Texas Motor Speedway

Not to be confused with Texas World Speedway.
Texas Motor Speedway
The Great American Speedway
Location 3545 Lone Star Circle, Fort Worth, Texas 76177
Time zone UTC−6 / −5 (DST)
Capacity 181,655[1]
Owner Speedway Motorsports, Inc.
Operator Speedway Motorsports, Inc.
Broke ground April 11, 1995
Opened February 29, 1996
Construction cost $250 million USD
Former names Texas International Raceway (1996)
Major events NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Duck Commander 500
AAA Texas 500
NASCAR Xfinity Series
O'Reilly Auto Parts 300
O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Rattlesnake 400
Longhorn 350
Verizon IndyCar Series
Firestone 600
Oval
Surface Asphalt
Length 1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Turns 4
Banking Turns: 24°
Lap record 0:22.542 (Paul Tracy, Team Green, 2001, Cart FedEx Championship Series)

Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The track measures 1.5 miles (2.4 km) around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns, and is a quad-oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. The track layout is similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway (formerly Lowe's Motor Speedway). The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., the same company that owns Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedways, as well as the short-track Bristol Motor Speedway.

History

Texas Motor Speedway Club building in Fort Worth, Texas
Aerial view of Texas Motor Speedway

The speedway has been managed since its inception by racing promoter Eddie Gossage.

Based on qualifying speeds in 2004, 2005, and 2006 (with Brian Vickers shattering the qualifying record at Texas with a speed of 196.235 mph (315.810 km/h) in the 2006 Dickies 500 qualifying), the Texas Motor Speedway was once considered the fastest non-restrictor plate track on the NASCAR circuit, with qualifying speeds in excess of 192 mph (309 km/h) and corner entry speeds over 200 mph (320 km/h). However, as the tracks' respective racing surfaces continue to wear, qualifying speeds at Atlanta have become consistently faster than at Texas (2005 and 2006). Brian Vickers holds the qualifying record at TMS. In 2006, he posted a 196.235 mph (315.810 km/h) speed. Elliott Sadler beat the record before Brian, qualifying in the 49/50th spot. Being the last person out on the track, Brian nipped Elliott Sadler's qualifying time.[2] The NASCAR records still fall short of the all-time TMS qualifying record though. Driving a Lola Ford Champ Car, Kenny Brack took pole for the aborted Firestone Firehawk 600, with an average speed of 233.447 mph in 2001.

Two racetracks formerly on the Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup Series) schedule were closed to make room for Texas Motor Speedway's two race dates, with the North Wilkesboro Speedway being bought by TMS owner Bruton Smith and New Hampshire International Speedway owner Bob Bahre. The track was closed with one of the track's two dates going to both new owners. The North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina was also sold to Smith as a result of the Ferko lawsuit with the track's one remaining date also being handed over to Texas.

Texas Motor Speedway is home to two NASCAR Sprint Cup races: the Duck Commander 500 and the AAA Texas 500, as well as two Xfinity Series races, the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 and the O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge and the Indy Racing League Verizon IndyCar series race, the Firestone 600. The track also hosts two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races, the Rattlesnake 400 (which takes place on the same weekend as the Indycar Firestone 600) and the Longhorn 350.

For a short time during construction in September 1996, the track's name was changed to Texas International Raceway. SMI's customary track naming convention had planned to have the "Motor Speedway" as part of the name. However, in August 1996, a small quarter-mile dirt raceway in Alvin, Texas (now known as Texas Thunder Speedway) had filed suit to use the name. On December 2, 1996, a settlement between the two tracks saw the "Texas Motor Speedway" name reinstated to the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) oval, and the small number of Texas International Raceway merchandise instantly became collectible.

Between 2001 and 2002, the track, after the reconfiguration in 1998, was repaved because of a hole in turn three. On August 17, 2010, a press conference was held and it was announced that TMS's spring race will become a Saturday night event in 2011. The Samsung Mobile 500 was held on Saturday April 9, 2011. The same year, the apron of the speedway was repaved.

