Houston Raceway Park closing next year
Historic site being repurposed into industrial area after last race in ’22
For more than three decades, Houston Raceway Park has been the site of numerous historic runs in the National Hot Rod Association Drag Racing series.
John Force, Shirley Muldowney, Kenny Bernstein, Don Prudhomme, Joe Amato and Eddie Hill, as well as members of the Kalitta family, are among the sport’s best to have competed and thrilled fans at the Baytown facility.
On Wednesday, the NHRA and HRP officials announced that next year’s Mopar Express Lane SpringNationals on April 22-24 will be its last after 35 years on the NHRA schedule. The historic track will close following the 2022 race. New property owners, Belgiumbased Katoen Natie, will repurpose the drag racing complex into an industrial park.
“Our family is extremely
proud to have showcased the top level of professional drag racing for 35 wonderful years,” HRP track operator Seth Angel said. “It’s been a dream come true to meet and work with all the incredible drivers, team owners and NHRA executives who come together each year to entertain racing fans in our area.
“From preseason tests, to where we had two national events (annually), to the scores of legends who have raced here or to the championships decided on our grounds, it’s been an incredible high-speed ride. Our family is forever indebted to the sport of NHRA drag racing and will cherish the amazing memories we’ve made when this chapter closes.”
Houston Raceway Park hosted its first national event in 1988, shortly after opening. The 500-acre facility at the time was co-owned by the Gay family of Dickinson and brothers Greg, Gary
and Glen Angel. The Angel brothers bought out the Gay family’s interest in 2004.
The track has also hosted events for amateur racers.
The Angel bothers accepted an offer to sell the property in 2018, but they didn’t want to leave the sport abruptly.
“We wanted to exit on our terms and the right
way,” Seth Angel said. “We felt it was the right time to move on and turn the page.”
The property will turn over following the April race to the new owner, which already has a warehouse complex just west of Houston Raceway Park and will use the additional land to expand.
Angel anticipates the 2022 event at Houston Raceway Park will be one to remember.
“To our fan base, we’ll make it one of the best, with a lot of excitement and energy about this race,” Angel said. “We owe it to our fans in the final race here to send it off the right way.”
Because of being near sea-level elevation, which induces an oxygen-rich environment for the cars, HRP has been the site of a great number of national speed and elapsed-time records.
At Houston Raceway Park in 1988, Gene Snow in a qualifying run had the first 4-second run (4.99) in an NHRA event. Hill, who had run the sport’s first 4-second pass earlier at an IHRA event, topped that by running a 4.93 in the final round of Top Fuel. Force, the winningest NHRA driver with 153 victories, won his 100th career Funny Car race at Houston Raceway Park in 2002. That same year at HRP, Rachelle Splatt became the first woman to run 300 miles per hour in a Top Fuel dragster, becoming the 16th and final member of the Slick 50 300 mph club.
“We at the NHRA want to thank Houston Raceway Park and the Angel family for their commitment to the sport of drag racing,” NHRA president Glen Cromwell said. “Our race teams, partners and NHRA officials look forward to celebrating the track as we close out this chapter of NHRA history.”
Among the sites the NHRA is looking at to replace the Baytown race is Tulsa Raceway Park.
Houston Raceway Park has long been a favorite destination for the professional racers.
“There are some weekends that we get really excited, like this one,” Leah Pruett, who won Top Fuel here in 2017, said prior to the 2019 event.
Before this year’s race in April, Antron Brown, a twotime winner at the track, including his first Top Fuel win in 2008, said, “I always look forward to going to Houston Raceway Park. We love seeing all of the people from Houston and Louisiana that come out and show us all of the support.”