Texas World Speedway (formerly known as the Texas International Speedway from 1969 to 1971) was an auto racing complex in College Station, Texas, United States. The complex featured multiple layouts, including a oval and various road course layouts. From its opening in 1969 until its closure in 2017, the facility hosted numerous major racing events, including NASCAR, IMSA GT Championship, and United States Auto Club (USAC) events. The track since its closure has been demolished, with a majority of the track site now replaced by a residential housing development known as Southern Pointe.
The facility was built in 1969 under the financial backing of American Raceways, Inc. founder Lawrence LoPatin. After American Raceways experienced severe financial troubles soon after the track's completion, the track was sold in 1971 to Daniel W. Holloway. Holloway also experienced financial issues, leading to a two-year closure starting in 1974. In 1976, Dick Conole bought the facility, reopening it and running some major events for the first years of his tenure. However, after becoming disgruntled with the state of major racing series, by 1982, Conole only ran independently-run major races. By the end of the decade, Conole also fell into financial trouble, selling the track to Japanese company Ishin Development in 1990, who made some renovations. After the company missed numerous payments to various parties, Ishin Development declared bankruptcy in 1993 and the facility was sold back to Conole in 1994.
After Conole's death in 2007, Corps Ventures, led by Bill Mather, acquired the facility within the year. Plans to demolish the track for a mixed-use development plan were announced in 2014, with work set to begin the following year. However, after multiple delays, the track was closed in late 2017, with work beginning the following year. As of 2024, more than half of the track site has been replaced.
Description Layouts and configuration Texas World Speedway (TWS) was designed by Charles Moneypenny and featured numerous layouts. There were two oval layouts: a oval and a oval. The oval was banked at 22° in the turns, 12° on the track's frontstretch, and 2° on the track's backstretch. The oval was flat. In addition, TWS featured various road course layouts of varying lengths.
Amenities TWS was located in College Station, Texas, and served by Texas State Highway 6. A main grandstand was erected on the track's frontstretch; according to a 1969 report, the grandstand had a seating capacity of 26,000.
Track history Planning and construction On January 23, 1969, Dennis Goehring, president of the Bank of A&M, announced the construction of a auto racing oval within the city of College Station, Texas, named as the "Texas International Raceway". At the time of the announcement, the proposed $6,000,000 (adjusted for inflation, $) facility planned for a capacity of 30,000, with hopes to host Indy-car racing, stock car racing, and sports car racing. The main financier of the facility was later revealed to be Lawrence LoPatin, owner of the Michigan International Speedway (MIS), with plans to build the Texas International Raceway track similar to MIS. Further plans were revealed on the 28th, which included the construction of the aforementioned oval and three road course layouts, plans to build the track near Texas State Highway 6, and a formal opening date of December 7 to host a NASCAR Grand National Series (now known as the NASCAR Cup Series) event. Track designer Charles Moneypenny later announced design plans to bank the turns of the track at 25° and the frontstretch at 12°. Before the track's groundbreaking, a designated group from the Chamber of Commerce from the cities of Bryan and College Station were sent to the 1969 Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Speedway on a "fact-finding tour" on the potential community impacts of building a racetrack.
Groundbreaking on the facility occurred on March 20, with dignitaries attending including Lawrence LoPatin, then-Texas A&M University president James Earl Rudder, then-Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Gus Franklin Mutscher, and NASCAR president Bill France Sr. The formal opening date was later moved up to November 9 after the scheduling of a Can–Am event at the facility. Before construction, issues occurred after the College Station City Council stated that water line extensions for the facility were not feasible due to a lack of practicality; as a result, a well system was created. Two months later, the council approved building a plastic pipe to the well from the city's water tower. In addition, track officials stated hopes of expanding portions of State Highway 6 near the facility to an eight-lane highway, but necessary funds to expand the road were not available for at least six months. Track officials were able to instead expand the nearby Peach Creek Road to four lanes, with the road serving as an entrance for spectators. By mid-June, track general manager Leo Margolian stated that "the oval is starting to take shape, and we'll start working on the road course next week". In July, College Station city commissioners approved the extension of the city's electricity system to the track. Paving for the facility began in August.
Early years
After being delayed by a week due to rain, the first events ran at the facility occurred on October 19 for a Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) event meant as a "shakedown" for the facility; Cecil B. Harriss won the first race staged at the track. The Can–Am event, the first event open to spectators, ran as scheduled on the track's road course, with Bruce McLaren winning the event in front of a reported crowd of 24,260 according to The Bryan-College Station Eagle. This figure is disputed in a 1982 Eagle report from Rhonda Hoeckley, who claimed that spectators stated the figure was too high. The first NASCAR-sanctioned race, the 1969 Texas 500, was run as scheduled, with Bobby Isaac winning the event. In February 1970, George Boyett was appointed as the general manager of the facility after Margolian was promoted to become the vice president of ARI.
