Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

I see the WoO are visiting these tracks the first week of March, and I am thinking about going to one of the races. I've never been to either track, drive time for me is the same, which track would you recommend?  Thanks!

I've been to a track in Houston but I thought it was called something else and I also thought it was defunct, I could be wrong tho. I have been to Kilgore with both configurations. Both tracks were good but I'd likely chose lone star (Kilgore). 

IMO based on looking at the tracks and online.

Gator = Small and Tight Bullring with some banking.

Lonestar = Fast and Wide (Hopefully with good passing opportunities)

Based on location though, Gator would get the nod as its 45 min north of Houston, and the Willis/Conroe area is pretty nice with lots of things to do and eat.

Choose the bullring every time with no regrets. Gator....

Plenty to do and eat in the Longview and Tyler areas too if you go to LoneStar.   Longview is only 10 minutes east and Tyler is about 30 minutes west.    

I've been to Lonestar Speedway and the new configuration is fantastic! Lightning fast! I've also been to Country Tavern and their Ribs are 2nd to NONE!!! Best ribs I've ever eaten!

Proudly supports:

Logan Seavey, Brent Marks and "Big Sexy" Brandon Overton

Thanks for the food ideas out near Lonestar. Going to be tough to squeeze in food driving from Dallas after work but fingers crossed I can get out a little early.

Thanks for all of the info., it looks like I will go to Gator! I've been to Eldora who knows how many times, I think a bullring would be a good change of pace!

I wish I could go to both, but Lone Star is running Friday, and I have a 5 hour drive. Saving vacation time to go to the Kings Royal in July, so Gator on Saturday makes sense. Is LoneStar the former Cowtown?

Nope, Cowtown is gone for good.   Nothing has been built on top of it, but I believe the stands have been taken down.   From what I've seen there are still some buildings left, and the racetrack itself is still there.   

Lone Star, on the other hand, has been there a long time.   It was originally a full half mile, and it was closed down for a long time.   The Hafertepes have shortened the track to 3/8ths, or 1/3 mile.  I'll let Dman be more specific there.   I hope to catch an ASCS race out there later this year.      

Here's the consolodated rewind, kind of a fun story:

From 2000 through 2008 Bo Rawdon and I promoted/created Cowtown events (Kennedale, TX...FTW) such as the Cowtown Sprint Nationals, November Sprint Shootout, Cowtown Midget Nationals and several other really really fun events.

Then, after creating the sam15.com branding for Sammy (there's Big Sam and Sammy to me) around 2003, I teamed up with Big Sam and Lisa LoneStar during that whole 'Cowtown transition' in 2009, and we've produced lots of fun events there too, such as the LoneStar Sprint Nationals (it's still fun reliving all that at www.darinshort.com/SCN ) and the Armadillo Nationals.

But Kilgore/LoneStar is 82 miles east of Terrell TX on I-20 (or 141 miles east of 'Cowtown')...exit 583.

The original LoneStar was a full 4/10 mile (as TMS is) and highly paperclip in layout.

The new LoneStar is now a full 3/10 mile and still just as highly banked, but it is now 12' wider than it was, allowing for much higher momentum through the corners; thus still about as dang fast as before. But it is way bigger than a lot of the 'Texas bullrings' like Cowtown was. The way higher speeds, combined with the wide, sweeping corners produces great slidejobs and several racing line options for an experienced racer.

But don't let the 1/3 mile 'size' of LoneStar think you're going to see a race on a small track. Anyone that has been there - especially drivers - will tell you that it's plenty fast.

Here's a pic I snapped this past Saturday night...had a really wild and exciting night of racing, yet none of the 27 sprint cars that raced got upside down during the event - as a matter of fact, every driver slated for the B-feature started. So it was a pretty dang smooth start to the season.

We've got the WoO Sprints on Friday March 3rd, then the next sprint event is the Saturday April 22nd www.SprintCarBandits.com series event. Hope many of you can make it (as was the case this past Saturday night).

Until then, see y'all at the races!

Panoramics skew the visual a bit, here's a shot from corner 4 at LoneStar I took this weekend... 

Man you are not kidding about being wide! BTW I am a Sam Hafertepe fan! He is always fast at Eldora, plus I saw him make a smart move in a Kings Royal heat race. Donny Schatz was trying to slide him in turn 4, but was only going to be wheel to wheel, so it was either be in a huge wreck or slam on the brakes, so he hit the brakes. Saved both of their nights!

Note - I was multi-tasking earlier and I noticed I said 3/10 and 1/3...it's 1/3. LOL...

One other thing that I really enjoy about LoneStar Speedway is NO MUFFLERS...and you can feel it, in this LoneStar Sprint Nationals qualifying night video:

https://youtu.be/w6S9ZIGzuB8?list=UUfVFRVokTPxXgdwXgxsF8AA

(sorry, couln't get I-Frame to work on hoseheads today)

Some of the frenetic, wide-open sprint car action you'll see at LoneStar: