Texas Motorplex
Encyclopedia
The Texas Motorplex is a quarter mile drag racing
facility located in Ennis
, Texas
. Built in 1986 by former funny car
driver Billy Meyer, the Motorplex was the first National Hot Rod Association
(NHRA) "super track." It annually hosts the NHRA O'Reilly Fall Nationals each September, when hundreds of professional and amateur drag racers compete for over $2 million in prize money. Past winners have included John Force
, Kenny Bernstein
, and Tony Schumacher. Perhaps the one identifying feature of the track, is that from the burnout pad, to the shutdown area, it is the only all concrete strip within the NHRA's schedule of events.
Meyer wanted to tackle new and different challenges when he gave up racing, but that didn’t mean he had any less passion for the sport of drag racing. He wanted to be in racing, just not from the driver’s seat.
“We had just finished the car for the 1988 season and we were getting ready to test at the Motorplex and then head to Pomona,” Meyer said. “I woke up and told my wife I didn’t want to race anymore. It was as simple as that. I had a 5-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter and I didn’t want to be gone 35 weeks a year racing anymore.
“I got someone else to drive the car for me that season with the exception of the all-star race. I had already qualified for the Winston bonus event, so I raced in that and won, but still didn’t want to go back to driving.”
Meyer will always be part of drag racing lore and legends. He is, after all, the creator of the Texas Motorplex. The all-concrete quarter-mile track was built in 1986. It was the first stadium-like facility built specifically for drag racing and it set the standard for which all other tracks over the course of 25 years have followed. It was the first, and therefore will hold a special place in racing history forever.
“My thinking back then was simple,” Meyer said. “I thought we had a big league sport, but we played in minor league parks. It would be like the Dallas Cowboys playing in a high school stadium. So I had a facility designed with racer safety, sponsors, media and fans in mind. We wanted to invite more fans, race safely on the track and be able to involve the corporate world with our sport.”
Meyer kept his years of racing in a Funny Car on rough surfaces at inadequate facilities in mind when designing the all-concrete quarter-mile track and the amenities at the venue.
“As a racer, I knew I wanted the absolute best and safest race track possible, which is why I made it an all-concrete track,” Meyer said. “The fans were a big part of how the facility was designed around the track from everything to how the seats were angled all the way to where the facility was located in terms of highway access. Even now we are one of the rare facilities located on a four-lane, divided highway to make sure it’s easy for everyone to get in and out of events.”
When Meyer’s vision was being formed and the land was purchased in Ennis, he created a 20-year plan. Meyer never suspected the Motorplex would see its 25th anniversary.
“When we started building the track, Plano was smaller than Ennis,” Meyer said. “My assumption was based on the Superconducting Super Collider project and I thought the population would outgrow the area and we would be forced to shut down. But once the super collider project shut down (in 1993), everything started growing north and we get to celebrate our silver anniversary after all.”
Even now, 25 years after he built the first facility specifically for drag racing, he knows why the sport continues to have such passionate and loyal fans.
“Drag racing is unique in that the atmosphere is considerably different than any other sport,” Meyer said. “It operates off multiple senses – smell, sounds, vibrations; a lot of different senses come out versus other sports. People like to see crashes and see things on the edge, but one of the reasons why drag racing unique is because the fatality rate is so incredibly low. People like to watch something that looks dangerous with lots of scary moments, but they also want to see people walk away.”
Being the first or the original is Meyer’s style. He has the kind of determination and ability to blaze new paths and build success – something drag racing has benefited from over the years.
“It’s exciting to be part of the growth of the sport and be connected to a special time in the sport’s history,” Meyer said. “Since the Motorplex was built, the quality of the facilities has greatly improved and it’s nice to be part of that and help the progression of building bigger and nicer places for the sport.”
The Texas Motorplex was the first all-concrete stadium-style drag racing facility ever constructed. Built in 1986, The Texas Motorplex has been the place of many drag racing milestones and world record performances. The Billy Meyer-owned facility hosts a number of racing and car show events between March and November each year and also features the Champions Club – an 11000 square feet (1,021.9 m²) facility – that serves fully catered events throughout the year.
Jan. 1986: Ground breaks for the Texas Motorplex – designed to be the first post tension, all-concrete, quarter-mile facility specifically created for drag racing.
Sept. 25, 1986: Darrell Gwynn runs 5.280 to set Top Fuel E.T. record with the first national event pass on the track.
April 1997: The Texas Motorplex becomes the first non-NHRA-owned track to host two national events.
1997: The Texas Motorplex opens the Divisional 4 Hall of Fame, becoming the only track to host a hall of fame.
1997: The Texas Motorplex becomes the first facility to build a permanent hospitality structure to host fans in a VIP atmosphere; originally known as The Top Eliminator Club and now known as the Champions Club.
