Article from http://www.mywesttexas.com/sports/article_5bc591da-effd-11e2-b741-0019bb2963f4.html?
Posted:?Thursday, July 18, 2013 5:55 pm?|?Updated: 6:02 pm, Thu Jul 18, 2013.?
By Len Hayward |?[email protected]?|?0?comments
The racing grapevine revealed some good news and bad news this week in regards to racing in Oklahoma and Texas. The good news was that I-44 Riverside Speedway, a mini-sprint and micro-sprint track, in Oklahoma City, which was in the path of the devastating tornado in May in the Oklahoma City area and suffered heavy damage got some new lights and public address announcing system.?The bad news, though, is that those things came from Cowtown Speedway in Kennedale, {{more}}according to a release from I-44 Riverside Speedway. Cowtown hasn?t run a race this season, and it may have run its last one in November.?This is a legendary Texas track that can trace its roots back to the early 1960s, and at one time was the Metroplex?s best attended facility. As a high schooler, I had to get to the track when the gates opened on regular Saturday nights just to get a good seat. And you can only imagine the crowds when the Winged Modifieds were racing because that was their height in the late 1980s and early 1990s.?The track then had solid success racing sprint cars this past decade. Along with that, the track had more stock cars and modifieds than you could count because Kennedale was in a central location and it seemed everybody around there race.?Rumors of why the track has been shuttered this season are many, and I really don?t want to speculate on the main reasons. The track?s facebook page did post last November last track owner Johnnie Swiney was battling health issues as well.?Some of my best racing memories were at Cowtown both as a fan, and as a reporter at the Star-Telegram, and it?s always sad to see another dirt track shut down. Hopefully it can be revived, but it doesn?t look good.
