NickHolt

I was directly involved with the reconfiguration of Thunderhill Raceway back when Brian Calloway and Jim Lynch owned the lease. The rumble strips were added on both turns to keep folks from driving through the infield which stopped a lot of cautions for mud and dirt on the track. It also forced drivers to use a nice tight line through 1-2 to keep from going off the back side. Keep in mind that the back straight did not have walls so the line was way, way out towards the edge of the pavement. We added 8 feet to the outside of the back straight to keep folks from going off the track so often. That made turns one and two a one-lane turn since the preferred line was to keep it down near the rumble strips and let it drift all the way to the outside of the extended pavement. Setting up for turn 3-4 was no where near as important as 1-2. Frankly, when there are paper clip turns on a quarter-mile that has walls all the war around, you can count on lots of bent sheet metal. There are two paved short tracks in in Maine that you really should look at before you make your final decision on track layout. - the 1/3-mile Beech Ridge Motor Speedway and the 3/8-mile Oxford Plains Speedway. Both are very successful and have been running for decades in their present configurations. Note that there are no walls in the turns. Nick

There are plenty of old ARTS trucks on jack stands all over Texas. Looks like it's time to get 'em ready to race!

There'll be some head scratching in the gear department, not to mention the cam department... Sure hope those walls at the ends of the straights are soft...

The big announcement is posted here and it concerns the drag strip only. No mention of a circle track that I could find...

Racing friends, say a little prayer for a fellow racer - Raymond Delahoussaye. He is not doing well at all.

3641 S. Santa Clara, Marion, Texas 78124 is the address. It's just off IH10 between San Antonio and Seguin.

Well, a very public flag has been raised up the mass media flagpole. Thanks for running the story, Fox 29. I can only hope that all the financing is 100% in place and that construction will begin soon. If so, I'm excited! And even if the financing has yet to be determined, I hope that investors will take this awesome-sounding opportunity seriously and that we will soon have a major motorsports facility right outside the SA city limits. But over the past 15 years, or so, we've seen several well-meaning folks (maybe some not so well-meaning) get our hopes up only to have those dreams evaporate for one reason or another. Let's hope for the best this time around. Time will surely tell the story.

Thanks for keeping up with the moderating, Nathan. This thread looks OK now!

Pretty much disagree, toyotatim, and, ironically, for several of the very reasons you list. I agree that many of the high-dollar teams in the "upper" divisions will tend to stay away from a quarter-mile bullring-type track and opt instead to run in the Southeast. In my opinion, this is a plus, not a negative. 1) It has been my experience that if you want to run an asphalt track into the ground, let a few of the well-funded teams dominate your field. Sooner or later the teams that are not so well-funded get the message that they have zero shot at winning and decide that golf or fishing or time with the family is more rewarding. And quite often financially well off teams are in a better position to put pressure on the track to get them to see things their way. 2) It has also been my experience that the costs associated with bringing in a top-notch touring series outweigh the spike in revenue associated with the event. Not only that, but since the touring series teams are usually based hundreds of miles away, some of their teams are no-shows. How many major touring series has HMP or CTs able to host over the past few years? Yes, SAS hosted some All-Pro shows before the turn of the century, but even then the red ink was more frequently used than the black. THey even lost money on some TIDA and ROMCO events. I know that for a fact. 3) Corporations look at numbers when deciding where to put there advertising bucks. Sure, shiny cars make for good photo ops for the corporate office, but unless the CEO has a personal interest (his son or daughter is a racer at that track/series, etc) the bucks always follow head counts, not car counts or who has the prettiest cars. If the goal is bring back lots of asphalt racing for the masses rather than for the elite, then the quarter-mile track proposal makes good sense. Nick

Sure thing, Rodney. Better check with your bank to be sure they can handle that much money all at once..

Hopefully, things will work out well.

Kinda cool going through this old post and realizing just how many tracks come and go over time,

Post em!

I kinda like her attitude... always giving others credit for her success.

