1994-1995

Nov. 28, 1994 - NASCAR speedway owner Bruton Smith announced plans to build a multi-million dollar superspeedway in the Fort Worth/Dallas market.

Feb. 28, 1995 - Smith announced decision to build 1.5-mile superspeedway near developer Ross Perot Jr.’s Alliance Development Corp. site, located between Fort Worth and Denton. The Alliance site was one of three under consideration. Smith said it was the concerted efforts on the part of Alliance and the city of Fort Worth and Denton County that ultimately made the decision final. The location at the intersection of Interstate 35 West and Texas State Highway 114 was also chosen for its accessibility for the fans. Plans were set for a 160,000-seat facility enclosing 24-degree turns with 205 executive skybox suites.

April 11, 1995 - A ground breaking pep rally was held at 4 p.m. on Texas Motor Speedway site. On hand were NASCAR Winston Cup drivers Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte and Bobby Labonte.

July 6, 1995 - Eddie Gossage was named executive vice president and general manager of Texas Motor Speedway. Gossage, a 15-year motorsports veteran, had been vice president of public relations for Charlotte Motor Speedway for the previous six years.

Aug. 18, 1995 - Construction begins at Texas Motor Speedway. HCB contractors were scheduled to move an average of 17,000 yards of dirt per day.

Dec. 15, 1995 - Texas Motor Speedway announced dual-banked turns angled at eight and 24-degrees. Dual-banking will allow NASCAR and Indy-style racing.

1996

Feb. 5, 1996 - Texas Motor Speedway’s first open house was held with 26,383 fans in attendance.

May 1, 1996 - The Texas Chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities is formed, naming Betty Rutherford, wife of three-time Indy 500 winner Johnny Rutherford, as president.

July 11, 1996 - Bruton Smith, Bill France Jr., T. Wayne Robertson and Eddie Gossage announced April 6, 1997 as the inaugural NASCAR Winston Cup race held at Texas Motor Speedway. The Texas 500 will be preceded by a NASCAR Busch series race April 5.

July 24, 1996 - Texas Motor Speedway officials and more than 40 Lone Star Tower condominium owners officially broke ground outside of Turn Two.

Aug. 3, 1996 - More than 38,000 people attended Texas Motor Speedway’s second open house.

Aug. 21, 1996 - Texas Motor Speedway and CBS announced a multi-year agreement to broadcast the Texas 500 Winston Cup race.

Aug. 27, 1996 - Texas Motor Speedway announced June 7, 1997 as the date for the inaugural Indy Racing League event – The Longhorn 500.

Oct.1, 1996 - Preferred Seat License filing began.

Oct. 14, 1996 - Coors Light announced sponsorship of the April 3 and 4 qualifying days.

Oct. 14-15, 1996 - Mark Martin and the Roush Racing/Valvoline Ford Racing Team tested tires for the first time at Texas Motor Speedway. Martin recorded the first record speed at Texas Motor Speedway October 14 when he was clocked at 30.70 seconds/175.896 mph on the 1.5-mile speedway.

Nov. 6, 1996 - Coca-Cola announced sponsorship of the April 5 Busch Series race, officially titled the Coca-Cola 300

Nov. 6, 1996 - Texas Motor Speedway unveiled its 1997 season ticket package for the 150,061-seat facility. Included in the package are the April 5 Coca-Cola 300, the April 6 Texas 500 and the June 7 Longhorn 500. Prices for season tickets ranged from $55 to $190 for the three events.

1997

Feb. 17, 1997 - 1996 Indy 500 winner Buddy Lazier of Hemelgarn Racing and Tony Stewart of Team Menard ran the Indy Racing League’s first tire testing at Texas Motor Speedway. Stewart was clocked at just over 200 mph, while Lazier retired with engine troubles.

Feb. 18, 1997 - Texas Motor Speedway announced WBAP-AM 820 as the official broadcast station for 1997.

March 11, 1997 - Elliot Sadler recorded the fastest lap for Texas Motor Speedway’s first NASCAR Busch Series open testing. Sadler had a time of 30.20 seconds/178.80 mph.

March 12, 1997 - Eddie Gossage announced the purse for the Inaugural Interstate Batteries 500 race week. The total purse of $4,585,405 is the fourth-largest of the 1997 season schedule and will allocate $783,150 for the Coca-Cola 300 and $3,802,255 for the Interstate Batteries 500. First place prizes of $53,560 and $340,650 will be awarded to the respective race winners.

March 13, 1997 - Rusty Wallace recorded the fastest time ever at Texas Motor Speedway when he was clocked at 29.30 seconds/184.30 mph at open testing.

March 14, 1997 - Wallace beat his own best time for the second day of open testing, recording a time of 29.07 seconds/185.76 mph.

April 3, 1997 - Jeff Green qualified for the pole position in the inaugural Coca-Cola 300 Busch Series race with a speed of 180.054 mph.

April 4, 1997 - Texas Motor Speedway officials announced plans to build The Speedway Club, a nine-story building located above the first turn of the 1.5-mile speedway.

April 4, 1997 - Texas Motor Speedway announced the sponsorship of the Pronto Auto Parts 400 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series night race on June 6.

April 5, 1997 - Dale Jarrett assumed pole position in the inaugural NASCAR Winston Cup race because of the cancellation of qualifying due to rain. Positions 1 - 35 were set according to the current driver points.

April 5, 1997 - Mark Martin, driving the Winn-Dixie Ford #60 car, won the Inaugural NASCAR Busch Series Coca-Cola 300 with an average speed of 122.047 mph.

April 6, 1997 - Jeff Burton, driving the Exide Batteries Ford #99 car, won the inaugural NASCAR Winston Cup Interstate Batteries 500 with an average speed of 125.105 mph in front of a sold out crowd.

April 14, 1997 - NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Kenny Irwin Jr. turned out the fastest lap at 30.60 seconds/176.47 mph, under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway during the 1.5 mile first night test session.

April 22, 1997 - Texas Motor Speedway General Manager Eddie Gossage along with Dan Cotter, chief executive of True Value, announced sponsorship of the Inaugural True Value 500 Indy Racing League (IRL) night event June 7. Also announced today at TMS was sponsorship of Budweiser Qualifying Night which includes qualifying for the Pronto Auto Parts 400 and the inaugural True Value 500.

June 6, 1997 - Kenny Irwin became the inaugural Pronto Auto Parts 400 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race winner at Texas Motor Speedway.

June 7, 1997 - Billy Boat wins inaugural True Value 500. Arie Luyendyk challenges the decision in Victory Lane following the race, resulting in a confrontation with Boat’s car owner A.J. Foyt.

June 8, 1997 - Arie Luyendyk, 12 days after winning the twice-delayed Indy 500, is declared the winner of Texas Motor Speedway’s inaugural Indy Racing League event, the True Value 500. Luyendyk was declared the winner after USAC approved his protest of the race finish due to malfunctioning timing and scoring equipment.

June 14, 1997 - Texas Motor Speedway hosted the Fruit of the Loom CountryFest for an estimated 185,000 participants. Featured performers were Jo Dee Messina, Bryan White, Wynonna, Vince Gill, the Charlie Daniels Band, Hank Williams Jr., Leann Rimes, Travis Tritt and Randy Travis.

June 21, 1997 - Texas Motor Speedway hosted the Blockbuster RockFest for an estimated 385,000 participants. Featured performers were matchbox 20, Jewel , Bush, No Doubt, Collective Soul, Counting Crows and the Wallflowers.

July 1, 1997 - Texas Motor Speedway began its tour program which include: an introductory video and audio comments from NASCAR Winston Cup drivers, a visit to the NASCAR Winston Cup and Pep Boys Indy Racing League garage on the infield; a suite-level view of the speedway, and a lap around the 1.5-mile superspeedway.

