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With a week off from racing action in NASCAR’s top-three series, just thinking about the action this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway just has to get every fan excited. So for this Throwback Thursday, I’m taking a few moments to recall some milestones and memories throughout the history of the Lone Star track.

A track where the Sprint Cup Series started racing in 1997, Texas Motor Speedway has provided lots of excitement and has seen many personal milestones throughout the years. Owned by Speedway Motor Sports Inc, it is a company that owns many of the top tracks in the series, including Atlanta, Bristol, and Charlotte. In terms of configuration, this 1.5 mile oval is comparable to Charlotte or Atlanta.

At one time Texas Motor Speedway was one of, if not the fastest non-restrictor plate track on the Sprint Cup circuit. With corner entry speeds reaching 200 mph in the early to mid 2000s, Texas Motor Speedway was gaining a reputation as one of the most exciting tracks to watch racing.

Along with the fast speeds, there are many personal milestones and occurrences that have built Texas Motor Speedway/TMS into the thrilling experience that it is today.

1997 was the first time fans saw Sprint Cup Series action at TMS, including the first career victory for NASCAR star and now NBC commentator Jeff Burton. Burton then exploded on the Sprint Cup scene by winning 17 races during the next four years. He came back to win the 2007 Spring race at TMS becoming the first driver with a repeat victory at the track.

Another milestone was in the year 2000, with a first career victory of a kid from Kannapolis, North Carolina. Dale Earnhardt Jr also saw his first career win come at TMS. Many of us remember the famous scene of his father Dale Earnhardt Sr, filled with pride and hugging his son as he got out of his car. That image still lies in our memory today.

One more driver milestone that will live in our memories occurred just last year in 2014, when Chase Elliott won his first Xfinity Series race at TMS. A race that saw him pass Kyle Busch with just 16 laps to go, propelling Elliott into one of the most famed young drivers in the sport. He went on to win two more races last year at Darlington and Chicagoland and is now the driver to replace Jeff Gordon next season at Hendrick Motorsports.

In 2011, TMS ran its first race ‘under the lights’ on a Saturday night. Night racing in the Lone Star State has produced some great finishes and given fans a lot of action on and off the track.

Just last fall at TMS, fans saw a fight on pit-road between Sprint Cup Series drivers Jeff Gordon, and Brad Keselowski. This was a race that saw three-wide action on the last restart, with Keselowski driving through a limited size hole between Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Gordon cut a tire down as a result of some contact and parked his car next to Keselowski after the race. Then Kevin Harvick gave a push to Brad Keselowski into Jeff Gordon starting a pit road debacle.

Texas Motor Speedway has provided a lot of racing excitement and many awesome races to watch through the years. I expect nothing different in 2015 and I’m thrilled to see a night race in the seventh event of the season.

Take a look at a few other milestone leaders at Texas Motor Speedway

Texas Motor Speedway Records: 

Sprint Cup Series

*http://racing-reference.info/

Xfinity Series

 *http://racing-reference.info/

Texas Motor Speedway has provided a lot of racing excitement and many awesome races to watch through the years. I expect nothing different in 2015 and I’m thrilled to see a night race in the seventh event of the season.

This weekend should give fans more exciting racing action and outstanding finishes in both the Xfinity Series, O’Reilly Auto Parts 300, on FOX Sports 1 (200 laps, 300 miles) at 8:30 pm ET on Friday night, as well as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Saturday night with the Duck Commander 500 on FOX (334 laps, 501 miles) at 7:30 pm ET.