Texas World Speedway - Field of Shattered Dreams

[NeilTPS]

Rodney ... You are a creative person with good ideas. This is another one ...

It would be a great TROC.. "Texas Reunion Of Champions".

Can you put it together?

I am busy arranging for the TPS Awards Dinner Dec 13th. Full News Release to be posted later on TPS Forum. Can you attend?

Thanks - Neil

[RodneyRodriguez]

Thanks Neil! I should be free that day will confirm as we inch closer.

[Garrett]

On 3/4/2013 at 8:04 PM, NeilTPS said:

There were a couple of noticible errors contained in Matt McLaughlin’s otherwise well written article. He wrote, “Texas World Speedway was also given the highly coveted season finale date for 1969.” The initial name of the 2 mile superspeedway in College Station was Texas International Speedwayin order to match other ARI owned properties Michigan International Speedway and Riverside International Speedway. The trademark name of Texas World Speedway happened several years after the track had started operations as Texas International Speedway. The name change was suggested by the original NASCAR President, the late Bill France Sr.

 

Mr McLaughlin also wrote: “Bill France Junior said the track and the facility needed to be improved if NASCAR was going to stage another event there. The promoters (the late TWS President Dick Conole) loudly protested there was nothing wrong with the track. When the 1982 schedule was released Texas was not on it. It would be 1997 before big league stock car racing returned to Texas” (as TMS).

 

This statement is basically incorrect and misleading because it is incomplete. When NASCAR President, the late Bill France Jr. and TWS President Dick Conole discussed the 1982 season during many telephone conferences, France emphasised “NASCAR would require Texas World Speedway to be repaved before any further racing would be sanctioned at TWS”. Mr. Conole said, “we will pay the half million repaving cost if NASCAR will guarantee by contract at least one cup race at TWS for the next 10 years”. Bill France Jr. replied “NASCAR doesn’t guarantee dates” and insisted “first TWS must repave, afterwhich NASCAR would inspect the racing surface and then decide if NASCAR would approve and issue any race dates”. TWS President Dick Conole rejected the NASCAR offer as unbusinesslike and declined any further NASCAR races without contractually guaranteed dates to justify his repaving costs. Bill France Jr. replied “I can’t believe TWS is refusing a NASCAR cup race. Nobody has ever turned down a NASCAR race date”.

 

While USAC Championship Indy Car and USAC Stock car races (with several NASCAR drivers and cars in the field) were held in addition to many Texas Race of Champions at Texas World Speedway were contested over many years, NASCAR cup racing had ceased forever in College Station, Texas due to the disagreement between France Jr. and Conole.

 

One other note in Texas World Speedway’s past. An auction was held to sell TWS. A North Carolina lawyer attended the event. He represented a group of four investors. His bid offered to go into private negotiations. Three weeks later the deal fell through when the lawyer and TWS could not agree on an acceptable sales price. Only a few people know the names of the group of four investors the lawyer represented. Dick Conole told me they were Bill France Jr, Dale Earnhardt Sr, Richard Childress and Roger Penske. It is reasonably assumed that if this group had been successful in purchasing Texas World Speedway, there would not be a Texas Motor Speedway in existance today.

 

These are the facts as told to me by the late TWS President Dick Conole.

 

 

Neil Upchurch

 

Race Director, Texas Race of Champions at Texas World Speedway, Founder and Retired Former Driver, Race & Administrative Director, Texas Pro Sedans & TIDA-LM Series

Excellent and accurate post Neil. Thanks

[Garrett]

On 8/9/2014 at 4:27 AM, OldGalveston said:

Hello, this is my first post here. Hang on 'cause it's a long one...

 

I am fascinated by TWS and its history, and it seems to be a recurring topic of interest here. Many of you will know that the track may not last for much longer due to the southbound expansion of College Station. With that in mind, I have put together an overview of the TWS races and their winners.

 

First, a basic summary of the track's history. This is what the entry in Allan Brown's race tracks book (2003 edition) looks like...

 

 

Texas World Speedway - College Station / (aka Texas Int'l Speedway)
Two mile paved oval (12/07/1969 - 1973) (1976 - 1986) (1991) (1993) (1996)
Bobby Isaac won first race (a NASCAR GN race)
2.75 & 3.0 mile paved road courses (11/07/1969 - 1973) (1976 - 1989)
1.8 & 1.9 & 2.9 mile paved road courses (1991 - present)
Sister track to Michigan Int'l Speedway

...but a more accurate summary, IMHO, would look like this:

 

Texas World Speedway - College Station / (1969-1970: Texas Int'l Speedway)
Two mile paved oval (12/07/1969 - 10/06/1973) (06/06/1976 - 11/13/1982) (09/22/1991 - 03/21/1993)
Bobby Isaac won first race (a NASCAR GN race)
2.0 & 3.0 mile paved road courses (10/19/1969 - 09/27/1970) (1976 - c. March 1989)
1.8, 1.9, 2.9 & 3.0 mile paved road courses (September 1991 - present)
1.5 mile paved 'inner oval' road course (03/31/1996)
Sister track to Michigan Int'l Speedway

