On the "surface", Texas Motor Speedway looks nice as a Nationals site. But,
if you think the concrete at Topeka is bad- and it is- just wait until you
see what several days of autocrossing does to asphalt at TMS. I've seen it.
We were literally shoveling trash cans full of ground up asphalt after just
two days' autocrossing last spring. This was for BMW's Ultimate Driving
experience. We were there for eight days, and had to change the courses
every other day to keep out of the dirt underlying the surface. The Texas
surface is not well prepared for hard use. It averages only two to three
inches in depth with nothing but raw dirt underneath. It's fine as a
parking lot, but it can't handle Nationals. Inexpensive lodging is hard to
come by. The nearest "city" suburb is half an hour's drive. There are
little strip malls and restaurants within fifteen minutes, but by and large,
TMS is remote. Most race tracks are.
Rich Fletcher
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