Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track Hosts First Practice

FORT WORTH-DALLAS (March 9, 2000) – Fifteen sprint cars took the first ever practice runs today on the new Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track. Pennzoil World of Outlaws sprint car legend Steve Kinser turned in the unofficial fastest lap with a time of 13.53 seconds in the #11 Quaker State car over the 4/10 mile clay layout. "It is a fine facility," Kinser said after the practice session. "It is a very nice track in the middle of the day with the sun on it. There is some nice clay on it, and they did a smart thing by packing it down tight and getting the base down good and tight. That is the best thing to do being the first time on it. They have a good race track here, and I am looking for to running on it." The practice session ran just over an hour with drivers testing the corners and the quick straightaways at the new dirt track. They all came away praising the facility as state-of-the-art for sprint car racing. "It is a beautiful facility," said Andy Hillenburg, driver of the #2 Luxaire car. "When the track gets moisture, it is going to have more than one groove. There will be some good traction, and the cars will have an additional groove to run in. Overall, I can tell there was a lot of time and effort put into this place. Pulling in and looking at all the pit area and parking for motor homes is very impressive. It just makes me wish we could run here a lot." The Pennzoil World of Outlaws cars will compete in a race on the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track for the first time ever on March 30 and 31 in the Southern Bleacher Classic. Tickets are available for the debut sprint car races by contacting the Texas Motor Speedway ticket office at 817-215-8500 or the speedway web site at www.texasmotorspeedway.com.