July 24, 1997 - The Thursday Night Stampede Series kicked off, marking the beginning of Texas Motor Speedway’s involvement with local weekly racing. The six-race series for Legends Cars ran every Thursday night through August 28.

Aug. 27, 1997 - Texas Motor Speedway announced that it will host AutoFest featuring Pate Swap Meet twice in 1998. The large auto show will run April 30 - May 3 and also from Oct. 29 - Nov. 1, 1998.

Sept. 30, 1997 - Texas Motor Speedway enlisted the help of A.J. Foyt to announce the Indy Racing League’s second race date at Texas Motor Speedway in 1998. The IRL will run the True Value 500 June 6, 1998, while the second date, The Lone Star 500, will run September 20. In addition, the Lone Star race week will include Texas Motor Speedway’s inaugural ARCA race, the Cowtown 250 September 19.

Nov. 1, 1997 - The Rolling Stones played at Texas Motor Speedway with opening bands matchbox 20, the Dave Matthews Band and the Smashing Pumpkins for an estimated 65,000 fans.

Nov. 8, 1997 - Texas Motor Speedway hosted thousands for the first Sale-abration as nearly 20 NASCAR Driver’s merchandise rigs gathered for a year-end sale in the infield. PSL holders and other VIPs as well as many holiday shoppers were treated to van rides around the 1.5-mile oval while Rusty Wallace and Johnny Rutherford spoke to the nearly 5,000 PSL holders in attendance.

Dec. 1, 1997 - Speedway Children’s Charities (SCC), the charitable arm of Texas Motor Speedway, donated approximately $250,000 to 70 charitable children’s organizations from Tarrant, Denton, Dallas and Collin Counties during the annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony.

1998

Feb. 5, 1998 - Construction work began on the fourth turn of the 1.5-mile superspeedway, including the alteration of the 50-by-300 foot section between the fourth turn of the frontstretch to ease the transition from the 24-degree banking to the five-degree straightaway.

March 17, 1998 - Texas Motor Speedway General Manager Eddie Gossage announced that the Coca-Cola 300 will offer a purse of $885,284 and the purse for the Texas 500 will be $4,033,914, an increase of more than $200,000 from last year’s Winston Cup race.

March 24, 1998 - Overhead directional signs were placed at entrances and exits to the speedway as part of a comprehensive traffic control system to be utilized for major events. Finishing touches were put on many of the 76 condominium units in the ten-story Lone Star Tower overlooking Turn Two of the speedway.

March 27, 1998 - Texas Motor Speedway officially joined the information superhighway, going on-line with www.texasmotorspeedway.com, making speedway information available to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

April 3, 1998 - Jeremy Mayfield takes the pole in the Winston Cup Series with a record speed of 185.906 mph/29.047 seconds. Elliott Sadler wins the NASCAR Busch Series Pole with a time of 179.229 mph/30.129 seconds.

April 4, 1998 - Thousands of local Boy and Girl Scouts are honored with free admission to the Coca-Cola 300 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series race.

April 4, 1998 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins the Coca-Cola 300 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series race by .187 seconds, with an average speed of 120.174 mph. The Coca-Cola 300 was Earnhardt Jr.’s first career win in the series.

April 5, 1998 - Mark Martin, defending champion of the Coca-Cola 300, wins the Texas 500 by .573 seconds with an average speed of 122.993.

April 6, 1998 - Texas Motor Speedway announces reconstruction of the speedway’s racing surface. Modifications to be made include the entrances and exits of the turns and a new drainage system. The eight-degree portion of the dual-banking will be eliminated.

April 22, 1998 - Reconstruction on the 1.5 mile superspeedway begins.

April 30, 1998 - May 3, 1998 - Texas Motor Speedway hosts AutoFest featuring Pate Swap Meet. The Pate Swap Meet made its debut at Texas Motor Speedway after staging 25 years of events near Cresson, south of Fort Worth. The four day event offered special car exhibits, the Leake Collector Car Auction, a car corral where individuals could display personal vehicles, and thousands of vendors.

