The sport’s newest purpose-built racing venue has risen up out of the Chihuahuan desert near San Angelo, Texas seemingly overnight — its three partners determined to enact positive change in the racing culture in the area.

The new 85-acre Concho Valley Dragway is set to provide a dedicated space for motorsport enthusiasts and addressing the rising safety concerns around street racing in the area. The 1/8-mile concrete drag strip is the brainchild of local partners Justin Harvey, Terrence Harrison, and his stepbrother Jared Winger.

“We’ve been working tirelessly to bring this project to life,” said Winger. “We went from bare dirt to a nearly complete track in less than a month, and we’re incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished.”

The Concho Valley Dragway features a 2,400-foot-long, 40-foot-wide all-concrete track, equipped with safety walls extending to the shutdown area. “Safety is a top priority for us,” Winger emphasized. “We’re building everything to meet the specifications required by the sanctioning bodies.”

San Angelo, located in West Texas, between Midland, Dallas, and San Antonio, has seen a surge in street racing activity. Winger, a past street racer himself, explained the motivation behind the project. “The street racing scene here has gotten out of control. There’s people going low fives on the street, and I was personally one of them, and it’s really dangerous. We were all sitting around at a bar one day and said why don’t we put in a little private road and we can have races out here. One thing led to another and we ended up building an entire racetrack,” Winger says with a laugh. “It went from a private asphalt road to a whole concrete drag strip. We needed a safe, controlled environment for racing, so we decided to build this track.”

The trio of partners broke ground this spring and within four weeks had the entire concrete strip poured and asphalt return road, pit area, and staging lanes in place.

Despite some resistance from a nearby neighborhood who attempted to shut the dragway down before it even got off the ground, the response from the broader community has been overwhelmingly positive. “We’ve run a couple of cash days races out here, and I’m not sure the neighbors even knew we were racing,” Winger says. “We’ve had tremendous support from local businesses and residents. The whole town has supported us from the get-go. We’ve secured over half a million dollars in sponsorships from companies in San Angelo.”

The dragway isn’t just about racing; it aims to be a comprehensive entertainment venue. “We’re also building a stage and an amphitheater for concerts,” Winger revealed. “Our friend Cody Baker, who’s also a drag racer, used to organize Crude Fest in Midland Odessa, and he moved down here and is helping us with that.”

The facility, two miles west of the San Angelo city limits, is set to host a variety of events, from traditional bracket races to heads-up competitions. Winger says the trio has already facilitated meetings with representatives from the NHRA and IHRA to bring sanctioned competition to the facility. While their focus will be no-prep and other heads-up racing events — radial-tire racing, funny cars, and so on, that they say bring in the spectator crowds — they intend to contest bracket racing events for those looking for a place to race in the region, noting “we want to take care of the bracket racers, because that’s where we started.”

In its initial phase, the dragway will have a soft opening on June 27, with a grand opening event featuring renowned street-racing racemaster, Limpy, on July 6. “We’re planning a small tire, ‘run what you brung,’ and real street class race for that day,” Winger shared.

A state-of-the-art timing system from AccuTime will begin to be installed later this week, and the timing tower and concession stand will likewise be done by week’s end, as will all of the wiring and electric service to the facility. The partners also plan to construct grandstands with six suites for an enhanced spectator experience. “We’re committed to making this a top-notch facility,” Winger asserted. “We’ve already invested $1.3 million, and we’re not stopping here.” Lighting is on the slate to be installed in the coming days, as well, allowing Winger and company to contest events in the evening when the heat ramps up in the mid-summer months. “With the extreme Texas heat, racing under the lights will be a much more comfortable experience for both racers and spectators. Most of our races will be under the lights.”

The Concho Valley team has already seen the potential for the facility before its soft-open was even held. “We had a race that was supposed to be on the street, and we got together and decided to surprise everybody and hold  it at the track. And we didn’t tell them until we met up at the meeting spot. Once all the cars showed up, we had probably 20 or 30 spectators at first, and once they found out it was at the track, it turned into 400-plus spectators in less than an hour,” Winger says with a laugh.

The Concho Valley Dragway is poised to become a hub for motorsports in West Texas, offering a safe alternative to street racing and a new destination for racers and fans in the San Angelo region. “There’s not much to do in town, and we know there are a lot of gearheads around here,” Winger concluded. “We’re thrilled to bring this venue to our community.”