Texas World Speedway

TWS
Oval (1968–2017)
Location	College Station, Texas, United States
Coordinates	30°32′13″N96°13′16″W / 30.537°N 96.221°W /30.537; -96.221
Broke ground	1967
Opened	November 1968; 57 years ago (1968-11)
Closed	18 September 2017; 8 years ago (2017-09-18)
Former names	Texas International Speedway
Major events	Former: IMSA GT Championship (1971, 1995–1996) NASCAR Winston Cup Budweiser NASCAR 400 (1969, 1971–1973, 1979–1981) ARCA Racing Series (1972, 1991–1993) AMA Superbike Championship (1991–1992) Trans-Am Series (1991) SCCA Escort World Challenge (1991) Can-Am (1969)
Oval (1968–2017)
Surface	Asphalt
Length	2.000 mi (3.218 km)
Turns	4
Banking	Turns: 22° Frontstretch: 12° Backstretch: 2°
Long Road Course (1968–2017)
Length	2.899 mi (4.666 km)
Turns	15
Race lap record	1:33.900 (Denny Hulme,McLaren M8B,1969,Can-Am)
Short Road Course (1968–2017)
Length	1.900 mi (3.058 km)
Turns	8
Race lap record	0:55.948 (Max Papis,Ferrari 333 SP,1996,WSC)

Texas World Speedway (TWS) was a motorsport venue located inCollege Station, Texas. The track was one of only eightsuperspeedways of 2.000 mi (3.219 km) or greater in the United States used for racing, the others beingIndianapolis,Daytona,Pocono,Talladega,Ontario (California),Auto Club, andMichigan (there are several tracks of similar size used for vehicle testing). The track was located on approximately 600 acres (240 ha) onState Highway 6 inCollege Station, Texas. There was a 2.000 mi (3.219 km) oval, and several road course configurations. The full oval configuration was closely related to that of Michigan and was 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 theSCCA,NASA, Porsche Club of America, World Racing League, Corinthian Vintage Auto Racing,CMRA, various performance driving schools (HPDE) and car clubs, as well as hosting music concerts and other events. The speedway was also a race track location for the video game,Need for Speed: Pro Street.

Originally opened asTexas International Speedway, TWS was an almost exact copy ofMichigan International Speedway^[2] and was part of Larry LoPatin's American Raceways Inc. and operated a part ofRiverside International Raceway,Trenton Speedway, andAtlanta International Raceway and in 1971 ARI went bankrupt.^[3]

Texas World Speedway was the site of the 1974Willie Nelson's Fourth of July Picnic withWillie Nelson and his guestsJimmy Buffett,Townes Van Zandt, andKinky Friedman performing as well. It was also known for a fire that destroyed several cars including one owned byRobert 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 bothNASCAR and theIndy 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 forARCA, but after 1993 the company withdrew. The facility did serve as a venue for amateur andclub racing, along with private testing. NASCAR teams have used the oval for testing (as it mimicsMichigan andFontana), as a way of skirting the tight restrictions prohibiting testing on active tracks on the schedule.

On February 23, 1993,Jeff Andretti set the (then) unofficial closed-course speed record forIndyCars of 234.5 mph (377.4 km/h), the fastest speed ever recorded at Texas World Speedway, while testing for the 1993Indianapolis 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'sBuick-poweredLola was prepared byPagan Racing of Corpus Christi, Texas.

During a January 2009 test,Greg Biffle managed to reach a top speed of 218 mph (351 km/h) in a test forRoush 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 aJalopnik article confirmed the closure of Texas World Speedway, which was being used as a dumping ground for vehicles flooded out byHurricane Harvey.^[6]

The entire 600 acres (240 ha) facility was being leased toCopart as a catastrophe storage facility for vehicles damaged byHurricane 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]

The all-time unofficial track record set during a race weekend on the 2-mile Oval is 0:33.620, set byMario Andretti in aParnelli VPJ2, during qualifying for the1973 Texas 200.^[11][12] The unofficial fastest lap forstock cars around the 2-mile Oval is 0:38.904, set byPage Jones in aFord Thunderbird, during qualifying for the1993 Western Auto Texas World Shootout II.^[13][14] The fastest official race lap records at Texas World Speedway are listed as:

• 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 withDale Earnhardt andJimmie 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.

• 1973 (April 7)Gordon Johncock
• 1973 (October 6)Roger McCluskey
• 1976 (June 6)A. J. Foyt
• 1976 (August 1)A. J. Foyt
• 1976 (October 31)Bobby Allison
• 1977 (June 5)Bay Darnell
• 1978 (March 12)A. J. Foyt
• 1978 (June 4)Keith Davis
• 1978 (November 12)A. J. Foyt
• 1979 (March 11)A. J. Foyt
• 1979 (November 11)Bobby Allison
• 1980 (March 9)Terry Ryan

Season	Winning driver	Chassis	Engine
1969	Bruce McLaren	McLaren M8B	Chevrolet

Season	Winning driver	Car
1972	Juan Izquierdo Daniel Muñiz	Ford Mustang
1995	Wayne Taylor	Ferrari 333SP
1996	Wayne Taylor Jim Pace	Riley & Scott Mk III-Oldsmobile

• The inaugural ARCA race at Texas World was held in 1972, but counted towards the 1973 season.
• The fall 1992 and 1993 races were held as combination events with the Winston West Series (now known asARCA Menards Series West).
• Darrell Waltrip's win in the 1993 race marked his second and final win in ARCA.

• Texas World Speedway - Homepage at theWayback Machine (archived December 23, 1996)
• Trackpedia guide to driving Texas World Speedway at the Wayback Machine (archived October 18, 2013)
• Texas World Speedway at Racing-ReferenceArchived 2022-08-13 at the Wayback Machine

• NASCAR tracks
• Sports venues in College Station, Texas
• NASCAR races at Texas World Speedway
• Motorsport venues in Texas
• IMSA GT Championship circuits
• Defunct motorsport venues in the United States
• Sports venues completed in 1969
• 1969 establishments in Texas
• 2017 disestablishments in Texas

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Webarchive template wayback links