"Oh, The Yellow Flag of Texas"
(Ain't Waved Over MaNy Cup Race Tracks)
|
04/12/2016 Frank Buhrman |
Sunday was the 20th anniversary of Sprint Cup racing at Texas Motor Speedway, which means those of us who gravitate toward the obscure should at least pay a little homage to the nine other Grand National/Winston Cup/Sprint Cup races that have been run in the Lone Star State.
A question first: NASCAR’s been around for nearly 70 years now – Cup racing for 67 – and with the incredibly long list of tracks that have run races in the series over that time, why in the world were none run in Texas for the first 20 of those years, and why only three tracks total over that period? No clue here.
Eight of the races run before TMS were at TWS, Texas World Speedway in College Station, built as a sister track to Michigan by Larry LoPatin, whose American Raceways was the 1960s effort to build what International Speedway Corp. and Speedway Motorsports are today. Unfortunately, LoPatin was a bit ahead of his time, and while Michigan eventually found success, Texas had a spotty run of about a quarter of a century and – I believe I read this – was finally torn down recently.
A question first: NASCAR’s been around for nearly 70 years now – Cup racing for 67 – and with the incredibly long list of tracks that have run races in the series over that time, why in the world were none run in Texas for the first 20 of those years, and why only three tracks total over that period? No clue here.
Eight of the races run before TMS were at TWS, Texas World Speedway in College Station, built as a sister track to Michigan by Larry LoPatin, whose American Raceways was the 1960s effort to build what International Speedway Corp. and Speedway Motorsports are today. Unfortunately, LoPatin was a bit ahead of his time, and while Michigan eventually found success, Texas had a spotty run of about a quarter of a century and – I believe I read this – was finally torn down recently.
The scoreboard/lap counter at Texas World Speedway.
The TWS Cup races were run between 1969 and 1981. Richard Petty won three of them, with Bobby Isaac, Buddy Baker, Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough and Benny Parsons taking the rest. Dave Fulton might have some thoughts to add about the place, because Dale Earnhardt – running the Wrangler livery – finished second in the final race.
Of note given today’s concerns, several of the races were run with short fields, as few as 31 cars in 1980. There was usually an effort to get some extra Texans in the field, but it didn’t help attendance enough to save TWS.
While Cup racing ended in 1981, the track limped along for more than another decade, and the last “major” races were real novelties: combination races for NASCAR’s Winston West (now K&N Pro Series West) and ARCA cars. The last one was in 1993, and Darrell Waltrip won, with Earnhardt – now racing the GM Goodwrench Chevy – taking fifth. The funny thing was that, because the NASCAR sanction was for Winston West, all the regular Cup guys (Waltrip, Earnhardt, Ken Schrader and several others) were considered ARCA drivers. Go figure that one out. Hershel McGriff finished fourth and was the top Winston West competitor.
Of note given today’s concerns, several of the races were run with short fields, as few as 31 cars in 1980. There was usually an effort to get some extra Texans in the field, but it didn’t help attendance enough to save TWS.
While Cup racing ended in 1981, the track limped along for more than another decade, and the last “major” races were real novelties: combination races for NASCAR’s Winston West (now K&N Pro Series West) and ARCA cars. The last one was in 1993, and Darrell Waltrip won, with Earnhardt – now racing the GM Goodwrench Chevy – taking fifth. The funny thing was that, because the NASCAR sanction was for Winston West, all the regular Cup guys (Waltrip, Earnhardt, Ken Schrader and several others) were considered ARCA drivers. Go figure that one out. Hershel McGriff finished fourth and was the top Winston West competitor.
A good crowd was on hand for this doubleheader at TWS featuring USAC’s stockers and Indy cars.
The other Cup race of the distant past also was the only one run in Texas on a short track, Meyer Speedway in Houston. The Space City 300 ran in 1971, and one account says 9,000 people turned out to see a slim field of 14 cars, including a couple of Texans making their only Cup starts ever. Not sure whether that was considered a success or not, but the Cup schedule was cut back the next year, and all the smaller-and-shorter races were pushed aside. (Actually, several tried to continue as Grand National East races, and many of those were combination races with ARCA, but I think you’d have a hard time getting anybody in Daytona to reminisce fondly about that idea.)
Bobby Allison won the only short track Cup race ever run in Texas. He and Richard Petty had the only “factory-backed” entries, and when Petty had mechanical ills, Allison was pretty much home free, winning by two laps over James Hylton. Texan Walter Ballard was third, eight laps behind, taking one of the four top-5s in his 175 starts, and J. D. McDuffie was 51 laps behind in 10th.
Bobby Allison won the only short track Cup race ever run in Texas. He and Richard Petty had the only “factory-backed” entries, and when Petty had mechanical ills, Allison was pretty much home free, winning by two laps over James Hylton. Texan Walter Ballard was third, eight laps behind, taking one of the four top-5s in his 175 starts, and J. D. McDuffie was 51 laps behind in 10th.
Meyers Speedway From The Air
Fifty-one laps behind didn’t get you 10th at TMS this weekend, but whoever finished 10th ought to raise a glass to McDuffie or maybe to Harry Gant, who was 10th in the last TWS Cup race (McDuffie was 11th). If they hadn’t contributed their labors to our sport for so long, it might not have lasted for Bruton Smith to build his speed palace outside of Fort Worth.
Meyers Speedway Today
You’ll see more of these in the Lone Star State than tracks that have run Cup races.