Texas World Speedway

Texas World Speedway
TWS
Location	College Station, Texas, United States
Coordinates	30°32′13″N 96°13′16″W / 30.537°N 96.221°WCoordinates: 30°32′13″N 96°13′16″W / 30.537°N 96.221°W
Broke ground	1967
Opened	November 1969
Closed	2017
Oval
Surface	Asphalt
Length	2 mi (3.2 km)
Turns	4
Road Course
Length	2.9 mi (4.67 km)
Turns	15

Texas World Speedway is a defunct American Racetrack which was built in 1969 and was one of only eight superspeedways of two miles (3.2 km) or greater in the United States used for racing, the others being Indianapolis, Daytona, Pocono, Talladega, Ontario (California), Auto Club, and Michigan (there are several tracks of similar size used for vehicle testing). TWS is located on approximately 600 acres (2.4 km²) on State Highway 6 in College Station, Texas. There is a 2-mile (3 km) oval, and several road course configurations. The full oval configuration is closely related to that of Michigan and is often considered the latter's sister track, featuring steeper banking, at 22 degrees in the turns, 12 degrees at the start/finish line, and only 2 degrees along the backstretch,^[1] compared to Michigan's respective 18, 12, and 5 degrees. The last major race occurred at the track in 1981. The track was used by amateur racing clubs such as the SCCA, NASA, Porsche Club of America, Corinthian Vintage Auto Racing, CMRA, driving schools and car clubs, as well as hosting music concerts and the like. The speedway was also a race track location for the video game, Need for Speed: Pro Street.

History[]

TWS is an exact copy of Michigan International Speedway 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.^[2]

During the 1980s the track fell into a state of disrepair, and both NASCAR and the Indy cars chose to drop it from their respective schedules. It continued to operate in a limited role for amateur racing. In 1991 Ishin Speed Sport, Inc. purchased the facility and repaved and modestly refurbished it. It hosted races for 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.

During a January 2009 test, Greg Biffle managed to reach a top speed of 218 mph (351 km/h) in a test for 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).^[3]

On February 23, 1993, Jeff Andretti set the (then) unofficial closed-course speed record for 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. 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 range. Andretti's Buick-powered Lola was prepared by Pagan Racing of Corpus Christi, Texas.

Texas World Speedway was also 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 Robert's album, Picnic, shows a picture of his car on fire at the picnic. On September 18, 2017 an article on Jalopnik was posted confirming the closure of Texas World Speedway which was being used as a dumping ground for vehicles flooded out by Hurricane Harvey.^[4]

The entire 600-acre facility was being leased to Copart Inc. 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.^[5] 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.^[6] Over the course of February 27 and 28, 2020 the press box above the grandstands was demolished.^[7]

Race history[]

USAC winners[]

Season	Race Name	Winning Driver	Chassis	Engine	Tires	Team
1973	Texas 200	Al Unser	Parnelli	Offenhauser	Firestone	Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing
1976	Texas 150	A. J. Foyt	Coyote	Foyt	Goodyear	Gilmore Racing
1976	Benihana World Series of Auto Racing	Johnny Rutherford	McLaren	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Team McLaren
1977	Texas Grand Prix	Tom Sneva	McLaren	Cosworth	Goodyear	Team Penske
1977	American Parts 200	Johnny Rutherford	McLaren	Cosworth	Goodyear	Team McLaren
1978	Coors 200	Danny Ongais	Parnelli	Cosworth	Goodyear	Interscope Racing
1978	Texas Grand Prix	A. J. Foyt	Coyote	Foyt	Goodyear	Gilmore Racing
1979	Coors 200	A. J. Foyt	Coyote	Foyt	Goodyear	Gilmore Racing
1979	Lubriloln Grand Prix	A. J. Foyt	Parnelli	Cosworth	Goodyear	Gilmore Racing
1980	Texas 200	Race cancelled

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 1974-5 seasons; USAC stock cars and Indycars returned to Texas in 1976.