Texas Motor Speedway dubs itself the ‘Taj Mahal’ of dirt tracks

Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage had an interesting comparison for the dirt track at his racing complex.

“This is the Taj Mahal of dirt tracks,” Gossage said. “We’re the 800-pound gorilla when it comes to dirt tracks. You know every driver is going to bring their very best equipment and prepare very hard to win this race. If you do, you get to be the big dog for the next year.”

Well, the next “big dog” is set to be crowned this weekend with the return of the U.S. National Dirt Track Championship on Friday and Saturday. Friday night will feature Factory Stock and Limited Modified heats, along with ASCS Red River Region practice.

The championship races for all three series will take place Saturday.

“What’s cool about this is in some of the divisions you’ll see cars six-, seven- and eight-wide,” Gossage said. “It just lends itself to that kind of racing. Those sprint cars are so fast, so powerful. They can do a wheelie the length of the straightaway and it’s just amazing.

“Sprint cars on dirt is probably the most awesome basic form of auto racing. It’s almost like a caricature of a race car with the big rear tires. It’s great fun to watch.”

A couple notable drivers to keep an eye on include:

▪ Kevin Ramey. He is a Fort Worth native who is eighth in the Red River Region standings.

▪ Rockwall’s Kevin Rowland won the 40-lap Limited Modified in May’s Texas World Dirt Track Championship, going wire to wire for the win and barely hanging on for a 0.001 second victory over Nick Clinkenbeard. He’ll be looking to show May’s victory wasn’t a fluke.

Grandstand tickets for Friday are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under, and $20 for adults and $10 for children on Saturday. Fans can save $5 on adult tickets by purchasing them at any participating O’Reilly Auto Parts store.

“It’s a great event,” Gossage said. “I just can’t stress how wild and over-the-top fast a sprint car is on a dirt track. It’s just inconceivable how fast they’re going on dirt.”

This story was originally published September 8, 2016 at 6:33 PM with the headline "Texas Motor Speedway dubs itself the ‘Taj Mahal’ of dirt tracks."