April 9, 1988: Eddie Hill turns in the first four-second quarter mile pass – a 4.990 run.
Oct. 19, 1997: Cory McClenathan makes the first pass in the 320 mph-range – a 321.77 run.
Oct. 24, 1998: Gary Scelzi, John Force, Warren Johnson and Larry Kopp lead the quickest qualifying field in NHRA history.
Oct. 23, 1999: En route to his first, NHRA championship, Top Fuel driver Tony Schumacher earns his first national event victory.
Oct. 23, 1999: John Force clinched his ninth NHRA Funny Car championship by defeating Tommy Johnson Jr. in the quickest side-by-side race in Funny Car history.
Sept. 23, 2004: The Texas Motorplex becomes the first NHRA track in the country to have starting line balcony seating in the tower suites.
Sept. 26, 2004: Greg Anderson clinches his second consecutive NHRA Pro Stock title at the Texas Motorplex. Anderson clinched the title faster than any other driver in NHRA history.
Funny Car: 4.062 seconds by Matt Hagan (Sept. 2010); 309.63 mi/h by Jack Beckman (Sept. 2011).
Pro Stock: 6.553 seconds by Jason Line (Sept. 2011); 211.2 mi/h by Jason Line (Sept. 2011).
Pro Stock Motorcycle: 6.828 seconds by Hector Arana Jr. (Sept. 2011); 196.1 mi/h by Eddie Krawiec (Sept. 2011).
Drag racing
Drag racing is a competition in which specially prepared automobiles or motorcycles compete two at a time to be the first to cross a set finish line, from a standing start, in a straight line, over a measured distance, most commonly a ¼-mile straight track....
facility located in Ennis
Ennis, Texas
Ennis is a city in Ellis County, Texas, United States, and a southeastern suburb of Dallas. The population was 16,045 at the 2000 census.In 1871, the Houston and Texas Central Railroad purchased of land in Ellis County at a price of , establishing the line's northern terminus. On May 8, 1872,...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Built in 1986 by former funny car
Funny Car
Funny Car is a drag racing car class. In the United States, other "professional" classes are Top Fuel, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle. Funny cars have forward-mounted engines and carbon fiber automotive bodies over the chassis, giving them an appearance vaguely approximating manufacturers'...
driver Billy Meyer, the Motorplex was the first National Hot Rod Association
National Hot Rod Association
The National Hot Rod Association is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and host events all over the United States and Canada...
(NHRA) "super track." It annually hosts the NHRA O'Reilly Fall Nationals each September, when hundreds of professional and amateur drag racers compete for over $2 million in prize money. Past winners have included John Force
John Force
John Harold Force is an NHRA drag racer, a 15-time Funny Car champion driver, and a 17-time champion car owner. Force owns and drives for John Force Racing. He is one of the most dominant drag racers in the sport with 133 career victories...
, Kenny Bernstein
Kenny Bernstein
Kenny Bernstein is an American drag racer and former NASCAR and IndyCar team owner. He is nicknamed the "Bud King" for his success in the Budweiser King dragster, he has also been nicknamed "The King of Speed," because he was the first driver to break 300 miles per hour in the standing-start...
, and Tony Schumacher. Perhaps the one identifying feature of the track, is that from the burnout pad, to the shutdown area, it is the only all concrete strip within the NHRA's schedule of events.
History
One morning Billy Meyer woke up and decided he didn’t want to race Funny Cars anymore. That was particularly startling to fans, fellow racers and sponsors. After all, Meyer drove his Funny Car to 12 victories in 22 final rounds in just 112 NHRA events. Do the math – he was in the finals 20 percent of the time. Only one other driver has a better winning percentage in NHRA history, and his name is John Force.Meyer wanted to tackle new and different challenges when he gave up racing, but that didn’t mean he had any less passion for the sport of drag racing. He wanted to be in racing, just not from the driver’s seat.
“We had just finished the car for the 1988 season and we were getting ready to test at the Motorplex and then head to Pomona,” Meyer said. “I woke up and told my wife I didn’t want to race anymore. It was as simple as that. I had a 5-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter and I didn’t want to be gone 35 weeks a year racing anymore.
“I got someone else to drive the car for me that season with the exception of the all-star race. I had already qualified for the Winston bonus event, so I raced in that and won, but still didn’t want to go back to driving.”
Meyer will always be part of drag racing lore and legends. He is, after all, the creator of the Texas Motorplex. The all-concrete quarter-mile track was built in 1986. It was the first stadium-like facility built specifically for drag racing and it set the standard for which all other tracks over the course of 25 years have followed. It was the first, and therefore will hold a special place in racing history forever.
