Texas Motor Speedway is an enigma among intermediate tracks. Video of the races from a decade ago looks like a completely different race track. Most of the track surface can't even be utilized in current races for various reasons, but how did we get here?
Flashback to 2016: Drivers and teams were dissatisfied with the weepers at TMS, making it impossible to dry the track in a reasonable amount of time. As a result of the drainage issues and the aging surface, a repave was scheduled for the off-season that followed. But this was no simple repave — it was a full reconfiguration.
The first two corners were flattened out a bit with the banking lowered from 24 degrees to 20 degrees, while the track surface in that area was widened from 60 to 80 feet. There was also a nasty bump that appeared above the tunnel in Turns 3 and 4.
The traction compound conundrum
With the new reconfiguration, passing had become extremely difficult, even with the added room. As a result, various traction compounds were dumped onto the upper grooves in an attempt to improve the on-track product. Instead, it ended up staining the track and making it even more treacherous for drivers.
Cars getting into the upper grooves were lucky not to completely spin out on the noticeably blacker surface. PJ1 traction compound is very temperamental and it can feel like velcro in one spot, but slime or ice in another. In order to be properly activated, it needs cars to go through it and heat it up, but there were few volunteers as drivers scrambled for the safety of the bottom groove.
As for the highest part of the track — above the PJ1 — that became just completely unusable. While the traction compound has little grip, that area has none. Some have described going up there like 'falling off a cliff' and no one races beyond the first couple of grooves if they can help it. Even venturing up near the wall to avoid a crash is a sketchy move.
The situation has gotten slightly better as the years go by, but it's still a far cry from the multi-groove Texas of old, and the damage has already been done. Texas lost one of its Cup dates, over 40,000 seats have been removed and IndyCar also abandoned the facility. There are always discussions around completely tearing the track up and trying again, or turning it into another drafting track like Atlanta. At one point, a steel mesh grate was dragged along the stained portion of the track to try and alleviate the feeling of 'black ice' some drivers were experiencing.
A truly challenging race track
And remember that bump we mentioned in Turns 3 and 4? Its impact on the cars has only gotten worse in the Next Gen era. As we saw several times in last year's race, a car trying to race side-by-side often leads to the car on the outside bottoming out and immediately spinning into the outside wall. Even with an attempt to grind down that bump, it didn't seem to help very much.
Kyle Busch, who has four Cup wins at Texas (most among active drivers), recently described it as follows: "Texas -- it's a challenging race track. Turns one and two being as flat as they are and as wide as they are. There's a lot of room for where you can go. But there's probably about six inches of that racetrack that feels really good. And that's the groove that you want to be in, and stay in, in order to get that grip."
Oddly enough, the strangeness of modern races at TMS have actually made it a bit of a wildcard that has managed to put on a show every so often. Passing is difficult and the track is treacherous, leading to more aggressive moves and several heart-stopping moments. Last year's race featured 16 cautions and the previous four Cup races there have had 11 or more yellow flags.
The ever-evolving track seems to be a little different every year, and even changes over the course of a race weekend as the surface reacts to any temperature change and any activity in a way far more pronounced than most circuits.