May 1, 1998 - The newly constructed Lil’ Texas Motor Speedway hosts its inaugural Legends event. The new speedway measures a fifth-mile in length with 12 degree banked corners and has grandstand seating for 1,500 fans.

May 22, 1998 - Texas Motor Speedway, True Value, and The Nashville Network (TNN) announce sponsorship for race team of Plano native Greg Ray in the Indianapolis 500.

May 26, 1998 - Arie Luyendyk, the defending True Value 500 winner, was on-hand at Texas Motor Speedway to announce the "Texas Two-Step" Championship. The Pep Boys Indy Racing League driver who scores the most points, according to IRL rules, in the True Value 500 on June 6 and the Lone Star 500 on Sept. 20 will win an additional $100,000 prize and the Texas Two-Step Championship. The driver who finishes second in points will win an additional $50,000.

May 28, 1998 - The final layer of racing surface was applied to Texas Motor Speedway’s reconfigured 1.5-mile oval, officially completing the track reconfiguration 37 days after it began. Final cost of construction is approximately $4 million.

June 4, 1998 - Tony Stewart wins Pep Boys Indy Racing League qualifying with a speed of 224.448 mph while Jack Sprague claims the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pole at 161.749 mph.

June 5, 1998 - Tony Raines wins the Pronto Auto Parts 400 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race with an average speed of 111.016 mph.

June 6, 1998 - Billy Boat claims the title at the True Value 500 Pep Boys Indy Racing League event with an average speed of 145.388 mph.

June 18, 1998 - Texas Motor Speedway once again hosts the Thursday Night Stampede Legends Series. The series will run for 10 weeks, concluding on Aug. 20. The weekly event includes matches between Texas Motor Speedway’s official stations WBAP-AM and KSCS-FM, and other local celebrities.

July 22, 1998 - Texas Motor Speedway and PRIMESTAR, the nation’s second-largest satellite television provider, announce the PRIMESTAR 500 NASCAR Winston Cup Series race. PRIMESTAR will sponsor the race for three years beginning in 1999.

August 4, 1998 - Danny Lewis, an auto dealer from Big Springs, TX, is honored as the 20,000th tour guest at Texas Motor Speedway.

August 7-8, 1998 - Lil’ Texas Motor Speedway hosts the Briggs & Stratton Bandolero Nationals. The event was the first national championship for the Bandolero cars.

August 10, 1998 - Texas Motor Speedway announces that The Dallas Morning News will sponsor qualifying day on Friday, Sept. 18 for the ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Cowtown 250 and the Pep Boys Indy Racing League Lone Star 500.

Sept. 9, 1998 - Chuck Norris, star of the hit television series, "Walker, Texas Ranger" and his son, Eric, were on-hand at Texas Motor Speedway to announce plans for an episode of "Walker" which will focus on the Cowtown 250 ARCA event on Sept. 19, in which Eric will be competing.

Sept. 17, 1998 - Texas Motor Speedway announced plans to add 4,800 seats to its state-of-art facility. The new section will be located in Turn One as part of The Speedway Club. The anticipated announcement highlighted a night of fine food, fun and fireworks for the official topping-out ceremony of The Speedway Club, co-hosted by Bruton Smith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. and Texas Motor Speedway general manager Eddie Gossage. During the evening’s activities, Johnny Rutherford, A.J. Foyt, Jim McElreath and Greg Ray were presented lifetime memberships to The Speedway Club.

Sept. 17, 1998 - Texas Motor Speedway’s website, www.texasmotorspeedway.com, debuts a new look. The web site section featuring "Late News" from the speedway is updated to include sections covering announcements, racing news and notes from Texas Motor Speedway and other facilities, racing results, and racing photos. The latest notes, qualifying, results and pictures are on the speedway site almost instantly during the weekend.

Sept. 17 ,1998 - Race sponsorship and television deals were announced for the weekend’s ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. ZMAX Power System will sponsor the Sept. 19 event. The ZMAX 250, formerly the Cowtown 250, will be televised on SpeedVision.

