NASCAR WCUP: Jarrett Tests at Texas Motor Speedway

25 August 1998

Dale Jarrett

Jarrett and fellow driver Jeremy Mayfield, are in town for the grand opening of the NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway, a virtual reality racing entertainment center opening in Dallas. Just minutes after his plane landed, Jarrett headed to the speedway to take the speedway pace car on a few laps around the reconfigured surface.

He was seemingly impressed by the changes.

"You can see with the eye what?s been done," said Jarrett. "It?s going to be a very positive change for the stock cars." Following the Texas 500 race week in April, much of the track surface was taken up after seepage problems cropped up during the event. In addition to a new drainage system and a variety of waterproofing materials, the transitions from the turns to the straightaways were lengthened.

"The changes make this a better track. The transition into one and especially off of four -- it's so fast -- you'll definitely see the side by side racing that the fans are expecting."

"We're happy to have Dale drop by today to see the changes we've made," said speedway general manager Eddie Gossage. "We?ve hopefully seen the last of the seepage, and we believe we now have a speedway that will be to the driver?s liking."

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