The Outlaws only visit to Texas in 2013 features a new and unique track for the series
By Dan Beaver – EL PASO, Texas – April 4, 2013 – World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series drivers face a clean slate on Tuesday, April 16, as they head to El Paso for the first-ever race on that track and their only visit to Texas in 2013.
It has been two years since the Outlaws were last in Texas, but the most recent race was held on the other side of the state at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown. Sammy Swindell won the 40-lap feature that night, but he and the rest of the drivers face a new challenge at El Paso Speedway Park.
Sprint car fans in West Texas are hungry for big league competition because the track is not only new to the series, so is the venue-sort of. The last time the Outlaws were in this part of the country, they were not in the country at all but rather across the border in Mexico at Autopista Juarez in 1992.
Steve Kinser is the only driver with experience in the market and on this track. “I was a lot younger at the time, but I remember winning that race and it is always part of the conversation when we get back to this area.”
Kinser also raced at El Paso last November in a 360 sprint car. “I have had an opportunity to be on track but it was in daytime and it will change under the lights. Running there at all could be a little benefit, but I didn’t get a chance to run very long because of some mechanical difficulties.”
He knows the challenges faced by the new venue cannot be minimized. “We have a really tough group of cars and you have to come off the hauler fast.”
El Paso Speedway Park has some unique characteristics that not only make it challenging for the drivers, but enjoyable for the fans. This 0.375-mile D-shaped oval has an elevated backstretch, which means “there isn’t a bad seat in the house,” according to one of the track owners Royal Jones. “A lot of time, the track keeps its cushion very well, sometimes in the middle groove and sometimes high, so we should be able to keep the competition lively.”
“Anticipation is already high and reserve tickets are already moving,” Jones said. And all of the fans who purchase advanced reserved seating are eligible for a free fan pit pass as well.
That excitement is echoed by Chris Morgan of Motorsport Ventures, the event’s promoter. “It’s great to be back in this market and the fans have always been supportive of the Outlaws there, whether we were in Hollywood Hills over in Albuquerque or Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces. They show up in force for any event, weekend or week night.”
“This is going to be a big show, so even though this is the first time we have been to El Paso, it is almost certainly not going to be the last,” Morgan said.
Tickets can be ordered online by clicking WorldofOutlaws.com/tickets or by calling 877-395-8606.