Sept. 18, 1998 - Frank Kimmel clinches the pole for the ZMAX 250 with a speed of 173.393 mph. Billy Boat of Conseco A.J. Foyt Racing takes the Lone Star 500 pole with a qualifying speed of 225.979. Boat’s qualifying speed was the fastest ever in qualifying by a new-formula Indy Racing League car.

Sept. 19, 1998 - Mark Gibson in the JaniKing Ford took the title in the ZMAX 250 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series event. The average speed for the event was 117.759 mph.

Sept. 20, 1998 - John Paul Jr. wins the Lone Star 500 Pep Boys Indy Racing League event with an average speed of 131.931 mph. Billy Boat is named the "Texas Two-Step" winner, taking home a trophy and a $100,000 check for having the highest combined points from the June 6 True Value 500 and the Sept. 20 Lone Star 500.

Oct. 1, 1998 - Texas Motor Speedway announced the 1999 Pep Boys Indy Racing League championship race will be held at the superspeedway. Texas Motor Speedway will host two Pep Boys Indy Racing League events - the nighttime race will be Saturday, June 12 and the final race of the 1999 Pep Boys Indy Racing League season will be Sunday afternoon, Oct. 17.

Oct. 22, 1998 - Texas Motor Speedway announced it will host the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series twice in 1999. The first will be the Pronto Auto Parts 400 on June 11 and the second will be the Bluebonnet 300 on Oct. 15. Both are night races.

Oct. 29 - Nov. 1, 1998 - AutoFest featuring Pate Swap Meet stages its inaugural Fall meet at Texas Motor Speedway. Special events at the Fall AutoFest included the NASCAR Sale-abration which offered race fans the opportunity to purchase souvenir items at late-season closeout prices, the DFW Autumn Balloon Classic which featured 30 hot-air balloon from the region, and Legends Cars and Bandolero racing at Lil’ Texas Motor Speedway.

Nov. 16 - Nov. 30, 1998 - "Walker, Texas Ranger" completes shooting at Texas Motor Speedway for a Jan. 1999 episode.

1999

Dec. 1, 1998 - Speedway Children’s Charities (SCC) presents nearly a quarter of a million dollars to 76 local children’s organizations at the annual Christmas Tree Lighting event.

Jan. 5, 1999 - Fans purchase tickets to the Primestar 500 and Coca-Cola 300 at a record pace.

Jan. 15, 1999 - Test Sessions for Winston Cup driver Randy LaJoie and Craftsman Truck Series driver Ron Barfield

Feb. 2, 1999 - 10,000 more seats are added for the Primestar 500 bringing the total seating capacity to 164,861.

Feb. 4, 1999 - Bernard Van Mourik is hired on as the General Manager of the Speedway Club. Van Mourik comes from the Houston Club, where he served as general manager.

Feb. 6, 1999 - The 10,000 new seats added go on sale today at 9:00 a.m.

Feb. 11, 1999 - Texas Governor George W. Bush will serve as the Honorary Starter for the March 28 PRIMESTAR 500 Winston Cup Race.

Feb. 21, 1999 - In need of a large place to host a service, Texas Motor Speedway held a memorial service for three local firefighters killed in the line of duty.

Mar. 9, 1999 - Purse for PRIMESTAR 500 and Coca-Cola 300 tops $5 Million

Mar. 27, 1999 - Mark Martin wins the Coca-Cola 300.

Mar. 27, 1999 - The Coca-Cola 300 draws the largest crowd in the history of the NASCAR Busch Series.

Mar. 29, 1999 - The sold-out PRIMESTAR 500 was the largest attended sporting event in Texas history.

March 28, 1999 - Texas native Terry Labonte takes the checkered flag at the PRIMESTAR 500.

May 6, 1999 - Texas Motor Speedway with Finish Line Events - it’s concessions division sends more than 1,400 lbs. of food to assist victims of the tornadoes in Oklahoma City.

