Texas Motorplex continuing to rock-on during its 40th anniversary season
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
ENNIS – Billy Meyer’s Texas Motorplex drew a comparison to Max Yasgur’s farm during Wednesday evening’s annual Champions Dinner, a prelude to this weekend’s 40th Texas NHRA Fall Nationals.
Glenn Menard, the Motorplex’s first general manager, reflects back on the history of the Texas Motorplex during the Champions Dinner on Wednesday night. (Photo courtesy of Rustic Spirit Photography)
Glenn Menard, the Motorplex’s first general manager, led off a Stampede of Speed program honoring reigning and past national event champions with a look back on the facility’s inaugural day of eliminations on Sunday, Sept. 28, 1986.
“It was magic that day,” said Menard, introduced on-stage as Employee No. 1. “People came from all over the country to see the Motorplex, (just ask Funny Car driver Jack Beckman). Long before James Earl Jones, referring to a corn field in Iowa, declared ‘If you build it, they will come,’ Billy Meyer had the same vision.
“It was worth it. Standing at the rail that Sunday morning on the 3rd floor of the suites, there was a line of cars far as the eye could see in both directions on Highway 287. Hoping not to miss the first round, people were parking on the shoulder and in the median. And then they walked to the Motorplex…
“It looked like ‘Woodstock.’ And just as Woodstock changed the concert world, that day the Motorplex changed the drag racing world.”
For those too young – or now too old to recall – Max Bernard Yasgur owned the 600-acre dairy farm in bucolic Bethel, N.Y., that hosted the Woodstock Music and Art Festival Fair from Aug. 15-18, 1969. Over 400,000 rock fans and “Summer of Love” devotees were drawn to an event that emerged as the defining cultural moment for the 1960s counter-culture generation.
Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Gaige Herrera answers questions from Joe Castello (the official voice of the Stampede of Speed) at the Champions Dinner Wednesday night at the Texas Motorplex. (Photo courtesy of Rustic Spirit Photography)
It is hardly an exaggeration to claim that Woodstock – which played-out under a combination of hot summer sun and driving rain and the resulting mud and debris – remains a pivotal moment in pop music history. Yasgur sold the iconic property in 1971 and retired to Florida, where he died on Feb. 9, 1973.
NHRA’s inaugural Chief Nationals was staged on the Motorplex’s touted post-tension, all-concrete quarter-mile from Sept. 25-28, 1986. That debut event showcased the record-setting capability and advanced nature of the track’s surface amid an array of spectator enhancements.
Recall that Meyer began his racing career at age 16, the youngest person ever licensed to drive a Funny Car. Meyer’s barnstorming experiences with seasoned competitors, big-dollar potential sponsors – and their wives _ shaped his vision for what became drag racing’s first “super-track.” The sport’s first stadium-style facility featured a total of 176 restrooms – one more than Texas Stadium – former home in nearby Irving to the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
“Close your eyes and think back to the first time you drove down Highway 287 from the (Dallas-Fort Worth International) airport,” said Menard, 77, a resident of Hermosa Beach, Calif. “You came to a cluster of beer stores at Reagor Springs, then rounded that big curve…and there it was. This gigantic structure rising out of the corn fields.
“The late Chris Martin, a wordsmith at National Dragster, described it like the scene in “Close Encounters,” when the kids first see the spaceship rising above them, the biggest object they have ever seen.”
The Texas Motorplex celebrated the 40th anniversary season by hosting the Champions Dinner Wednesday night in the Champions Club at the Texas Motorplex. (Photo by Martha Fairris)
Meyer agreed Menard’s observation was spot-on. “I think that’s pretty much what everybody thought when they came around the corner going by Reagor Springs,” Meyer said. “They saw a big monstrosity of a place. He was talking historically, the first time people saw it 40 years ago. So, people are used to big tracks now. I’m just glad to be the one that kind of got it started.
“And that’s a pretty good comparison, to Woodstock. I always wanted to be compared to Woodstock. That was a blast, I heard.”
Seated before a crowd of approximately 200, Menard continued, “How many of you in this room were NOT actively racing 40 years ago tonight? Raise hands.
“Let me take you back to pre-Motorplex drag racing. Guardrails were mostly metal Armco (barriers) down the track, but maybe no guardrails in the shutoff area. Time slips contained only E.T. (elapsed time), reaction time and miles per hour. On the center line there were sealed beam headlights in metal frames, protected by a giant orange cone, or even a cement block.
“Scoreboard that only had a win light, or maybe E.T. and mph. Plywood suites on stilts. Grandstands whose first row was on the ground, so every time the cars left the line everyone had to stand up to see the race. And a light pole and speaker blocking your view of the action. Little 4-by-8 sponsor signs attached to the fence.
“Porta-lets for restrooms, and track (hot) dogs for concessions.”
Meyer’s nomadic schedule convinced him sanctioned drag racing was a big-league sport being played in Little League ballparks. “But I didn’t understand the extent of how much it hurt each area of the sport because you have spectators and sponsors and race teams – those three elements,” said Meyer, who grew up in Waco and now resides in Spicewood, a community in the trendy Austin corridor.
“Racetracks before the Motorplex were basically…mom-and-pop stores,” said native Texan Dave Densmore, an award-winning public relations specialist who partnered with Steve Earwood to educate Motorplex media on the sport during the track’s infancy. Earwood continued in the industry as former longtime owner of the Rockingham (N.C.) Dragway.
