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Texas World Speedway
Texas world.png
Location College Station, Texas, USA
Time Zone UTC -6/-5 (DST)
Capacity 75,000 (grandstands)
Opened 1969
Closed 2017
Major Events World Stock Car Championship
Round of Texas
Former Name(s) Texas International Raceway (1969 - 1971)
Oval
Surface Asphalt
Distance 2.000 mi (3.218 km)
Turns 4
Banking Frontstretch: 12°
Back straight: 2°
Turns: 22°

Texas World Speedway was a motorsport venue located in College Station, Texas. The track was one of only nine superspeedways of two miles (3.2 km) or greater in the United States used for racing, the others being Daytona, Fontana, Indianapolis, Meadowlands, Michigan, Ontario (California), Pocono, and Talladega (there are several tracks of similar size used for vehicle testing). The track was located on approximately 600 acres (2.4 km²) on State Highway 6 in College Station, Texas. There was a 2-mile (3 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, compared to Michigan's respective 18, 12, and 5 degrees.

History[edit | edit source]

Originally opened as Texas International Speedway, TWS was an almost exact copy of Michigan International Speedway (as well as Ontario Motor Speedway which was built around the same time) and operated a part of Riverside International Raceway, Trenton Speedway, and Atlanta International Raceway. The original ownership group went bankrupt in 1971 and was bought out, leading the facility to change its name to Texas World Speedway. The World Stock Car Championship and Champ Car both visited the track annually during the 1970's.

During the 1980s the track fell into a state of disrepair, and both the World Stock Car Championship and Champ Car chose to drop it from their respective schedules. It continued to operate in a limited role for amateur racing. In 1991 Speed Sport, LLC purchased the facility and repaved and modestly refurbished it.

The track hosted its final race in 2014; in 2017, it was confirmed that the track would permanently close after being used as a storage facility for cars damaged by Hurricane Harvey.

World Stock Car Championship[edit | edit source]

Champ Car[edit | edit source]