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 layout is very similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Lowe's Motor Speedway (formerly Charlotte Motor Speedway). The track measures 1.5 miles around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns, and is of the quad-oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., the same company that owns Atlanta and Lowe's Motor Speedways, as well as the short-track Bristol Motor Speedway.
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TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY TICKETS
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History
The speedway has been managed since its inception by legendary racing promoter Eddie Gossage. His creative, colorful, fan-friendly approach to managing the track has become the standard by which all other tracks have been measured. He was the first to introduce Personal Seat Licenses to the sport, as well as Season Tickets. His stance on allowing fans to bring their own coolers, even in the face of restrictive Texas laws that at one time prohibited the speedway from selling alcohol as a result, has made him a favorite of the fans.
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 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 and corner entry speeds over 200 mph. 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 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.
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
Nextel Cup races: the
Samsung 500 and the
Dickies 500, as well as two
Busch Series Races, the
O'Reilly 300 and the
O'Reilly Challenge and the
Indy Racing League IndyCar series race, the
Bombardier Learjet 550.
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 oval, and the small number of Texas International Raceway merchandise instantly became collectible. The following is a map of Texas Motor Speedway:
Texas Motor Speedway made an unsuccessful overture to move the annual Oklahoma-Texas rivalry football game from the
Cotton Bowl to the infield of the modern racing facility in 2004.
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 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 the possibility of drivers blacking out on the track, CART cancelled the race two hours before the scheduled start.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats
thumb leading the field at the
2007 fall race
NASCAR Records
As of 04/06/08
- Most Wins
- (2) - Jeff Burton , Carl Edwards
- Most Top 5's
- (5) - Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth
- Most Top 10's
- (7) - 6 Drivers
- Starts
- (14) - 5 Drivers
- Poles
- (2) - Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman
- Laps Led
- (453) - Tony Stewart
- Avg Start (Minimum 5 starts)
- (8.0) - Steve Park
- Avg Finish (Minimum 5 starts)
- (9.2) - Jimmie Johnson
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Winners
- Race Extended Due to Green-White-Checker Finish
| Season
| Date
| Winning Driver
| Car #
| Sponsor
| Make
| Distance
| Avg Speed
| Margin of Victory
|
| 1997
| April 6
| Jeff Burton
| 99
| Exide Batteries
| Ford Thunderbird
| 501 mi
|
| 4.067 sec
|
| 1998
| April 5
| Mark Martin
| 6
| Valvoline
| Ford Taurus
| 501 mi
|
| 0.573 sec
|
| 1999
| March 28
| Terry Labonte
| 5
| Kellogg's
| Chevrolet Monte Carlo
| 501 mi
|
| UC
|
| 2000
| April 2
| Dale Earnhardt Jr
| 8
| Budweiser
| Chevrolet Monte Carlo
| 501 mi
|
| 5.920 sec
|
| 2001
| April 1
| Dale Jarrett
| 88
| UPS
| Ford Taurus
| 501 mi
|
| 0.73 sec
|
| 2002
| April 8
| Matt Kenseth
| 17
| DeWalt
| Ford Taurus
| 501 mi
|
| 0.888 sec
|
| 2003
| March 30
| Ryan Newman
| 12
| Alltell
| Dodge Intrepid
| 501 mi
|
| 3.405 sec
|
| 2004
| April 4
| Elliott Sadler
| 38
| M&Ms
| Ford Taurus
| 501 mi
|
| 0.028 sec
|
| 2005
| April 17
| Greg Biffle
| 16
| Post-it/National Guard
| Ford Taurus
| 501 mi
|
| 3.244 sec
|
| 2005
| November 6
| Carl Edwards
| 99
| Office Depot
| Ford Taurus
| 501 mi
|
| 0.584 sec
|
| 2006
| April 9
| Kasey Kahne
| 9
| Dodge Dealers/UAW
| Dodge Charger
| 501 mi
|
| 5.229 sec
|
| 2006
| November 5
| Tony Stewart
| 20
| Home Depot
| Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
| 508.5* mi
|
| 0.272 sec
|
| 2007
| April 15
| Jeff Burton
| 31
| Prilosec OTC
| Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
| 501 mi
|
| 0.410 sec
|
| 2007
| November 4
| Jimmie Johnson
| 48
| Lowes/Kobalt
| Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
| 501 mi
|
| 0.944 sec
|
| 2008
| April 6
| Carl Edwards
| 99
| Aflac
| Ford Fusion
| 508.5* mi
|
| 0.399 sec
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Current Races Hosted
- Sprint Cup Series - Samsung 500
- Sprint Cup Series - Dickies 500
- Nationwide Series - O'Reilly 300
- Nationwide Series - O'Reilly Challenge
- Craftsman Truck Series - Sam's Town 400
- Craftsman Truck Series - Silverado 350K
- Indy Racing League - Bombardier Learjet 550
See also
- List of NASCAR race tracks
- Sports in Texas