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West Texas Track Joins IHRA, Rebuilds Tower
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The Penwell Knights Dragway at Caprock Motorplex in Penwell, Texas has entered into a multi-year sanctioning agreement with the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA), the drag racing sanctioning body announced. The quarter-mile track, which has hosted IHRA Division team finals competitions, was an IHRA track for many years but was last sanctioned by the IHRA in 2015.
In May 2016, an electrical malfunction caused a serious fire that burned down the track’s scoring tower and other elements of the dragstrip. Despite having no tower, no lights and no tree, the track hosted two no-prep races in 2016 and raised enough money to purchase new timing and scoring equipment. Later, tower construction began, and today, the track boasts a new tower that sits above three hospitality suites at the starting line.
Originally established as Penwell Raceway in 1966, the track was reestablished as Caprock Motorplex in 2012. Penwell Knights Dragway is now one of the premier drag strips in West Texas. The 2017 racing season opened March 4 and runs through Nov. 18 with competition including both heads-up racing and bracket racing.
“The reason we chose to go with IHRA is because we are in a whole new world now, and we needed the IHRA structure,” track co-owner Barbara Hughes said. “After our tower burned down, we started over. Now our new tower and suites along with all our new equipment make our track pretty much state-of-the-art. We wanted to be with the big boys rather than just be an outlaw track. I liked the structure and the competition being an IHRA track gives us. It just seemed like the best way to go for our race track.”
“We are very happy to welcome Penwell Knights Dragway back into the IHRA family of tracks,” IHRA division director Frank Kohutek said. “They had a tough situation with the fire last year, but now that they’ve rebuilt everything, they have a great facility in the west Texas region. They have a strong group of drivers in that area, and we look forward to seeing some great racing there for many years to come.”
In May 2016, an electrical malfunction caused a serious fire that burned down the track’s scoring tower and other elements of the dragstrip. Despite having no tower, no lights and no tree, the track hosted two no-prep races in 2016 and raised enough money to purchase new timing and scoring equipment. Later, tower construction began, and today, the track boasts a new tower that sits above three hospitality suites at the starting line.
Originally established as Penwell Raceway in 1966, the track was reestablished as Caprock Motorplex in 2012. Penwell Knights Dragway is now one of the premier drag strips in West Texas. The 2017 racing season opened March 4 and runs through Nov. 18 with competition including both heads-up racing and bracket racing.
“The reason we chose to go with IHRA is because we are in a whole new world now, and we needed the IHRA structure,” track co-owner Barbara Hughes said. “After our tower burned down, we started over. Now our new tower and suites along with all our new equipment make our track pretty much state-of-the-art. We wanted to be with the big boys rather than just be an outlaw track. I liked the structure and the competition being an IHRA track gives us. It just seemed like the best way to go for our race track.”
“We are very happy to welcome Penwell Knights Dragway back into the IHRA family of tracks,” IHRA division director Frank Kohutek said. “They had a tough situation with the fire last year, but now that they’ve rebuilt everything, they have a great facility in the west Texas region. They have a strong group of drivers in that area, and we look forward to seeing some great racing there for many years to come.”