 

Now to the races:

OVAL RACES

USAC Indycars

04/07/1973: Al Unser (Texas 200 / part of: USAC Twin 200's)
10/06/1973: Gary Bettenhausen (Lone Star 200 / part of: USAC Twin 200's)

08/01/1976: A.J. Foyt (Texas Grand Prix / part of: USAC Twin 150's)
10/31/1976: Johnny Rutherford (Texas 200 / part of: Benihana World Series of Auto Racing)
04/02/1977: Tom Sneva (Texas Grand Prix)
07/31/1977: Johnny Rutherford (American Parts 200)
04/15/1978: Danny Ongais (Coors 200)
08/06/1978: A.J. Foyt (Texas Grand Prix)
04/08/1979: A.J. Foyt (Coors 200)
07/29/1979: A.J. Foyt (Lubrilon Grand Prix)

CART Indycars

04/05/1981: CANCELED (Indy of the Southwest Twin 125's)

 

USAC Mini-Indy Super Vee

 

08/06/1978: Harry MacDonald (race title unknown / part of: Texas Grand Prix)

04/08/1979: Dennis Firestone (race title unknown / part of: Coors 200)
07/29/1979: Michael Chandler (race title unknown / part of: Lubrilon Grand Prix)

 

USAC stock cars

 

04/07/1973: Gordon Johncock (race title unknown / part of: USAC Twin 200's)
10/06/1973: Roger McCluskey (race title unknown / part of: USAC Twin 200's)

06/06/1976: A.J. Foyt (Texas 500)
08/01/1976: A.J. Foyt (race title unknown / part of: USAC Twin 150's)
10/31/1976: Bobby Allison (race title unknown / part of: Benihana World Series of Auto Racing)
06/05/1977: Bay Darnell (Texas 500)
03/12/1978: A.J. Foyt (Aggieland 250)
06/04/1978: Gary Bowsher (Texas 500)
11/12/1978: A.J. Foyt (Texan 250)
03/11/1979: A.J. Foyt (Aggieland 250)
11/11/1979: Bobby Allison (Texan 250)
03/09/1980: Terry Ryan (Texan 250)

 

NASCAR stock cars (Grand National / Winston Cup)

 

12/07/1969: Bobby Isaac (Texas 500)
06/21/1970: CANCELED (Lone Star 500)
12/06/1970: CANCELED (Texas 400)

12/12/1971: Richard Petty (Texas 500) (rained out on 12/05/1971)
06/25/1972: Richard Petty (Lone Star 500)
11/12/1972: Buddy Baker (Texas 500)
06/10/1973: Richard Petty (Alamo 500)

06/03/1979: Darrell Waltrip (Texas 400)
06/01/1980: Cale Yarborough (NASCAR 400)
06/07/1981: Benny Parsons (NASCAR 400)

NASCAR stock cars (Late Model Sportsman)

12/04/1971: Bobby Allison (Permatex 200)

ARCA stock cars

10/08/1972: Ron Hutcherson (Royal Triton ARCA 300)

09/22/1991: Bill Venturini (race title unknown)
04/12/1992: Eddie Bierschwale (race title unknown)
09/20/1992: Mickey Gibbs (NASCAR Winston West/ARCA Shootout)
03/21/1993: Darrell Waltrip (Western Auto Shootout II) (last superspeedway race at TWS)

Other stock car races

11/09/1980: Rusty Wallace (Global 250 / part of: Texas Jamboree Weekend)
11/13/1982: Rickey Rudd (Global Stratagraph 150 / part of: The Great Texas Open Races)

American Truck Racing Association

05/03/1981: unknown (The Great Texas Truck Race)
03/21/1982: Charlie Baker (The Great Texas Truck Race) (recorded 132.86 mph in QF)

Possibly also ran a race on 11/13/1982 as part of The Great Texas Open Races ?

Notable test sessions

04/15/1992: Indycar test (Lyn St. James runs around 221 mph average)
02/23/1993: Indycar test (Jeff Andretti runs 234.562 mph average)
01/15/2009: NASCAR test (Greg Biffle hits 218 mph top speed)

ROAD COURSE RACES

SCCA Can-Am

11/09/1969: Bruce McLaren (Texas International Can-Am Round-Up) (3.0 mile course)
11/08/1970: CANCELED

SCCA Trans-Am

04/26/1970: CANCELED

10/20/1991: Jack Baldwin (Texas Trans-Am Festival) (1.8)

Possibly also planned for 1992 but canceled ?