May 19, 1999 - Modifications to wheel fence planned to give the fence a total height of 21 feet with a six-foot, curved overhang above the speedway surface.

Jun. 10, 1999 - Jay Sauter takes the pole position at the Bud Pole Day at a speed of 30.729 seconds / 175.730 mph.

Jun. 11, 1999 - Dennis Setzer clinches the win at the Pronto Auto Parts 400.

Jun. 11, 1999 - Mark Dismore wins the PPG Pole Day with a speed of 215.272 mph.

Jun. 12, 1999 - Scott Goodyear takes the checkered flag at the Longhorn 500 presented by MCI WorldCom.

Jun. 11, 1999 - ESPN2 hosts live Friday Night Fights Presented by Budweiser immediately following the Pronto Auto Parts 400 in the Texas Grand Ballroom on the top floor of the Speedway Club.

Jun. 24, 1999 - Weekly Legends and Bandelero racing every Thursday Night for 10 weeks through the summer.

Jul. 19, 1999 - Speedway Children’s Charities hosts the Ultimate Fantasy by offering stock car fans the opportunity to participate in a half-day driving course with all profits to benefit SCC.

Aug. 11, 1999 - Texas Motor Speedway breaks ground on a $2.5 million 4/10 mile clay-surfaced dirt track that will host the prestigious Pennzoil World of Outlaws sprint car races in 2000. The track will seat approximately 15,000 people.

Aug. 26, 1999 - Thursday Night Stampede champions are crowned at the final night of summer racing. Sparky Grape, Fort Worth, took the Pro Division title while Robert Merino, Plano, took his first Masters championship for drivers over 40.

Sept. 8, 1999 - Speedway unveils 2000 schedule and new event - the American LeMans Series Grand Prix of Texas on Sept. 2-3, 2000.

Sept. 9, 1999 - Season ticket packages for 2000 went on sale today to a group of anxious waiting fans outside the TMS ticket office.

Sept. 28, 1999 - Austin-based Mall.com signs a multi-year deal with TMS to sponsor the fall Indy Racing League event beginning with the Oct. 17 race, formerly the Lone Star 500.

Oct. 7, 1999 - O’Reilly Auto Parts signs on as sponsor the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on Oct. 15, formerly the Bluebonnet 300. O’Reilly also announced sponsorship of the "O’Reilly Texas Showdown sprint car race in October of 2000.

Oct. 8, 1999 - New stretch of Hwy 114 opens for Mall.com race weekend. The two-mile stretch is part of an overall widening of the highway scheduled to be completed by April 2000.

Oct. 14, 1999 - Jay Sauter takes the Bud pole position for the O’Reilly 300 with a top speed of 179.152, barely 5/10 of a second off the track record of 179.718 for the trucks.

Oct. 14, 1999 - Pronto Auto Parts extends its sponsorship of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series June event for three years.

Oct. 15, 1999 - Jay Sauter clinches the win at the O’Reilly 300 Craftsman Truck Series race and wins $60,300.

Oct. 16, 1999 - Plano native Greg Ray takes the Dallas Morning News Pole Award at a speed of 216.107 mph.

Oct. 17, 1999 - Mark Dismore wins his first title in the MALL.COM 500.

Oct. 28-Oct. 31 - Fall Autofest featuring the Pate Swap Meet cruises in for one of the biggest Auto Shows in the country. Also a part of the weekend, the Dallas-Fort Worth Autumn Balloon Classic.

Oct. 23-24 - Sale-Abration is held for the Season Ticket holders with discounted 1999 merchandise, food, music, driver interviews and more.

Oct. 25, 1999 - Kenton Nelson is named as Assistant General Manager for Texas Motor Speedway. Nelson has worked for TMS since 1996 as head of merchandising.

Nov. 13, 1999 - Tickets for the 2000 season go on sale as 1,500 fans line up at the TMS ticket office.

Dec. 1, 1999 - Speedway Children’s Charities awards more than $250,000 in grants to 83 local charities at the annual Tree Lighting and awards presentation at The Speedway Club.