Attendees of the Champions Dinner received a gold Motorplex belt buckle featuring the Stampede of Speed and the 40th anniversary of the Texas Motorplex. (Photo by Martha Fairris)
“Billy knew what he wanted,” said Densmore, whose NHRA clients have included 16-time Funny Car world champion John “Brute” Force and four-time Top Fuel world champ Steve Torrence of Kilgore. “He built the all-concrete track for himself and his racer friends and he built everything else for Deborah (Billy’s wife) and her female friends.”
Menard, whose stints as Motorplex GM ran from 1986-1994 and 2008-2010, continued his comparison. “Now you had grandstands angled to the track so everyone had a great view, and super-seats,” Menard said. “An air-conditioned Drivers Lounge for the families, and plenty of paving. Sponsor signage above the grandstands with the sponsor name on the tickets.
“Full-matrix scoreboards flashing information. You had a Domino’s Pizza trailer, and Jambalaya by Shake. A below-track timing system for safety, and later the foam block, developed for The Plex just 20 miles down the road.
“And an all-concrete racetrack that yielded record times on its first day.”
A recap of the inaugural weekend’s key moments in Top Fuel saw Darrell “The Kid” Gwynn record the first 5.20-second quarter-mile pass in class history and the first lap over 275 mph, clocking-in at 5.280-seconds and 278.29 mph. Fittingly perhaps, drag racing icon “Big Daddy” Don Garlits defeated Gwynn in the Top Fuel final.
The Funny Car competition was highlighted by former Lubbock resident and University of Texas at Arlington student Kenny Bernstein posting the first 5.40-second pass in the “flopper” class with a 5.25-second run. Meanwhile, Mark Oswald broke the class speed record with a pass at 268.09 mph.
“Skeptics – there were plenty of skeptics,” Menard said. “One Division 4 track operator questioned why I would leave a secure job at a university to go open a drag strip in Texas. He assured me Billy could never sell a grandstand sign for $10,000 or a suite for the entire year for $10,000 because he only got a few thousand for a national event.
“Or, the two NHRA VP’s standing on the mound of dirt that would become the suites, asking me if Billy knew it took three years for a national event to reach capacity, and he had built too many seats to start.”
Forty years later, Meyer and daughter Christie Meyer Johnson – Motorplex co-owner and current GM – welcomed their guests from a stage flanked by a pair of large neon cowboy boots.
“I’m here celebrating with all my old friends,” said Billy Meyer, 71, who was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in March 2020. The HOF is housed at The Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, Fla. Meyer mingled with a parade of former event champions during a cocktail hour preceding a catered dinner with menu chosen by reigning event champions Justin Ashley (Top Fuel), Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle).
The night’s varied program highlighted the “thinking outside-the-box” mentality Meyer Johnson shares with her staff. “This is three years now that I’ve been in this role and I’m very fortunate to do this, follow in my dad’s footsteps,” said Meyer Johnson, 40. “Our team is dedicated to growing the sport of drag racing.”
All guests received a “Legacy of Speed” booklet containing photos documenting each generation of stars, as well as a collection of key dates in Motorplex history. A special, gold Motorplex belt buckle also was among the anniversary items. (Photo by Martha Fairris)
To her point, all guests received a “Legacy of Speed” booklet containing photos documenting each generation of stars, as well as a collection of key dates in Motorplex history. A special, gold Motorplex belt buckle also was among the anniversary SWAG.
Neon signs on the walls and a row of placards reminded guests the Motorplex is “Where Speed was Born” and is “Cemented in History” and home to “40 Years of history…that went fast!”
Addressing their many friends, fans, racers and sponsors in remarks at the front of the booklet, Billy and Christie concluded, “Forty seasons is just not about time – it’s about people. It’s about you. You are part of our Motorplex family, and it is with the deepest gratitude that we say thank you for making this place what it is. We look forward to the future with joy and expectation, knowing that together we will continue to create memories, celebrate victories and honor God, who makes it all possible.”
Wednesday’s program was another element of the fifth iteration of the Stampede of Speed, a 10-day, family-oriented celebration of Texas-themed music, drag racing and culture that is an economic engine for Ennis, Waxahachie and Ellis County. The dizzying list of featured events has included a country music festival, lantern release, BBQ cook-off, beer expo, bull-riding, cornhole tournament, the Champions Dinner and Fan Fest.
The Champions Club program was framed by a large projection screen in back of the stage that flashed a loop of black-and-white and color photos/film. Included was a young and long-haired Billy Meyer conducting a media interview on-site during the track’s earth-moving days, the revolutionary and pristine all-concrete surface curing, vintage racing footage featuring a number of event champs in their primes and the track’s current signature post-race starting line scrum-like celebrations.
Wednesday evening’s dress code, according to longtime Motorplex communications consultant Elon Werner, was “either business casual or full-on cowboy.” An award-winning NHRA public relations specialist from nearby Mansfield, Werner also served as Motorplex GM from 1997-1999.
Reigning event champions Hagan, Coughlin Jr. and Herrera were interviewed on stage by Joe Castello, official voice of the Stampede of Speed. Ashley was unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict.
The 40th Fall Nats is booked as the pivotal Round 4 of the six-race Countdown to the Championship, the postseason portion of the 2025 NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series schedule. Native Californian Herrera, a two-time/reigning PSM world champ, is chasing a third consecutive Wally Trophy and Motorplex Stetson this weekend. Herrera neatly summed-up the unique atmosphere of the Stampede of Speed.
“It’s almost hard to believe it’s a race,” Herrera deadpanned, “because there’s so much going on.”
A comprehensive, day-by-day schedule and more information can be accessed at www.stampedeofspeed.com.