Jeff Burton (1997) and Dale Earnhardt, Jr (2000) both earned their first Cup win at Texas Motor Speedway. Earnhardt's victory was a then-record for fewest races to notch a victory in the "modern era" on the Cup circuit, winning in just his 12th start, breaking the record held by his father, Dale Earnhardt (16 starts). (The record has since been broken three times, by Kevin Harvick (3 starts), Jamie McMurray (2 starts) and Trevor Bayne (2 starts).

On October 13, 2000, Tony Roper was racing in the Craftsman Truck Series O'Reilly 400 at Texas Motor Speedway when he attempted to pass Steve Grissom. However, another truck veered up the racetrack in the tri-oval, forcing Roper to evade, turning him into Grissom's front bumper. The contact caused Roper's #26 Ford to take a sudden hard-right turn, which then caused the truck to slam head-on into the concrete wall of the tri-oval. Roper died the next day as the result of the injuries he sustained from the crash.

In fall of 2012, Gossage added a carnival outside turn two to promote the track's "Wild Asphalt Circus" theme.[3] On September 23, 2013, the track announced that by the 2014 spring Cup race, the world's largest video screen will be added. The Panasonic screen, nicknamed "Big Hoss", will be 218 feet (66 m) wide and 94.6 feet (28.8 m) tall.[4]

In 2014, Texas Motor Speedway did not sell tickets on the backstretch for either of its NASCAR Sprint Cup races, reducing the seating capacity of the track to 112,552.[5] The world's largest high-definition video screen, Big Hoss, was introduced in the Duck Commander 500.

Firestone Firehawk 600

The Firestone Firehawk 600, a CART race, was to be held on April 29, 2001. During practice and qualifying, however, 21 of 25 drivers[6] complained of dizziness and disorientation during two days of practice. Drivers experienced sustained G forces over 5 Gs, more than the typical human tolerance. With their powerful 900+ hp turbocharged engines and superspeedway downforce packages, the Champ Cars were averaging speeds well in excess of 230 mph. This was much faster than IRL machinery of the time, and faster still than the speeds seen regularly by Sprint Cup cars.

With the possibility of drivers blacking out on the track, CART cancelled the race two hours before the scheduled start.

Statistics

Track records

Note: The NASCAR timing and scoring use a length of 1.50 miles (2.41 km).[7] This length was used by IRL in their races in 1997 and 1998, too.[8] Since 1999 the IRL timing and scoring use a remeasured track length of 1.455 miles (2.342 km).[9] The CART measured for the inaugural and later cancelled race a length of 1.482 miles (2.385 km).[10]

1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad-oval
RecordYearDateDriverCar makeTimeSpeed/Average speed
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Qualifying 2014November 1Matt Kenseth Toyota 27.095199.299 miles per hour (320.741 km/h)
Race (500 miles) 2012April 14Greg Biffle Ford 3:07:12160.577 miles per hour (258.424 km/h)
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Qualifying 2002 April 5 Jeff Green Chevrolet 27.908193.493 miles per hour (311.397 km/h)
Race (300 miles) 2008April 5Kyle Busch Toyota 1:58:39151.707 miles per hour (244.149 km/h)
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Qualifying 2006 November 2 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 29.274184.464 miles per hour (296.866 km/h)
Race (200 miles) 2015 November 6 Erik Jones Toyota 1:23:44181.397 miles per hour (291.930 km/h)
Verizon IndyCar Series
Qualifying 1998 September 20 Billy Boat Dallara G-Force 23.896225.979 miles per hour (363.678 km/h)
Race (165 miles (266 km)) 2011 June 11 Will Power Dallara Honda 0:48:09206.693 miles per hour (332.640 km/h)
CART
Qualifying 2001 April 28 Kenny Bräck Lola Cosworth 22.854233.447 miles per hour (375.697 km/h)
Practice 2001 April 28 Paul Tracy Reynard Honda 22.542236.678 miles per hour (380.896 km/h)
Source:[11]

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

The pace car leading the field at the 2007 fall race

Records

(As of 4/11/15)

Most Wins 6 Jimmie Johnson
Most Top 5s 13 Matt Kenseth
Most Top 10s 18 Jimmie Johnson
Starts 29 Jeff Gordon
Poles 2 6 Drivers
Most Laps Completed 8664 Jeff Gordon
Most Laps Led 1017 Jimmie Johnson
Avg. Start* 8.0 Steve Park
Avg. Finish 8.8 Jimmie Johnson

* from minimum 5 starts.

