Texas World Speedway

Coordinates: 30°32′13″N 96°13′16″W / 30.537°N 96.221°W / 30.537; -96.221
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with Texas Motor Speedway.
Texas World Speedway
TWS
McLaren M8B, 1969, Can-Am)
Short Road Course (1968–2017)
Length1.900 miles (3.058 km)
Turns8
Race lap record0:55.948 (Italy Max Papis, Ferrari 333 SP, 1996, WSC)

Texas World Speedway (TWS) was a motorsport venue located in

Need for Speed: Pro Street
.

History

Originally opened as Texas International Speedway, TWS was an almost exact copy of Michigan International Speedway[2] and was part of Larry LoPatin's American Raceways Inc. and operated a part of Riverside International Raceway, Trenton Speedway, and Atlanta International Raceway and in 1971 ARI went bankrupt.[3]

Texas World Speedway was the site of the 1974 Willie Nelson's Fourth of July Picnic with Willie Nelson and his guests Jimmy Buffett, Townes Van Zandt, and Kinky Friedman performing as well. It was also known for a fire that destroyed several cars including one owned by Robert Earl Keen. The cover of Keen' album, Picnic, shows a picture of his car on fire at the picnic.

During the 1980s the track fell into a state of disrepair, and both

ARCA, but after 1993 the company withdrew. The facility did serve as a venue for amateur and club racing, along with private testing. NASCAR teams have used the oval for testing (as it mimics Michigan and Fontana
), as a way of skirting the tight restrictions prohibiting testing on active tracks on the schedule.

On February 23, 1993,

IndyCars of 234.5 mph (377.4 km/h), the fastest speed ever recorded at Texas World Speedway, while testing for the 1993 Indianapolis 500.[4] This marked his first time back in an IndyCar since the 1992 Indianapolis 500 when he lost a wheel and crashed head-on into the wall, smashing both his legs. Andretti's fast run came at the conclusion of two days of testing where he consistently posted laps in the 230 mph (370 km/h) range. Andretti's Buick-powered Lola was prepared by Pagan Racing
of Corpus Christi, Texas.

During a January 2009 test,

Roush Fenway Racing as part of evading NASCAR's testing ban. This became the fastest speed ever achieved on this track by a stock car (amateur or professional). The average speed for the full lap was 195 mph (314 km/h).[5]

From 2012 to its closure in 2017 Texas World Speedway experienced a resurgence in use spurred by the growing popularity of road racing and the Speedway's 15-turn, 2.900 mi (4.667 km) road course which was very popular with drivers worldwide, who recognized the fast, wide and rhythmic road course as a "racer's track". During this period the track was completely booked with racing events, HPDE programs including the Speedway's popular Performance Driving School, professional team tests, motorcycle schools, "street drags" and non-racing events. During this time the track hosted its first 24-hour racing event by entry-level racing series ChumpCar World Series and later by the semi-professional racing series World Racing League.

On September 18, 2017 a

Jalopnik article confirmed the closure of Texas World Speedway, which was being used as a dumping ground for vehicles flooded out by Hurricane Harvey.[6]

The entire 600 acres (240 ha) facility was being leased to Copart as a catastrophe storage facility for vehicles damaged by Hurricane Harvey. The vehicles were to be stored while the numerous contracted insurance providers processed the vehicles for disposition via auction, where the mass majority would be sold with a certificate of destruction title, i.e. parts only from dismantling companies.

As of July 19, 2018, developers broke ground to begin construction of the Southern Pointe master-planned community.[7] Southern Pointe is going to be 550 acres with 73 acres of green space and water retention systems. They expect 1400 single-family home lots. The old TWS frontage road billboard was covered with a Southern Pointe banner at the beginning of December 2018.

Video footage of the speedway site taken by drone in February 2019 shows much of the asphalt banking in turns 1 and 2 has been removed, as well as a portion of turn 4.[8] Over the course of February 27 and 28, 2020 the press box above the grandstands was demolished.[9]

As of June 2024, the outline of the track remains, but most, if not all, of the original asphalt has been torn out as housing developments have been constructed in what were turns 1 and 2.[10]

Lap records

The all-time unofficial track record set during a race weekend on the 2-mile Oval is 0:33.620, set by Mario Andretti in a Parnelli VPJ2, during qualifying for the 1973 Texas 200.[11][12] The unofficial fastest lap for stock cars around the 2-mile Oval is 0:38.904, set by Page Jones in a Ford Thunderbird, during qualifying for the 1993 Western Auto Texas World Shootout II.[13][14] The fastest official race lap records at Texas World Speedway are listed as:

Category Time Driver Vehicle Event
Long Road Course: 4.666 km (1968–2017)[15][16]
Can-Am 1:33.900[17] Denny Hulme
McLaren M8B
 1969 Texas International Grand Prix
Supersport
 1:41.415[18] Ty Howard
KTM RC8
 2010 Texas World CMRA round
Short Road Course: 3.058 km (1968–2017)[15][16]
WSC 0:55.948[19] Max Papis Ferrari 333 SP 1996 Exxon Superflo 500 at Texas
GTS-1 0:59.638[20] Irv Hoerr Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 1995 Seitel Texas World Grand Prix
GTS-2 1:03.964[20] Joe Varde
Porsche 964 Carrera RSR
 1995 Seitel Texas World Grand Prix
Trans-Am 1:05.135[21] Darin Brassfield Oldsmobile Cutlass Trans-Am 1991 Texas Trans-Am Festival
Infield Road Course: 2.896 km (1968–2017)[15][16]
GTU 1:20.450[22] Peter Gregg Porsche 911 S 1971 Alamo 200

