Obviously, speed is a major draw of the track. But for people who have been coming for the past quarter century, or more, speed is just part of the equation.
The raceway serves as a perfect family activity - whether it’s watching races with children or teaching them how to race.
John Owens has been coming to the track for more than 25 years. He raced his motorcycle for more than a decade before passing on the love of racing to his daughter, Debra. Now 17, she’s been racing 10 years.
“I’ll be always racing,” Debra said. “That’s in my heart. It’s my passion.”
Whenever there’s a points race at the raceway, dad and daughter make the drive from Red Rock - a small town just outside of Bastrop where John owns a carpet business. And while they probably wouldn’t be spectators, they plan on being competitors for a long time.
“We come down here to race,” John said. “She’s been driving the junior dragster for eight years.”
And why shouldn’t it be a family hobby, seeing how the track has been in the same family for the tracks half-century of existence? It was started by Pat and Jerry Tomastik, then passed on to their son Clifford in 1999. When he died in 2001, his wife Linda took control of the strip, and is still the owner to this day. Day-to-day operations have been passed on to her nephew, Kirk Wolf, who now manages the asphalt strip next to the Little River.
Wolf credits the track’s longevity with the family atmosphere.
“It’s just the whole racing thing,” Wolf said. “Everybody gets along as a family.”
James Amos used to watch his brother race. But now that Stan is retired and James lives in Buffalo, not Temple, it would seem that he would seldom - or perhaps never - schlep to Academy anymore.
But Stan still helps at the track, working on the starting line. So like he has for the last 20-25 years, James can be found at the track most weekends.
“I just like speed,” said James, a retired railroad engineer. “You get a thrill out of it, running fast. Especially out here, where it’s safe. I just love it.”
Mike Wallace has been coming to the track for more than two decades. Unlike many others, he’s never raced.
“It’s sort of dangerous to some people. You have to have the guts to do it,” said Wallace, at the track on Saturday on his birthday. “One day, I may have the guts to do it. For now, it’s just fun watching.”
And like all the others, it’s not just fast cars that attracts Wallace.
“There’s been a lot of people come and so forth,” Wallace said. “I don’t know, it’s just thrilling for families and all ages.”
So what has lasted for 50 years as a safe way to prove who has the fastest car - much safer than drag racing on a Friday night down Texas state road 95 - has continued to evolve, now involving generations of racers.
Does it have 50 more years in it?
“I won’t be here, but it’s possible,” Wolf said. “Fifty more years is possible. Why not?”
ecarifio@temple-telegram.com
