NickHolt Posted November 28, 2015 Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 Sincerely hope this more than wishful thinking.... http://blackflag.jalopnik.com/this-small-town-race-track-may-get-a-stay-of-execution-1732018768 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAPosse Posted November 29, 2015 Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 With a 2.9 mile road course maybe they can host a Formula 1 race. :-) Here's hoping it works out. I never saw a race there, and never have been on the grounds. But, feom what I have read, it seems a lot like the Ontario Motor Speedway in California. It was a great facility ahead of its time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arob Posted November 29, 2015 Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 Supposed to be a clone of Michigan.I enjoyed going there except the time they had a NASCAR race and it rained 4" on Friday night and 6" Saturday night.The parking lot was totally washed out and we had to park along hwy 6 and walk about 2 miles to the track,slog through the muddy parking lot and up the long ramp to the stands.Then the temp hit 100.UGH! Then on the way back home just outside of Caldwell the water from the fields was at the edge of the highway.It was sundown and getting a little dark but you could see black spots on the road.Thump,thump thump thump .As I slowed down you could see hundreds of taurantulas washed on the road from the water.Spooky sight I'll never forget! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiTech Posted November 29, 2015 Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 THAT arca and Winstonwest race was nasty .parking lot was all mud we made the mistake of parking in turn four the ground was harder over there but sat there over three hours waiting to get out with all the stuck cars blocking the exit road ..not fun , but meeting benny parsons and ned jarrret and visiting with em for a few just before they headed up for the show and seeing three of nascars greatest race was worth it late night getting back home I could have done with out ... I only went there a few times and had one chance to race tida pro sedans in October of 1991 but momma said no seeing Joshua was just about to enter the world two weeks later so I loaned my car to Irene wilkey and I think she was the first female to race tida there and did very well considering she had never even sat in a pinto race car nore been on that track before I think she was running in the top 8 on the last lap and got some help from a bump and finished I think 12th .. I know she made the racing news ..neil would have more on that in his notes I am sure . how many remember the first time you ever set eyes on that track from the stands ....you cant type the WOW large enough to explain it . the breath taking view will last a life time ..tms speedway cant ever touch that view the layout of tms makes it hard to fathom how large those tracks are ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickHolt Posted November 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 As far as I can determine, the actual 2-mile oval is beyond repair since the soil under the turns has become unstable. But the back straight is relatively flat and stable and the front straight is not in too bad shape even though the soil under the grandstands has become unstable. Most of the front straight is part of the various road course configurations and portions of the back straight is also integrated into the road course layouts. The growing trend in golf courses is to put up housing all around the course for dedicated golfers. And I can imagine a racing community growing up around the road course in a similar fashion with housing units having direct access to the road course. I might want to live there myself! Here's hoping this group now talking about a similar deal can pull it off. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCloser Posted November 29, 2015 Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 Something I've always been curious about. Does anyone know what kind of purse they had for the old TROC and Texas Grand Prix races? Neil Upchurch might be the guy with that answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilTPS Posted November 29, 2015 Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 Cody: To answer your question, I have researched (dug up) several items of interest about the Texas Race of Champions TROC) and Texas Grand Prix (Texas GP) at Texas World Speedway (TWS).Here are a few historical facts about Texas World Speedway grandstand crowds at some events:TROC – 15 races (between 1976 and 1996)Texas GP – 11 races (between 1980 and 1993)TIDA Late Model Series - 134 races (between 1988 and 1997)> The TWS grandstand had 26,000 seats (9 San Antonio Speedways)> The largest TWS crowd was about 43,000 on June 6, 1976. It wasn't a NASCAR race. It was a USAC Stock Car Division race which featured a large number of Indy 500 drivers in stock cars ie: A.J. Foyt, Johnny Rutherford, Gordon Johncock, Ken Schrader, etc. It was titled the Texas 500. There were also several other NASCAR and ARCA drivers in this race.> The first Texas Race of Champions was held in October of l976. A typical TROC "stand alone" event would seat 5,000 to 6,000 in the 26,000 seat grandstand. Another 5,000 elected to be in the VIP Suites, infield or in the ¼ mile long pits.> The TIDA-LM TROC Late Model purse paid $4,000 or $5,000 to win and about $30,000 - $35,000 to the field of about 45 to 50 starters.> The TIDA Pro Sedan winner was usually paid $1,000 with $5,000 paid to the field of about 36 starters.> The TWS Super Stock purse paid $2,000 to win and $8,000 to $10,000 to the field of about 40 starters.> A pit pass cost $25 and was good for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.> Entries didn't have to furnish or rent a transponder. TWS furnished the scoring staff.> A College Station motel room usually sold for $25 to $35 per night.> Regular gas at the pump for the tow trucks was about $.45 to $.90 cents per gallon.