Race winners

Season Date Winning Driver Car # Make Distance Avg Speed Margin of Victory Report
1997 April 6 Jeff Burton 99 Ford Thunderbird 501 mi (806 km) 125.111 mph (201.347 km/h) 4.067 sec Report
1998 April 5 Mark Martin 6 Ford Taurus 501 mi (806 km) 136.771 mph (220.112 km/h) 0.573 sec Report
1999 March 28 Terry Labonte 5 Chevrolet Monte Carlo 501 mi (806 km) 144.276 mph (232.190 km/h) UC Report
2000 April 2 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 8 Chevrolet Monte Carlo 501 mi (806 km) 131.152 mph (211.069 km/h) 5.920 sec Report
2001 April 1 Dale Jarrett 88 Ford Taurus 501 mi (806 km) 141.804 mph (228.211 km/h) 0.73 sec Report
2002 April 8 Matt Kenseth 17 Ford Taurus 501 mi (806 km) 142.453 mph (229.256 km/h) 0.888 sec Report
2003 March 30 Ryan Newman 12 Dodge Intrepid 501 mi (806 km) 134.517 mph (216.484 km/h) 3.405 sec Report
2004 April 4 Elliott Sadler 38 Ford Taurus 501 mi (806 km) 145.358 mph (233.931 km/h) 0.028 sec Report
2005 April 17 Greg Biffle 16 Ford Taurus 501 mi (806 km) 130.055 mph (209.303 km/h) 3.244 sec Report
2005 November 6 Carl Edwards 99 Ford Taurus 501 mi (806 km) 151.055 mph (243.099 km/h) 0.584 sec Report
2006 April 9 Kasey Kahne 9] Dodge Charger 501 mi (806 km) 137.943 mph (221.998 km/h) 5.229 sec Report
2006 November 5 Tony Stewart 20 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS 508.5 mi (818.4 km)* 134.891 mph (217.086 km/h) 0.272 sec Report
2007 April 15 Jeff Burton 31 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS 501 mi (806 km) 143.359 mph (230.714 km/h) 0.410 sec Report
2007 November 4 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS 501 mi (806 km) 131.219 mph (211.177 km/h) 0.944 sec Report
2008 April 6 Carl Edwards 99 Ford Fusion 508.5 mi (818.4 km)* 144.814 mph (233.056 km/h) 0.399 sec Report
2008 November 2 Carl Edwards 99 Ford Fusion 501 mi (806 km) 144.814 mph (233.056 km/h) 8.310 sec Report
2009 April 5 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet Impala SS 501 mi (806 km) 146.372 mph (235.563 km/h) 0.378 sec Report
2009 November 8 Kurt Busch 2 Dodge Charger 501 mi (806 km) 146.372 mph (235.563 km/h) 25.686 sec Report
2010 April 19 Denny Hamlin 11 Toyota Camry 501 mi (806 km) 146.23 mph (235.334 km/h) 0.152 sec Report
2010 November 7 Denny Hamlin 11 Toyota Camry 501 mi (806 km) 140.456 mph (226.042 km/h) 0.488 sec Report
2011 April 9 Matt Kenseth 17 Ford Fusion 501 mi (806 km) 149.231 mph (240.164 km/h) 8.315 sec Report
2011 November 6 Tony Stewart 14 Chevrolet Impala 501 mi (806 km) 152.705 mph (245.755 km/h) 1.092 sec Report
2012 April 14 Greg Biffle 16 Ford Fusion 501 mi (806 km) 160.577 mph (258.424 km/h) 3.235 sec Report
2012 November 4 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet Impala 502.5 mi (808.7 km)* 136.117 mph (219.059 km/h) 0.808 sec Report
2013 April 13 Kyle Busch 18 Toyota Camry 501 mi (806 km) 144.751 mph (232.954 km/h) 0.508 sec Report
2013 November 3 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet SS 501 mi (806 km) 151.754 mph (244.224 km/h) 4.390 sec Report
2014 April 7 Joey Logano 22 Ford Fusion 510 mi (820 km)* 134.191 mph (215.959 km/h) 0.476 sec Report
2014 November 2 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet SS 511.5 mi (823.2 km)* 132.239 mph (212.818 km/h) 0.513 sec Report
2015 April 11 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet SS 501 mi (806 km) 140.500 mph (226.113 km/h) 1.107 sec Report
2015 November 8 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet SS 501 mi (806 km) 137.490 mph (221.269 km/h) 1.082 sec Report
2016 April 9–10 Kyle Busch 18 Toyota Camry 501 mi (806 km) 138.355 mph (222.661 km/h) 3.904 sec Report

