A lot of Texas & a Little of New Mexico

I visited Texas for the first time in my life last year when Covid locked down the great state of Illinois…  I can’t say enough about how great Texas is!  The people, the places, the food — everything about Texas just screams Freedom.  I am fortunate that over the years, I made some great friends in Texas that welcomed me with open arms.  I have met a lot of amazing people down there in my past year of travels through Texas that I am blessed to call friends as well.

First stop — Penwell Knights Raceway at Caprock Motorplex in Odessa, Texas for Bounty Hunters 5 No Prep!  Not only does Matt Plotkin put on a great race, but Penwell Knights Raceway is one of my favorite facilities.  It is gorgeous and the owner, Gary is super nice.

The first time I was at this track last year, the coolest thing I ever seen was a storm moving across the desert at night while standing at the starting line.  It gives you goosebumps.   I believe I also experienced my very first “dirt devil” here last year.  Coming from Chicago — It’s pretty much like a mixture of some kind of blizzard/thunderstorm and instead of snow, you get nailed with little bits of sand that sting like no other.  Not a bad idea to always have your sunglasses handy while there.. hahaha.

The event was amazing!  Even ran into a couple friends from St, Louis, Missouri!  The vendor area was rocking and rolling all weekend.  Instead of heading to a “home” on Sunday, a couple of us decided to cross the border into New Mexico for Limpy’s Flashlight Cash Days No Prep Race at Hobbs Airfield Speedway… even though we were all tired as hell — what’s 90 more miles — right?

One of the neat things about Hobbs Airfield Speedway is that it used to be used as a landing strip for bombers in WWII.  Another plus was this was the first track I had been to in months that had a million food options outside of cheeseburgers and hotdogs.  Most items had something to do with tacos! …Heaven.

I stayed the next two weeks at Texas Motorplex!  Great facility — huge stadium stands with a festival state fair kind of atmosphere to it.  Everyone that works there is super nice and helpful.  The first event was Texas Radial Round-up!

 

Texas radial Round-up with Big hat Mafia’s Barrett Green and Mike Hollis was a bad ass event!  Great family event with some bad ass small tire radial racing!  One of my favorite parts was the Kids Power Wheel Race ran by Jennifer “Goldie” Green of Big Hat Mafia.  The kids had a blast and they were out to win!

One of my greatest discoveries this weekend were the benefits of my friends having young and energetic children!  They were so excited to fold t-shirts and help out.  I have hope for the next generation! Great kids!  If you are from Child Labor Services and you are reading this — these children were volunteers. hahahaha

Finally, the last race was Funny Car Chaos Nitro Madness at the Motorplex!  This race was bad ass!  Over 70+ Funny Cars were on the property and competing in the event.  This was a record breaking number!  I believe the last time that any event had nearly that many funny cars on the property was back in 1977 and I believe the older gentlemen stated that was somewhere in Oregon.

Hands down — The Funny Car Chaos Series is the coolest series that I have ever followed!  You will not find anything like it — EVER!  Chris and Tera Graves put on one hell of a show.  They were also just named Promoters of the Year by Nostalgia Drag World.   If you ever get an opportunity to attend a Funny Car Chaos Race, I promise you, you will not regret it!

No RV Parks to tell you about this time.  When in Texas, I like to stay at my friend’s ranch.  It’s big, beautiful, peaceful and relaxing.  The sunsets are pretty amazing there too.