> Race fuel at TWS was $3.00 per gallon or participants could bring their own race gas.That was then..... This is now!All Texas Race of Champions events were contested on the 2.0 mile road course (62 miles) except in 1996 when twin 25 lap TIDA-LM races were held on the same day on the 1.5 mile Texas World Speedway inner oval (30 miles).Texas Race of Champions events were not held in 1982, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995. Compiled by:Neil UpchurchFormer Race Director, Texas Race of Champions & Texas GP, Texas World SpeedwayContributions by:Cotton Sherland, Former Chief Inspector, Texas Race of Champions & Texas GPRuss Martin, Public Address Announcer, Texas Race of Champions & Texas GPMike Haag, San Antonio Express-News, Motorsports reporter and Blog contributor, My SA.comRodney Rodriguez, PA Announcer, Central Texas Speedway Btw: Cody - I need your phone number and e-mail address in order for us to consult about race dates at CCS in 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCloser Posted November 29, 2015 Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 My phone number is 361-813-5594. But the guy you would need to talk to about racing at CC Speedway in 2016 is Dan Monroe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCloser Posted November 29, 2015 Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 Thank you for the information Neil! That stuff is pretty neat to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radical Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Mike, if I remember correctly this was when Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip and Kenny Schrader raced. Somehow during all the cautions and pitting Waltrip won the race on the lap by himself. Before the racing started Schrader was up by the stands waiting for them to set up for an autograph session. He talked to my two friends and I for a little while until they were ready. I remember also they had a T.I.D.A road coarse race before the big event. Someone came down the straight and blew a tire I believe and tore off a lot of the body in front. Great racing that whole weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiTech Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 RADICAL your are right .waltrip had most of every one two laps down I think ..that was back when he was winning races on fuel millage . and did the same in that race .no one had a car as fast as his that day cept near the end and I cant remember the drivers name right now who was on the move and seemed like he was running faster laps than waltrip who way out in front ... I want to say number 98 but I could be wrong ...I saw that car you mentioned sliding down the front off turn four and was amazed how far he slid and it looked slow motion from where we were sitting .first time there watching a full track race ever ,bill ventureny spelled wrong backed into turn three and four wall and I saw that just in time man I did not realize just how fast they were going and how fast it was over ...you blink you missed it ..schrader broke a shifter right off the bat ...I did not get to see the tida race rain slowed us down coming up from cc .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 > Entries didn't have to furnish or rent a transponder. TWS furnished the scoring staff. Some of the scorers furnished by TWS in the mid-seventies were provided by the Texas A&M Sports Car Club, as were various other workers on race day, including some who helped on pit road with fueling. The club had an agreement to provide both race-day and general grounds maintenance labor in exchange for credit toward the track rental for the first AggieCross. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King237 Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 There is a great thread that's in Texas Racing History section on TWS titled "Field of Shattered Dreams" that was started about 2 or 3 years ago. Besides a ton of great info and history on TWS, I scanned and had Nick post selected pages from a program to the 1993 race which I kept and still have in perfect condition. Here is a link to the thread if you want to check it out: http://www.lonestarspeedzone.com/topic/53343-texas-world-speedway-field-of-shattered-dreams/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilTPS Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 Radical: I remember those two races from Race Control at Texas World Speedway.To the best of my memory, here is what happened:You posted: “I remember correctly this was when Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip and Kenny Schrader raced. Somehow during all the cautions and pitting Waltrip won the race on the lap by himself”.It was an ARCA/NASCAR Winston West co-sanction race at which several NASCAR Cup drivers you listed were entered as NASCAR Winston West drivers. This was a time before the closed pit rule was employed by NASCAR. As the race progressed, a yellow came out, Darrell Waltrip’s #17 Western Auto car pitted, but no other car on the lead lap did. As the race shook out, every other car pitted, most under yellow. Waltrip didn’t need to pit and won the race as the only car on the lead lap, in other words, he lapped the field. NASCAR, in their usual reactive management way decided to learn from this race and installed a rule to prevent this from happening in one of their cup races.You also posted: “I remember also they had a T.I.D.A road coarse race before the big event. Someone came down the straight and blew a tire I believe and tore off a lot of the body. Great racing that whole weekend”.Yes, that did happen to the #59 Chevrolet Lumina driven by its owner, Jimmy Spiller of Austin. Early in the race and right at the start/finish line he had a right rear tire failure. The tire whipped off a large piece of his white Lumina’s body which retired the car. Jimmy handled the car well by bringing it to the grass margin. He avoided loss of control at the highest speed part of the road race course in front of a large field of Texas Race of Champions cars which could have resulted in several other cars involved in a high speed crash.Btw: He owned two other Chevrolet Luminas driven by names well known in Central Texas, David Umscheid in #52 and Jerry Spencer in #59.Written by: Neil Upchurch, Former Race Director, Texas Race of Champions and Texas GP at Texas World Speedway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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