Verizon IndyCar Series

Race winners

Season Date Driver Team Chassis Engine Race Distance Race Time Average Speed
(mph)		 Report
Laps Miles (km)
1996-97 June 7, 1997 Netherlands Arie Luyendyk* Treadway Racing G-Force Oldsmobile 208 312 (502.115) 2:19:48 133.903 Report
1998 June 6 United States Billy Boat A.J. Foyt Enterprises Dallara Oldsmobile 208 312 (502.115) 2:08:46 145.388 Report
September 20 United States John Paul, Jr. Byrd/Cunningham Racing G-Force Oldsmobile 208 312 (502.115) 2:21:53 131.931 Report
1999 June 12 Canada Scott Goodyear Panther Racing G-Force Oldsmobile 208 312 (502.115) 2:00:06 150.069 Report
October 17 United States Mark Dismore Kelley Racing Dallara Oldsmobile 208 312 (502.115) 2:14:16 135.246 Report
2000 June 11* United States Scott Sharp Kelley Racing Dallara Oldsmobile 208 312 (502.115) 1:47:20 169.182 Report
October 15 Canada Scott Goodyear Panther Racing Dallara Oldsmobile 208 312 (502.115) 1:43:36 175.276 Report
2001 June 9 United States Scott Sharp Kelley Racing Dallara Oldsmobile 200 300 (482.803) 1:55:44 150.873 Report
October 6* United States Sam Hornish, Jr. Panther Racing Dallara Oldsmobile 200 300 (482.803) 1:43:36 168.523 Report
2002 June 8 United States Jeff Ward Chip Ganassi Racing G-Force Chevrolet 200 300 (482.803) 1:45:50 164.984 Report
September 15 United States Sam Hornish, Jr. Panther Racing Dallara Chevrolet 200 300 (482.803) 1:46:29 163.981 Report
2003 June 7 United States Al Unser, Jr. Kelley Racing Dallara Toyota 200 300 (482.803) 1:43:48 168.213 Report
October 13 Brazil Gil de Ferran Team Penske Dallara Toyota 195* 292.5 (470.733) 1:48:56 156.268 Report
2004 June 12 Brazil Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing Dallara Honda 200 300 (482.803) 1:53:24 153.965 Report
October 17 Brazil Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara Toyota 200 300 (482.803) 1:49:32 159.397 Report
2005 June 11 South Africa Tomas Scheckter Panther Racing Dallara Chevrolet 200 300 (482.803) 1:45:47 165.047 Report
2006 June 10 Brazil Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara Honda 200 300 (482.803) 1:34:01 185.71 Report
2007 June 9 United States Sam Hornish, Jr. Team Penske Dallara Honda 228 342 (550.395) 1:52:15 177.314 Report
2008 June 7 New Zealand Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara Honda 228 342 (550.395) 2:04:36 159.74 Report
2009 June 6 Brazil Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara Honda 228 342 (550.395) 1:55:16 172.677 Report
2010 June 5 Australia Ryan Briscoe Team Penske Dallara Honda 228 342 (550.395) 2:04:47 159.508 Report
2011 June 11 United Kingdom Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara Honda 114 171 (275.197) 0:54:47 181.649 Report
Australia Will Power Team Penske Dallara Honda 114 171 (275.197) 0:48:09 206.693
2012 June 9 United Kingdom Justin Wilson Dale Coyne Racing Dallara Honda 228 342 (550.395) 1:59:02 167.217 Report
2013 June 8 Brazil Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara Chevrolet 228 342 (550.395) 1:52:17 177.257 Report
2014 June 7 United States Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara Chevrolet 248 372 (595.2) 2:01:25 178.301 Report
2015 June 6 New Zealand Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara Chevrolet 248 372 (598.676) 1:52:48 191.94 Report

Current races hosted

Texas Motor Speedway

A glimpse of the Texas Motor Speedway stadium before the crowds arrive.

