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No matches found.WELCOME TO CHICKEN-FRIED SPEEDWAY IN THE LONE STAR STATE
FORT WORTH, Texas – This particular race deserves a romp ‘em, stomp ‘em finish. It’s Texas, and everything – chicken-fried steak, corruption, cowboys, state troopers, steel-guitar players, traffic jams – is bigger in Texas.
Just recite the lyrics, man.
There’s a little bit of everything in Texxxx-esss.
No, you’re not from Texas, but Texas wants you anyway.
When I cross that border of the Rio Grande, I can catch me one last sunset of Texas prairie …
They eyes of Texas are upon you! All the live-long day!
Have some pride, boys! This is Texas. No less an expert than Eddie Gossage has labeled this track, uh, his track, “The Great American Speedway.” Never mind that Daytona has “The Great American Race.” Never mind that Dover has “The Monster Mile” and New Hampshire has “The Magic Mile” and Darlington has “The Track Too Tough to Tame.”
With a little luck, no one remembers that Gossage grew up in Tennessee and used to work at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. To hear him tell it, he might as well be Chief of the Texas Rangers (not the baseball team) these days. To Gossage’s credit, he’s got the Texas swagger down.
Gossage has ZZ Top in town, right out there in the tri-oval in front of God, a multitude of fans and maybe even Mack Brown. The winner of today’s race will look like he won a shopping spree at Toys R Us: six shooters, boots, the works. The pit crew can pretend it’s a posse, tracking down John Wesley Hardin (or maybe even Chad Knaus), before the Men Who Stole the Chase can ride off into the sunset of another invincible season.
This track might as well be on Wall Street because it’s, yes, Too Big to Fail. Greed is nowhere close to out of style in these parts. Bidness is still bidness, and the bidness of Speedway Motorsports Inc. is racin’.
By God.
The Chase isn’t over. Not in Texas. They remember the Alamo here.
You may contact Monte Dutton at mdutton@gastongazette.com.
