Texas evokes images of thundering hooves, and
Lone Star culture will always have a place for horse lore. But it’s high-tech horsepower—coming from growling, souped-up engines—that lures many visitors these days. Whether you want to end up behind the wheel or up in the bleachers, Dallas/Ft. Worth is the place to be when you feel the need for speed. By Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt
THE RIGHT TRACK The Texas Motor Speedway (texasmotorspeedway.com), a 30-minute drive north from downtown Ft. Worth, is one of the top professional motor-sport venues, up there with Daytona International Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C. The 1.5-mile oval track commands respect with its signature 24-degree high-banked corners: Jeff Gordon helped break ground here; Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his first NASCAR Cup race here; and some 200,000-plus fans converge here to watch their favorite drivers.
THE RACE IS ON!
A roundup of events taking place at the Texas Motor Speedway—the largest sports venue in Texas.
SEPT. 20
Laps for Charity II
Quick, tune up your car: Visitors are invited to drive their own vehicles around the 1.5-mile oval at this charitable event.
Small donation,
www.scctexas.org
OCT. 3-5 16th
Lonestar Nationals Goodguys Rod & Custom Association
More than 1,500 hot rods, customs, classics, muscle cars and trucks made before ’72 will be on display for enthusiasts to ogle. $15,
www.good-guys.com
NOV. 1
Live NASCAR Memorabilia Auction
Tons of NASCAR souvenirs will be auctioned off to benefit the Speedway Children’s Charities at this open-to-the-public event. 817-215-8564
NOV. 8
Denton Young Life—3rd Annual Speedway Run
Make sure to get a good night’s sleep before this 5K run, which benefits Young Life (an organization that works with teens). It starts at 8:30 a.m. $10-25,
www.speedwayrun.com
NOV. 22
Speedway Children’s Charities Auto Cross Challenge
Compete against other racing enthusiasts in the infield on a high-speed, small-road course.
www.scctexas.org
GO AT YOUR OWN PACE Race fever is contagious; the desire to zoom down hot asphalt at breakneck speeds seems perfectly reasonable. And why not? The Texas Driving Experience (texasdrivingexperience.com), a high-performance driving school at the Texas Motor Speedway gives you the opportunity to do just that.
In your car—or one of the school’s yellow 450-plus-horsepower Z06 Corvettes— experienced staff drivers will instruct you in the subtleties of speed and handling. “You learn skills you can apply to everyday driving,” says owner Dawn Stokes.
After some classroom instruction and a quick change into a black racing suit— topped off with a heavy helmet—you’ll have the chance to zip around the speedway’s milelong Infield Road Course with an instructor coaching you from the passenger seat. If you want an even faster ride, let your instructor take the wheel.
OFF-ROAD WARRIORS The sights, sounds and smells of the racetrack elicit an adrenaline rush that can be appreciated with your favorite beverage in one hand, a program in the other, surrounded by thousands of your closest friends.
The smaller tracks enjoy rabid fans who crave an up-close experience. Take the Devil’s Bowl Speedway (devilsbowl.com), for example, located just east of downtown Dallas in Mesquite. It only seats about 7,500 people, but between March and October, this half-mile, high-banked oval clay track offers the best in dirt racing.
“We keep the clay nice and sticky with wet-downs on race days. Women do not like dust in their hair!” says co-owner Beverly Edwards. Edwards and her husband, Lanny, took over the track in 1972, but even since ’68, fans have flocked to what Edwards calls “the training track of the champions.”
A REAL DRAG Drivers who prefer to blast down a straight line can be found at the Texas Motorplex (texasmotorplex. com), located in Ennis, 40 minutes from Dallas. Here, before the half-million fans who annually plunk into the 25,000-plus seats, drag racers set records on the concrete quarter-mile track.
Drivers have been known to reach 330 mph on this track, which makes it both hotter than a habanero pepper and the place to catch a race on Friday night.
DREAM MACHINES The thrill of racing isn’t just about speed; it’s about the cars themselves. You may ache for your own—but that gets costly. Renting a Dodge Viper or Lamborghini Gallardo is an option worth considering for those occasions when you need a vehicle so sleek it seems to be moving even when it’s sitting still.
Dallas/Ft. Worth has its share of luxury car rentals and clubs like DFW Elite Car Club (dfwelitecarclub. com). Its slogan is “Why buy one when you can drive them all?,” and it operates like a time-share: You pay a membership fee, and then book for time to race down highways on the way to the big race in a Ferrari 360 Spider one weekend and a 1959 Mercedes 190SL two months later.
Whether you’re behind the wheel of one of these beauties or cheering as an impossibly fast stock car zooms past, it’s easy—and thrilling—to live life in the Dallas/Ft. Worth fast lane.
MIDWEST AIRLINES offers daily flights to and from Dallas/ Ft. Worth. Details can be found at www.midwestairlines.com.
