Episode#34: A Helicopter Ride And A Day At The Races

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Texas Motor Speedway may be known to be in Ft Worth, but actually it is a 24 mile drive from downtown and much closer to Denton. TMS is a mile and a half oval NASCAR and Indy car race venue with a seating capacity of 155,000 in the grandstand alone. TMS opened in August 1996 at a construction cost of $110,000,000 and was the 2nd largest sports facility in the USA and 3rd largest in the world. It sits just 5 miles north of Alliance Airport and has definitely helped to change the landscape of far north Ft Worth.


For many years NASCAR racing was a big deal, a very big deal all over the country with people that would literally follow the race around the country from one venue to the next, many of them pulling a camper or RV through out the country. TMS has a capacity for 9000 RVs and it was usually packed to capacity leaving many searching for RV parks in the areas to park for the weekend. After TMS opened and it was race weekend, traffic would be so bad our dispatch office would have to re-route concrete trucks away from that section where state Hwy 114 intersects I35w where TMS is located due to unbelievable amount of traffic. After a sanctioned race people would wait by the hour just to get out of the parking lot, then traffic was so bad they would wait again on the state and interstate highways. The picture below is not very good but this photo is the north east parking lot with the race complex on the extreme right and it is packed.


As a kid I was a fan of quarter mile drag strip racing with funny cars and rail dragsters now known as top fuel dragsters. I would buy the hot rod magazines and marvel at the design and power that these cars would put out, but was never really an oval track race fan and would only occasionally watch some of the Indy 500 each year. With that said, when my buddy Glenn Sessums called and asked I would like to go and bring a couple of friends to the NASCAR race in November 2007 including a flight to and from the race in the company helicopter, I was suddenly a huge fan!

My brother Danny and my brother-in-law Jimmy were both huge NASCAR fans and they both jumped at the opportunity to attend this race weekend event. The day of the race we left my house and drove to the Denton Enterprise Airport which is about 15 miles north of TMS. We took a quick tour of the air assets of the Alan Ritchey company and climbed on board of the sleek 4 passenger helicopter shown in the cover photo, took off and in just a few minutes we were landing at TMS without regard to the early but already massive traffic issues getting into TMS. 




I had flown in a helicopter several times before so I had Jimmy and Danny share that front seat  experience on this day. Jimmy rode in the front seat on the way to the track and Danny rode in the front on the way back.



The entry credentials we had allowed us into the huge suite above the grand stands and came with a complete meal and inside seating to watch the race but also passes to the pit area to get a close up of the race cars and their crews.




The suite seating made for great views, comfortable cushioned seats and quiet enough so you could actually talk and carry on a conversation. I know the real hard core NASCAR fans would prefer to be in outside seating with deafening roar but I really liked the accommodations we had. The picture below doesn't show the view of the last turn and finishing line but it does show the infield and the back stretch of the track.


It was a very good day and a lot of fun for all of us, but I am sure Danny and Jimmy enjoyed it more than I did since they are such NASCAR fans. I definitely appreciate this opportunity and am thankful for my friend Glenn who made this happen for us. The following are just a few random pictures taken during the day.





Epilog-

As a side note to this story, a couple of years prior to this event I had the opportunity to drive a NASCAR race car around this track. A friend and vendor of mine called me up one day and said he knew I was not a huge NASCAR fan, but he had 4 or 5 of his other vendors had asked about this opportunity so he treated them to a day at the track. At the last minute one of them was unable to make it and he had an extra spot available and asked me if I would like to take the spot. Of course I took him up on the offer. 

The first 3 hours or so was all about safety and rules of the track. We broke for lunch and were assigned a race car and met a driver that would ride with each of us. There were a lot of track rules and for a non NASCAR fan that was a bit hard to keep up with. On the first turn post we were to dip down on the 20 degree bank then go up to the top of third and fourth 24 degree bank turn posts and there were markers to indicate when to start and finish the turns etc. It was just a lot to remember if you don't know all these rules to start with. I think I got over 130 mph a few times during the ten lap run. Definitely would have been a lot of fun for a real fan. For me... meh.


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