Texas Speedway Iced-Out
Texas Speedway covered in thick ice and snow |
Texas Motor Speedway, like numerous business establishments throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, was expecting to reap the regional economic benefits of Sunday’s Super Bowl XLV in Arlington, but the continued inclement weather has iced those plans.
Texas Motor Speedway had been targeted this weekend as a major destination for companies seeking a unique entertainment option for their Super Bowl guests and clients, but ice and snow throughout the week have led to the cancellation of the busiest, single-day track rental date in the speedway’s 15-year history on Saturday as well as one of its more lucrative on-track rental weekends.
With the track surface covered with roughly two inches of ice in addition to three to four inches of fresh snow today, Texas Motor Speedway was forced to cancel three days of on-track activity — beginning today — that involved six visiting companies and more than 300 guests and clients. The companies were planning to treat their guests to a variety of driving schools available at Texas Motor Speedway — the Team Texas High Performance Driving School and Texas Driving Experience that are based here as well as the World Class Driving School that was arriving from out of town just for the weekend’s special events. Team Texas features NASCAR stock cars, TDE utilizes high-performance Chevrolet Corvettes and the World Class Driving School showcases exotic cars such as Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Bentleys.
Texas Motor Speedway was expecting a “six-figure" windfall from its Super Bowl-related events, but the surface conditions and freezing temperatures were too much to overcome to prepare both the high-banked, 1.5-mile oval and the infield road course for the scheduled events.
“It has been an extremely disappointing week for not only Texas Motor Speedway but all the businesses big and small that were looking forward to enjoying the major economic impact that the Super Bowl brings to a region, especially the first time," Texas Motor Speedway Vice President of Media Relations Mike Zizzo said. “This also was going to be an opportunity for us to showcase our venue to some companies and guests that have never seen one of the premier motorsports facilities. It’s unfortunate, but we are all aware how unpredictable the weather can be in North Texas at this time of year."