[In the Pink]

Last night I took my husband to the races! We've been married 17 years and I've never been able to get him interested before, so I'm pumped. And, of course, he enjoyed. Although he watches tennis and golf on TV, he's always said racing was "boring"! Well, he had fun last night. Anyway, wondering if any other Houston area locals who were there last night could tell me if those were typical fields of cars? It seemed to me that they were sort of light, not many cars. Now all I have to go by is when I used to go to the CC Speedway in Corpus Christi 20+ years ago, but I seem to remember there were usually 15-20 cars on the track. It was good racing, but would have been even better with more cars.

[Racer Duck]

Hi ItP, glad you enjoyed the show. HMP is pobably my favorite short track in Texas. 'Course, I'm judging it from a competitor's point of view: pits, track, infield, etc. I didn't make last night's show, so I can't speak to last night's field. Whenever we're racing, I don't get to see much of the races anyway...

Unfortunately, this was an early season date and as such it wouldn't have all the normal suspects in attendance. The best dates are dates when one of the larger draw touring series will be there. Also, HMP has more classes running on any given night than CC did back then, so while the number of cars may be the same, they're spread out in many more different classes.

I do know there are a few classes at HMP that that only have 8-10 cars registered, so it's possible you saw one of them also.

I hope you took advantage of the post race opportunity to visit the pits and see the cars up close and meet the drivers and crews. I know it is always the highlight of our evening to meet the fans.

We'll be there with our TSRS Late Model when the Texas Super Racing Series comes to town. I hope you can come see us - I think our first date there is in May... (check the TSRS website for the schedule.)

[In the Pink]

Thanks RacerDuck. I think the pit visit would have been a little more than hubby could have handled yet. Also, there were only 4 classes of races last night, which is less than I remember running at CC, but the races were longer. I was impressed with the track and how it was run, i.e., lead car moving too slow moved to the back, cause a yellow, move to the back, etc. I'm hoping the field was light because it's early.

I checked the schedule for TSRS and you'll be in Houston May 17. We'll be driving back from New Mexico so probably will have to wait 'til the June date to catch up with you.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

Hi ItP, glad you enjoyed the show. HMP is pobably my favorite short track in Texas. 'Course, I'm judging it from a competitor's point of view: pits, track, infield, etc. I didn't make last night's show, so I can't speak to last night's field. Whenever we're racing, I don't get to see much of the races

We'll be there with our TSRS Late Model when the Texas Super Racing Series comes to town. I hope you can come see us - I think our first date there is in May... (check the TSRS website for the schedule.)

Question, Charlie... Is the subject track the one south of I-10 on... Hywy 143, just outside of Baytown, a bit north of the Hartman Bridge?

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

Question, Charlie... Is the subject track the one south of I-10 on... Hywy 143, just outside of Baytown, a bit north of the Hartman Bridge?

No.

There are two tracks with similar names .. the one you're referring to (Houston Raceway Park) is a 1/4 mile high banked dirt track (ASCS sprint cars run there) plus a 1/4 mile drag strip (where the NHRA holds their "Spring Nationals").

Where we race is at 11620 N. Mount Houston Parkway in NE Houston and has a 3/8 mile medium banked asphalt D-shaped oval (that's where we'll race) with a 1/8 mile dragstrip (lots of local racing on Friday nites!) Google Maps has good directions to this track, if ya need them.

BTW: we are playing "garage" for a racer friend who's lost his shop (his parents have retired and sold their businesses - a wrecker service, a junk yard, a garage and a racing parts store - and he has to move out). We've got his SLM and modified and all his tools, spare parts, trailer, etc. crowded into and around our shop. My son and him are "plotting" ... think my son wants to put our late model engine in his modified and run HMP a few times .. they keep talking about it, but no action yet since both are concentrating on getting their SLMs ready for Altus later in April and we're trying to get the Late Model ready for the TSRS race on the same date in Kyle. I think we'll go to which ever one we get the car ready for first .. though our sponsor/crew chief is really pushing for the local track (Kyle)...

[In the Pink]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

There are two tracks with similar names .. the one you're referring to (Houston Raceway Park) is a 1/4 mile high banked dirt track (ASCS sprint cars run there) plus a 1/4 mile drag strip (where the NHRA holds their "Spring Nationals").

Where we race is at 11620 N. Mount Houston Parkway in NE Houston and has a 3/8 mile medium banked asphalt D-shaped oval (that's where we'll race) with a 1/8 mile dragstrip (lots of local racing on Friday nites!)

And to further complicate things, there's Houston Race Park which is a horse track!

[In the Pink]

Racer Duck, we made it back in town in time to see the TSRS race last night in Houston.... but I don't think you were there?

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by In the Pink

Racer Duck, we made it back in town in time to see the TSRS race last night in Houston.... but I don't think you were there?

yeah, we finished 5th. Sorry I missed you. I started a thread called "just wanna race" that chronicles this season for us. I just saw your post in it.