IMSA GT

12/04/1971: Juan Izquierdo/Daniel Muñiz (Alamo 200) (2.0)

09/10/1995: Wayne Taylor (Seitel Texas World Grand Prix) (1.9)
05/05/1996: Wayne Taylor/Jim Pace (Exxon Superflo 500) (1.9) (last professional race at TWS)

The track was actually measured as 1.92 miles for the 1995-1996 IMSA races

AMA Camel Pro Series

07/03/1977: CANCELED

AMA Superbikes

10/06/1991: Scott Russell (Lone Star Superbike Challenge) (1.8)
05/31/1992: Freddie Spencer (Lone Star Superbike Challenge) (1.8)
10/11/1992: Scott Russell (National Championship Finals) (1.8)

Texas Race of Champions

30/10/1976: Ed Sczech (2.0) (part of: Benihana World Series of Auto Racing)
10/15/1977: H.B. Bailey (2.0)
11/12/1978: Jimmy Finger (2.0) (part 1: March 12 / part 2: November 12)
11/11/1979: Jimmy Finger (2.0) (part 1: March 11 / part 2: November 11)
03/09/1980: Freddy Fryar (2.0)
00/00/1981: Terry Labonte (2.0)

1982: not held

10/02/1983: John Newlin (2.0)
11/04/1984: Freddy Fryar (2.0)
11/10/1985: Terry Labonte (2.0)
11/09/1986: Terry Labonte (2.0)
11/08/1987: Tommy Riggins (2.0)
10/30/1988: Tommy Riggins (2.0)

1989-1990: not held

12/00/1991: Slick Yoemans (exact date TBC)

1992-1995: not held

03/31/1996: David Starr (1.5)
03/31/1996: Tommy Grimes (1.5)
09/01/1996: CANCELED
09/01/1996: CANCELED

Winners list compiled by Neil Upchurch (posted at LSSZ some time ago)

Texas Grand Prix

Not to be confused with the 1976-1978 USAC Indycar races

00/00/1980: H.B. Bailey
00/00/1981: Jimmy Finger
00/00/1983: Freddy Fryar
00/00/1984: Terry Labonte
03/10/1985: Bobby Allison
03/10/1985: Leroy Farmer
03/09/1986: Freddy Fryar
03/08/1987: Freddy Fryar
03/13/1988: Bobby Allison

09/21/1991: Slick Yoemans
04/11/1992: Slick Yoemans
03/20/1993: Howard Willis III

Winners list compiled by Neil Upchurch (posted at LSSZ some time ago)

 

Other road races

 

- SCCA (1969-1970, 1976 - c. March 1989, 1991 - present) (also 1972-1973 ?)

The first-ever race at TWS was an SCCA restricted regional on 10/19/1969, this was a dry-run for the Can-Am race in November

- WERA/CRRC/CRMA motorcycle races (1976-1988, 1992 - present)

When TWS closed in early 1989, all scheduled CMRA meetings were canceled. The CRMA found a replacement venue at Wheels Raceway in San Angelo; they raced there in 1990-1991 but moved back to TWS in 1992 after the track had reopened

Selected motorcycle winners:

09/11/1976: Bennie Delmonico/Greg Bauer (Aggie 200)

06/05-06/1982: Ron Lunsford/Allan Johnson/George Lloyd/Bobby Goodin/James Haecker/Quentin Hogan (24 Hours of Texas)

10/30/1982: Tony Neasham/Scott McCutcheon (8 Hours of Texas)
09/10/1983: Joe Fisher/Charles Brothers/Stuart Cooper (8 Hours of Texas)
10/06/1984: Kevin Schwantz/Kenny Morgan/James Trimble/Brian Floores (8 Hours of Texas)
10/05/1985: John Kocinski/Joey Osowski (6 Hours of Texas)
10/04/1986: Doug Toland/Peter Carroll (8 Hours of Texas)
10/03/1987: Mike Harth/Thomas Stevens/Russell Paulk (8 Hours of Texas)
09/24/1988: Mike Harth/Britt Turkington (8 Hours of Texas)
Etc.

 

The 200-mile race and 24-hour race were both one-off, but the 8-hour race is still held

Currently racing at TWS

- SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) (Texas Region and Lone Star Region)
- CVAR (Corinthian Vintage Auto Racing)
- NASA (National Auto Sport Association)
- PCA (Porsche Club of America) (Lone Star Region)
- CMRA (Central Motorcycle Roadracing Association)

 

Hope you appreciate this overview of TWS. If you have anything to add, or if you see a mistake, please reply in this topic, thanks !

I won my class GTO in the December 1971 Alamo 200, the first Camel GT race by IMSA. Peter Greg  won GTU.

I ran in the TRoC races in the mid 1980s, and I ran in one SCCA race, and most of the CVAR races there in the 2010s until they closed the track. GREAT TRACK!!!