Race history

USAC winners

Season Date Race Name Winning Driver Chassis Engine Tires Team
1973 April 7 Texas 200 Al Unser
Parnelli
 Offenhauser Firestone Vel's Parnelli Jones
October 6 Texas 200 Gary Bettenhausen McLaren Offenhauser Goodyear Penske
1976 August 1 Texas 150 A. J. Foyt Coyote
Foyt
 Goodyear
Gilmore
October 31 Benihana World Series of Auto Racing Johnny Rutherford McLaren Offenhauser Goodyear McLaren
1977 April 2 Texas Grand Prix Tom Sneva McLaren Cosworth Goodyear Penske
July 31 American Parts 200 Johnny Rutherford McLaren Cosworth Goodyear McLaren
1978 April 15 Coors 200 Danny Ongais
Parnelli
 Cosworth Goodyear Interscope
August 6 Texas Grand Prix A. J. Foyt Coyote
Foyt
 Goodyear
Gilmore
1979 April 8 Coors 200 A. J. Foyt Coyote
Foyt
 Goodyear
Gilmore
July 29 Lubrilon Grand Prix A. J. Foyt
Parnelli
 Cosworth Goodyear
Gilmore
1980 April 26 Texas 200 Cancelled due to the conflict between USAC and CART

NASCAR race winners

Season Winning Driver Manufacturer
1969 Texas 500 Bobby Isaac Dodge
1971 Texas 500 Richard Petty
Plymouth
1972 Lone Star 500 Richard Petty Dodge
1972 Texas 500 Buddy Baker Dodge
1973 Alamo 500 Richard Petty Dodge
1979 Texas 400 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet
1980 NASCAR 400 Cale Yarborough Chevrolet
1981 Budweiser NASCAR 400 Benny Parsons Ford
  • Bobby Isaac's 1969 win was his first in a long-distance superspeedway race.
  • Richard Petty's 1972 win was his first in a Dodge. His 1971 win was the only time he won the season finale in his illustrious career which saw 200 wins (most of all-time) and 7 Championships (tied for most all-time with Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson).
  • The 1979 400 was NASCAR's first race at Texas after it shut down for the 1974-1975 seasons; USAC stock cars and Indycars returned to Texas in 1976.

USAC Stock Cars

SCCA Can-Am winners

Season Winning Driver Chassis Engine
1969 New Zealand Bruce McLaren
McLaren M8B
 Chevrolet

IMSA winners

Season Winning Driver Car
1972
 Mexico Juan Izquierdo
Mexico Daniel Muñiz 		Ford Mustang
1995
 South Africa Wayne Taylor
Ferrari 333SP
1996
 South Africa Wayne Taylor
United States Jim Pace 		Riley & Scott Mk III-Oldsmobile

References

  1. ^ "1978 USAC Texas Grand Prix telecast". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13.
  2. ^ "Texas World Speedway: Lonely Star". Lost Speedways. Season 2. Episode 5. 1 July 2021. Peacock.
  3. ^ "Racing in the Rain: The Undoing of LoPatin's Raceway Dreams". 3 June 2015.
  4. ^ "Jeff Andretti sets unofficial mark". Lodi News-Sentinel. February 24, 1993. p. 17.
  5. ^ Rodman, Dave (January 22, 2009). "Notebook: Biffle hits 218 mph in test at Texas World". NASCAR. Archived from the original on 2009-03-13. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  6. Jalopnik. Archived
    from the original on 2017-09-18.
  7. ^ Falls, Clay (July 19, 2018). "New Southern Pointe Community taking shape near College Station". KBTX. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  8. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "TWS, Texas World Speedway 2019 Drone Video 1 of 2". YouTube.
  9. ^ Falls, Clay (February 28, 2020). "Texas World Speedway press box demolished as Southern Pointe grows". KBTX.
  10. X (Twitter)
    . 6 Jun 2024.
  11. ^ "1973 Texas Indycars". Motor Sport Magazine. 6 October 1973. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  12. ^ "Texas World Speedway 2016". 7 May 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  13. ^ "1993 WESTERN AUTO TEXAS SHOOTOUT II". Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  14. ^ "1993 WESTERN AUTO TEXAS WORLD SHOOTOUT II". Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  15. ^ a b c "Texas World Speedway - Racing Circuits". RacingCircuits.info. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  16. ^ a b c "Texas World Speedway - Motor Sport Magazine". Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  17. ^ "Can-Am Texas 1969". 9 November 1969. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  18. ^ "Ty Howard Sets New CMRA Lap Record At Texas World Speedway". 13 April 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  19. ^ "Texas 500 Miles 1996". 5 May 1996. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  20. ^ a b "3 h Texas World 1995". 10 September 1995. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  21. ^ "1991 Liquid Tide Trans-Am Tour Round 14 - Texas Trans-Am Festival - Race Results" (PDF). 20 October 1991. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
  22. ^ "200 mile Texas 1972". 4 December 1971. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
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