanted to thow . just never made it .some drivers from cc raced at that track and thought it was alot of fun .

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It was a racetrack where the fastest groove was hanging your left side tires just off the inside lip of the asphalt. And going down the straightaway dragstrips, you wondered if your clutch was slipping or the tires were spinning....

Dialing in the brake balance was a key to being fast there.

 

It was fun to watch the great drivers (such as David Umsheid) master the outside groove, even though it was several tenths slower. On the back of David's car was written "the other woman". JC - who's yor momma?

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It saddens me everytime I drive by. I was contacted several months back by a gentleman who was working on plans to re-open the track. (Wow a consulting fee & Longhorn re-opening !)He is a business man who has investers. After talking with him for about an hour and finding out he had been involved with big restaurants I started to lose hope. Even with his good intentions he was clueless to almost all aspects of running a track. Along with the huge cost of resurecting the track and facilities there are a ton of othe expenses involved. The cost of insurance and limitations on what you are able to do at the track because of these limitations....he brought up figure 8. After the '89 season those weren't allowed because of insurance regulations at LHS. I loved his ideas about BIG purses to draw cars but even I know that a racetrack is a businesss and has to make money to keep the doors open.

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I was fortunate enough to visit Longhorn several times and have to say some of the most memorable and fun times at any track I have visited were there.I never left that track unhappy with what I saw.From wifes catching husbands with girlfriends in the parking lot,the speedy dry that was used one night that you had to wait 30 minutes for the dust cloud to clear,on track altercations,Sam Hill and last but not least ,Elmer Gene.Plus the always had the best track T-shirts.That was really a fun place.

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That was an awsome track to run. We used to run the Dwarf cars there and whatever you did just don't dip your left front off the track in the corners, that is where the lower suspension monster lived and it seemed that he was always hungry.

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i have so many good memories of longhorn as a kid.always just a spectator and i did'nt know anyone with racecars. in high school i would take whatever girl i was seeing out there to see if they could dig it. took one girl out there and she got really freaked out by the track clown????!!!!! my favorites were always the street stocks. man,they were cool,the lettering and paint work on the cars was amazing! i found out the man responsible for most of them was bo martin. i' have been trying to meet him for years but i hear he vacations regularly. i always said some day i would have a racecar and wish i could've run around longhorn just once looking up at my wife on those rickety ol' bleachers that were just staging grounds for overhead soft drink and popcorn bombs. i drive by regularly and always crane my neck to see if any thing is happening. just a matter of time until that track becomes a quickie mart...heartbreaking

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just a matter of time until that track becomes a quickie mart...

 

For more years than I can remember, the rumor was HEB bought the corner, and was going to build a grocery store. So much for that one.............

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Does anyone remember me (Randy Larsen) rolling over my #53 "Herbie" bug on the front straightaway,the track cornerworkers rolling it back over on its wheels and I was able to get it started and come from the back of the field to take 5th place,I had to beat the roof upward to keep it off my helmet,man that was an incredible race, Longhorn was always a blast................ :D ...........Or does anyone remember my brother Glen Larsen rolling his bug the #8 car on the front straightaway and going end over end finally stopping in the infield,he climbed out without a scratch,it was tagged as the worst wreck in Pro Sedan History untill the wreck of Candy Hogan,Donnie Moore,and Ozzy at Thunderhill...........does anyone remember seeing these.........Randy

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I always think of the time the guy jumped the motorbike ramp to ramp over some racecars and stuffed the front wheel.I can still see him flippin, floppin and slidin down that ramp.It was entertaining,I havent forgot it,and that was about 30 years ago.

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One of my more memorable moments there was when they brought that "Green Mamba" jet car and it set the old stands on the back stretch on fire.

 

Another one was when a drunk knocked my 1 year old son off his seat and he fell through the bleachers. Thankfully, he was only a couple rows up from the bottom, and only had a few bumps and scratches. I did not see what happened next, since I was in the pits, but my wife gave a very detailed description of the butt whipping Judy Machen and Betty Brooks put on that guy before he was hauled off.

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Sounds like it was a nice track. I've never been there. I've never even seen any other tracks besides SAS and THR. Take that back, I've been to Red River once, as a spectator though. But by the way y'all describe the track, I would say that's how I feel about SAS. I pray that that track never closes. SAS is my Daytona.

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