American Raceways troubles, bankruptcy proceedings During the track's infancy, LoPatin, now consolidating his company into American Raceways, Inc., (ARI) experienced major financial and organizational troubles in its ventures. The first lien against TIS was attached on January 23, 1970, and the first lawsuit was filed on February 4. In addition, the organization had multiple disputes with various sanctioning bodies, including the United States Auto Club (USAC), NASCAR, and the SCCA over numerous issues. Throughout the first half of 1970, ARI faced heavy financial troubles due to low attendance from its racetracks. LoPatin additionally faced criticism for his handling of ARI-owned Atlanta International Raceway (now known as the Atlanta Motor Speedway), with Atlanta track officials leading campaigns to sack LoPatin after several Atlanta track executives either left or were fired by him. LoPatin was fired from his position as chairman of ARI on July 30, 1970, with motorsports executive Les Richter named as the president of ARI soon after.
During this period, numerous major races were postponed and eventually cancelled for varying reasons, including Can–Am, NASCAR Cup Series, and USAC Championship Car events. In July, driver Wally Dallenbach Sr. criticized the track's safety in regards to its USAC Championship Car events, calling for the cancellation of the track's USAC Championship Car event. In response, Boyett stated that the track "was built for 190 to 200 mph speeds", shifting blame towards the aerodynamics of the open-wheeled USAC Championship car. In September, after LoPatin's firing, the facility underwent a management overhaul, with car builder Carroll Shelby replacing LoPatin for the track's control. By the following month, with ARI now in an estimated $11,000,000 (adjusted for inflation, $) in debt, San Antonio Express-News writer Karl O'Quinn stated that "rumors are now too strong to be ignored that the real reason for the cancellation of the pair of races was the inability of TIS to post the [purse] money in advance". He further wrote that the facility was likely to be sold off to help pay off ARI's debts. In November, the Holloway Construction Company filed a foreclosure sale notice after the company was owned $525,000. After a TIS-led attempt failed to stop the sale via temporary injunction, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas judge Joe Ewing Estes postponed the sale on November 30 until a bankruptcy petition filed by TIS was either approved or dismissed.
Bankruptcy reorganization failure Hearings on the bankruptcy reorganization petition occurred on December 15 and 16. After a recommendation was given for the proposal's approval, reorganization under Chapter 10 bankruptcy was approved on December 29. With the approval, a foreclosure sale was cancelled and Dallas attorney Talbot Rain was appointed to manage the track. Rain was pessimistic about a successful reorganization, stating in February to the Eagle that while he was "hopeful", the chances of a successful reorganization plan were "not very encouraging". Under Rain's control, TIS scheduled local driving schools, USAC-sanctioned, and NASCAR Cup Series events; the latter two were cancelled. In April, a reorganization plan was officially submitted, with a final decision scheduled at the end of the following month. In May, another foreclosure sale was petitioned by creditors of the track. The reorganization plan was rejected by bankruptcy judge Dan Gandy on May 28. Gandy rejected the plan again on September 7, eventually ordering the track's sale to Holloway Construction. The track was purchased by the company and its owners, Daniel W. Holloway and Robert M. Andrews, under the terms that the track's debt of over $3,000,000 (adjusted for inflation, $) was cancelled alongside a payment of $10,000 for the track's real estate.
Daniel W. Holloway purchase, continued struggles With the track's purchase made official in October 1971, the facility was renamed to Texas World Speedway (TWS). For the track's reopening, the ownership group scheduled races on December 4–5, highlighted by IMSA GT Championship, NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Division, and NASCAR Cup Series events. The weekend was heavily affected by rain, which included the postponement of the Cup Series race to December 12. In April 1972, Meyer Speedway operator Ed Hamblen was appointed by Holloway as TWS' executive director. On October 8, 1972, the track experienced its first racing fatality during an Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA)-sanctioned event when driver Louis Wusterhausen was involved in a crash on the first lap of the event at the track's third turn. According to the Eagle, Wusterhausen's car spun and was hit on its broadside by Cleve Smith, with Wusterhausen dying instantly from the incident. On June 11, 1973, Hamblen resigned from the track due to conflicting business interests in Houston, with Pocono Raceway public relations manager Bill Marvel appointed as Hamblen's replacement. A month later, TWS held its first drag racing events on a -long dragstrip.