Other races such as the Lone Star Legends[13] series take place during the summer. The dirt track facility hosts the occasional Monster Truck show as well as motocross and short course racing.[14]

Other events

On June 14, 1997 Texas Motor Speedway hosted the Fruit of the Loom CountryFest for an estimated 185,000 spectators. Featured performers were Jo Dee Messina, Bryan White, Wynonna Judd, Vince Gill, The Charlie Daniels Band, Hank Williams Jr., LeAnn Rimes, Travis Tritt, and Randy Travis.

On June 21, 1997 Texas Motor Speedway hosted the Blockbuster Rock Fest where an estimated 385,000 fans bought tickets and attended. The 15 hour plus and 16 band concert featured the likes of Bush, No Doubt, Collective Soul, Matchbox Twenty, Jewel, the Wallflowers, the Counting Crows, Third Eye Blind, Sugar Ray, Paula Cole as well as many others. Because fans started arriving the night before, VH1 organized a kickoff concert on that Friday night. The concert remains one of the top attended concerts ever.

Ongoing classes and events are held regularly at the facility, such as the Texas Driving Experience[15] and Team Texas.[16] Eighty-seven-year-old Don Krusemark was killed in an accident during an event at the speedway hosted by the Texas Driving Experience.[17]

The Traxxas TORC Series held the series' first off-road racing event in 2009 at Texas Motor Speedway.[18] The 0.4 mile clay oval at the facility was transformed by adding jumps and whoops.[18] Winners in the two-race weekend were: Pro-4 winner Rick Huseman won twice; Pro-2 events were claimed by Ricky Johnson and Scott Taylor; and for Pro Lite class winners were Marty Hart and Casey Currie.[19] It was the only TORC event held at the track as of 2013.

The first annual Christian alt-rock festival FortyFest was held at the Texas Motor Speedway "Little Texas" facility in August 2010.

Texas Motor Speedway made an unsuccessful overture to move the annual Texas-Oklahoma rivalry football game from the Cotton Bowl to the infield of the modern racing facility in 2004.[20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Track Facts". Texas Motor Speedway. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Schedule, Results & Tickets on". Nascar.com. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
  3. ↑ Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM. "The evolution of race promotion - Nov 06, 2012". Nascar.Com. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
  4. ↑ Cain, Holly (2013-09-23). "Texas Motor Speedway to add largest HD video board". NASCAR. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  5. ↑ "TMS not selling backstretch tickets". ESPN. Associated Press. November 25, 2013. Retrieved November 25, 2013.
  6. ↑ Firestone Firehawk 600 lineup. Usatoday.Com (2001-04-28). Retrieved on 2013-07-18.
  7. ↑ Texas Motor Speedway at NASCAR.com
  8. ↑ 1997 race result on champcarstats.com
  9. ↑ 2015 IndyCar race result at Indycar homepage
  10. ↑ 2001 quali result on champcarstats.com
  11. ↑ "Race Results at Texas Motor Speedway". Racingreference.info. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
  12. ↑ Davison, Drew (August 27, 2016). "Texas Motor Speedway adds 'extreme motorsports' truck race in 2017". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  13. ↑ Lone Star Legends Website is und. Lslegends.webhost4life.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-18.
  14. ↑ Archived May 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  15. ↑ "Total Driving Experience". Texasdrivingexperience.com. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
  16. ↑ "Team Texas High Performance Driving School". Teamtexas.com. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
  17. ↑ Norton, Casey. (2010-05-17) Prize for blood donor ends in death at Speedway | wfaa.com Dallas - Fort Worth. Wfaa.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-18.
  18. 1 2 "TRAXXAS TORC Series Hosts Season Opener at Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track". Who Won.com. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  19. ↑ "A Behind the Scenes Perspective of the TORC Series Debut in Texas". Race Dezert.com. Retrieved January 14, 2013. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  20. ↑ B. Duane Cross, NASCAR.COM. "Smith hoping to lure college football to Bristol - Aug 26, 2005". Nascar.Com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-12. Retrieved 2012-11-07.

Coordinates: 33°02′13″N 97°16′59″W / 33.03689°N 97.28309°W / 33.03689; -97.28309

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