“My thinking back then was simple,” Meyer said. “I thought we had a big league sport, but we played in minor league parks. It would be like the Dallas Cowboys playing in a high school stadium. So I had a facility designed with racer safety, sponsors, media and fans in mind. We wanted to invite more fans, race safely on the track and be able to involve the corporate world with our sport.”
Meyer kept his years of racing in a Funny Car on rough surfaces at inadequate facilities in mind when designing the all-concrete quarter-mile track and the amenities at the venue.
“As a racer, I knew I wanted the absolute best and safest race track possible, which is why I made it an all-concrete track,” Meyer said. “The fans were a big part of how the facility was designed around the track from everything to how the seats were angled all the way to where the facility was located in terms of highway access. Even now we are one of the rare facilities located on a four-lane, divided highway to make sure it’s easy for everyone to get in and out of events.”
When Meyer’s vision was being formed and the land was purchased in Ennis, he created a 20-year plan. Meyer never suspected the Motorplex would see its 25th anniversary.
“When we started building the track, Plano was smaller than Ennis,” Meyer said. “My assumption was based on the Superconducting Super Collider project and I thought the population would outgrow the area and we would be forced to shut down. But once the super collider project shut down (in 1993), everything started growing north and we get to celebrate our silver anniversary after all.”
Even now, 25 years after he built the first facility specifically for drag racing, he knows why the sport continues to have such passionate and loyal fans.
“Drag racing is unique in that the atmosphere is considerably different than any other sport,” Meyer said. “It operates off multiple senses – smell, sounds, vibrations; a lot of different senses come out versus other sports. People like to see crashes and see things on the edge, but one of the reasons why drag racing unique is because the fatality rate is so incredibly low. People like to watch something that looks dangerous with lots of scary moments, but they also want to see people walk away.”
Being the first or the original is Meyer’s style. He has the kind of determination and ability to blaze new paths and build success – something drag racing has benefited from over the years.
“It’s exciting to be part of the growth of the sport and be connected to a special time in the sport’s history,” Meyer said. “Since the Motorplex was built, the quality of the facilities has greatly improved and it’s nice to be part of that and help the progression of building bigger and nicer places for the sport.”
The Texas Motorplex was the first all-concrete stadium-style drag racing facility ever constructed. Built in 1986, The Texas Motorplex has been the place of many drag racing milestones and world record performances. The Billy Meyer-owned facility hosts a number of racing and car show events between March and November each year and also features the Champions Club – an 11000 square feet (1,021.9 m²) facility – that serves fully catered events throughout the year.
Texas Motorplex Milestones
Nov. 1985: Billy Meyer signs an agreement to host an NHRA event the following September, before ground was broken on the facility.Jan. 1986: Ground breaks for the Texas Motorplex – designed to be the first post tension, all-concrete, quarter-mile facility specifically created for drag racing.
Sept. 25, 1986: Darrell Gwynn runs 5.280 to set Top Fuel E.T. record with the first national event pass on the track.
April 1997: The Texas Motorplex becomes the first non-NHRA-owned track to host two national events.
1997: The Texas Motorplex opens the Divisional 4 Hall of Fame, becoming the only track to host a hall of fame.
1997: The Texas Motorplex becomes the first facility to build a permanent hospitality structure to host fans in a VIP atmosphere; originally known as The Top Eliminator Club and now known as the Champions Club.
April 9, 1988: Eddie Hill turns in the first four-second quarter mile pass – a 4.990 run.
Oct. 19, 1997: Cory McClenathan makes the first pass in the 320 mph-range – a 321.77 run.
Oct. 24, 1998: Gary Scelzi, John Force, Warren Johnson and Larry Kopp lead the quickest qualifying field in NHRA history.
Oct. 23, 1999: En route to his first, NHRA championship, Top Fuel driver Tony Schumacher earns his first national event victory.
Oct. 23, 1999: John Force clinched his ninth NHRA Funny Car championship by defeating Tommy Johnson Jr. in the quickest side-by-side race in Funny Car history.
Sept. 23, 2004: The Texas Motorplex becomes the first NHRA track in the country to have starting line balcony seating in the tower suites.
Sept. 26, 2004: Greg Anderson clinches his second consecutive NHRA Pro Stock title at the Texas Motorplex. Anderson clinched the title faster than any other driver in NHRA history.
Current Track Records
Top Fuel: 3.784 seconds by Brandon Bernstein (Sept. 2010); 324.05 mi/h by Spencer Massey (Sept. 2011).Funny Car: 4.062 seconds by Matt Hagan (Sept. 2010); 309.63 mi/h by Jack Beckman (Sept. 2011).
Pro Stock: 6.553 seconds by Jason Line (Sept. 2011); 211.2 mi/h by Jason Line (Sept. 2011).
Pro Stock Motorcycle: 6.828 seconds by Hector Arana Jr. (Sept. 2011); 196.1 mi/h by Eddie Krawiec (Sept. 2011).