Texas World Speedway

Template:Infobox motorsport venue

Texas World Speedway was built in 1969 and is one of only seven superspeedways of two miles (3.22 km) or greater in the United States, the others being Indianapolis, Daytona, Pocono, Talladega, Auto Club, and Michigan. TWS is located on approximately 600 acres (2.4 km²) on State Highway 6 in College Station, Texas. There is a 2.0 mile (3.22 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 is still used by amateur racing clubs such as the SCCA, NASA, driving schools and car clubs, as well as hosting music concerts and the like.

During the 1980s the track fell into a state of disrepair, and both NASCAR and the IndyCar Series chose to drop it from the schedule. It continued to operate in a limited role for amateur racing. In 1993, the track reopened after a repaving and moderate refurbishment. It hosted a race for the ARCA series but due to the lack of modern facilities and amenities, it has since served as a circuit for amateur and club racing, along with private testing, and also hosts NASCAR teams' testing for Michigan International Speedway and California Speedway because of NASCAR conducting new 2006 restrictions prohibiting both tracks from being used for tests. With the 2009 NASCAR testing ban, the track expects more testing in the three national series because the track is not on any of the three circuits, and therefore is legal.

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 any competitor (amateur or professional). The average speed for the full lap was 195 mph (314 km/h).^[2]

Race history[]

USAC winners[]

Season	Race Name	Winning Driver	Chassis	Engine	Tires	Team
1973	Texas 200	Al Unser	Parnelli	Offy	Firestone	Vels Parnelli Jones
1976	Texas 150	A.J. Foyt	Coyote	Foyt	Goodyear	Gilmore Racing
1976	Benihana World Series of Auto Racing	Johnny Rutherford	McLaren	Offy	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	Bobby Isaac	Dodge
1971 Texas 500	Richard Petty	Plymouth
1972 Texas 500	Richard Petty	Dodge
1972 Lone Star 500	Buddy Baker	Dodge
1973 Alamo 500	Richard Petty	Dodge
1979	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet
1980 Budweiser 400	Cale Yarborough	Chevrolet
1981 Budweiser 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.
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.