Another Drag Strip Closing: Texas Raceway Is Shutting The Gates For Good


Another Drag Strip Closing: Texas Raceway Is Shutting The Gates For Good

(Photo: Don Cook/Fort Worth Star-Telegram) We never like to see a racetrack calling it a day, but we found out yesterday evening that the 1/8th mile strip in Kennedale was closing down for good after attempting to run a 2017 season. It’s been known for a while now that the city of Kennedale has wanted to shut down Texas Raceway, as well as other tracks in the area for property development, and that by last fall, it was all but a certainty. Unfortunately, for the city of Kennedale, a racetrack does not fit in with their vision of suburban planning, so yet another track is going under, which is a shame, since Texas Raceway held some wicked no-prep and outlaw-style racing. This is what the owners had to say to the racers who were expecting another season:

** TEXAS RACEWAY UPDATE **

We had planned to race in 2017 but due to circumstances beyond our control it’s no longer an option. We are saddened by this situation but as I was reminded recently “Sometimes life isn’t fair”. As a result, Texas Raceway will not reopen for drag racing.

We want to thank you the racers, fans, our race crew and staff for their support all these years. It’s been a wonderful 15 seasons. We want to thank Gaylen Smith and Shan Morgan for their time and their dedication they bring to this sport. These folks have always supported the racers. We hope you will continue to support Texas Outlaw Pro Mod’s and the Redemption No Prep Series. We also want to thank our sponsors who have supported us. Painless Performance Products has been a very good friend to the track and continues to support racers and hot rod enthusiasts. Reher – Morrison has always backed the track and racers. Smith Motorsport, Brink Racecraft and RockAuto.com have been great supporters. Tom Carrell; Crowley Service Center has been sponsoring the street program for years and to all those that have helped the track in so many ways; thank you.

As my dad once said; “May you lights always be green, your motor never blow up and your win light always on.”

Happy trails
Cindi & Dave
Texas Raceway
1961 – 2017


  • Share This
  • Pinterest
  • 0

12 thoughts on “Another Drag Strip Closing: Texas Raceway Is Shutting The Gates For Good

  1. 383 Duster

    Sucks, I raced there in the 70’s when it was a 1/4 mile. I went to an event there last October as I heard the end was near. I swear the time slip booth was the same one I used to collect my hand written tickets from. Good memories.

    1. Jorge

      It sucks that the city was able to shut it down. The track was there before the houses. They knew there was a track there when they moved in, it’s a shame to lose a nice track because people are so silly.

  2. Lynn Minthorne

    It is happening all over the country.. Development does not want the noise. then there is the insurance ?? What happens ?? The kids race on the street..Not a good thing. The city will condemn your property/ Eminent domain to stop you from continuing

    1. Debbie

      The City cannot take your property by Eminent Domain unless it is for public use, i.e. a park, school, etc. They cannot take/condemn your property to sell it to someone to build a subdivision. The only thing the City can legally do is set forth a noise ordinance which could force the track to close by a certain time (even if that time is unreasonable).

  3. Tom Atkinson

    Such a shame and there’s sod all you can do about it, here in England we’re on the edge of losing one of our only 3 full time strips in the country to property development, Thousands of signatures from racers AND locals on a petition against the development made no difference what so ever.

    1. Neil

      Two are potentially going, Tom. York is under threat as well as Shakespeare County, although not through housing development.

      From my parents house, if the wind is blowing the right way you can here the motorcycle speedway on a summer evening. That’s several miles away so I can see that it would bother people. Can’t complain if it was there first though!

      I’d rather ban football because football fans are noisy inconsiderate f*cking bell-ends!

  4. Falcon67

    > I swear the time slip booth was the same one I used to collect my hand >written tickets from.

    Yep, they didn’t change anything. Well, not much. Haven’t been in a long while as we live somewhere else – wish we’d made the pull now. About all we heard locally was that meetings with the City didn’t go well and they decided to pull the plug. If I hear more I’ll post.

  5. Falcon67

    Oh, and that will be the 2nd Heilscher managed strip to get killed by influx. His daughter Cindi managed TXR. Bill also co-owned Amarillo Dragway which we hear is making a comeback of sorts this year.

  6. Tom

    Used to race there back in the 70s. And still drive by there often. It’s sad to see another icon from my youth fall by the wayside.

  7. Chris soules.

    that is a rotten shame I grew up watching the races there enjoyed it so much I never thought it would be shut down. it’s just so hard to believe Kennedale shutting down there drag strip that’s ridiculous I can’t imagine it

  8. Natalie

    Is there anyway we could start a petition or a charity fund? Would it even make a difference? I spent a lot of weekends there as a little girl all the way into my teens, really upset it\’s closing!

  9. Lee Bassler, old hot rodder

    Great days with the grandkids at the strip, walk among the dragsters , have a coke and burger, and watch them smoke the tires. Hear WOW grandpa,this is awesome!!! Did not even cost much money for a day of outdoor entertainment. The dollar comes before family fun and the gates close. Kids sit at home on the computer or get in trouble with nowhere to go. Progress, is it really???

Comments are closed.