OK, so now that Danica has more than likely run her last Cup race, who do you think will be the next female driver promoted by NASCAR?

By releasing the above statement to the public, the World of Outlaws is probably responding to numerous Facebook threads and published accounts in racing media concerning an alleged altercations between two WoO Late Model drivers, Tyler Erb and 17 year-old Hudson O'Neal. I will not get into the particulars of this deal but I do want to bring up what I see as an important issue. According to published reports, Erb has been charged with child abuse (as well as burglary) after a dust up between the pair over a non-racing-related issue shortly after a WoO-sanctioned event in Florida. The child abuse charges were filed against Erb since apparently Hudson is under age 18. Exactly who filed the charges is unknown to me, but what is clear is that what would have normally been a dust up between two men with a disagreement has taken on a life of its own on Facebook and Twitter. Minors compete with adults all the time at short tracks and anyone who knows my history in the sport knows that I am certainly not against kids racing. I am, however, concerned that there are two sets of standards at race tracks - one for minors and one for everyone else. While I have no inside information as to why the WoO organization released the above statement to the public, it appears likely that the WoO is following some sort of legal advice in doing so. Hopefully all charges will be dropped in this instance, but I suspect this will not be the last instance of charges being filed against an adult involved in an altercation with a minor at a race track. Nick

World of Outlaws Late Model Series Statement Regarding Tyler Erb World of Outlaws Late Model Series officials are aware of the ongoing situation with one of its competitors. Long after racing competition was completed at Volusia Speedway Park during night nine of DIRTcar Nationals, the Volusia County Sheriff department was called to the facility by a third-party for a non-racing-related altercation between Tyler Erb and a fellow driver. Series officials are in contact with the Volusia County Sheriff and will proceed accordingly. The World of Outlaws won't have any further comment at this time.

Thanks for the updated link to your pictures, Tom. I just spent several hours looking through your awesome collection!

Southern Texas Late Model Series 2018 schedule April 14 - Cotton Bowl Speedway, Paige, Texas May 5 - I-37 Speedway, Pleasanton, Texas May 18 - West Texas Raceway, Lubbock, Texas May 19 - Abilene Speedway, Abilene, Texas June 2 - 105 Speedway, Cleveland, Texas June 29 - East Texas Speedway, Petty, Texas June 30 - Grayson County Speedway, Bells, Texas July 13 - RPM Speedway, Crandall, TX July 14 - Devil's Bowl Speedway, Mesquit, TX July 21 - Texana Raceway Park, Edna, Texas August 4 - Golden Triangle Raceway Park, Beaumont, Texas August 17 - West Texas Raceway, Lubbock, TX August 18 - Abilene Speedway, Abilene, Texas September 8 - TBA - Potential Rain makeup date September 22 - I-37 Speedway, Pleasanton, Texas October 13 - Big O Speedway, Ennis, TX (Texas Vs. Oklahoma Showdown with Sooner Late Model Series) November 2 - TBA - Rain Date for Texas Vs. Oklahoma Showdown Edited 2/20/2018

Rick Rapp used to say that if you didn't scare yourself at least once a lap, you weren't going fast enough... And yes, the fast way around SAS was to diamond turn 3-4 and do whatever it took to get through 1-2. A lot of wrecks coming off two with so many different lines being used to navigate and exit that turn.

Don, do you have any pics you'd like to share? I think I remember your car from Pan American Speedway days.... a brownish colored 57 Chevy maybe?

Someone needs to take a trip out there and find out what's going on! This is a surprise to me for sure....

We're all on the same page here... We all are hoping that when CC Speedway roars back to life, it will inspire a new generation of folks with with the same sense of adventure, respect for the past and hope for their future racing endeavors. Let's all do all we can to help make CC Speedway the best "bullring" in the country when it does re-open. Nick

That's a pretty impressive list with some names on there that belong in any racing hall of fame... Nick

Great stuff.... that's why the Texas Racing History section is here... sooner or later someone Googles a name from the past and we get some more stories when they find the site. Nick