Sixty years of dirt track dreams at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway

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Drivers and their teams pull into the dusty pit at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway on a warm spring Friday evening.

In a couple hours they’ll be racing at blistering speeds around the quarter-mile banked clay oval for a chance to win and go on to Super Nationals.

The track just east of I-35 in Elm Mott celebrates its 60th anniversary this year as the longest running dirt track in Texas. Generations of its drivers have competed in local, state, and national championships.

Drivers and crew gather for the drivers meeting before Friday night’s race at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Elm Mott. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America

Friday night’s IMCA Sprint Car race commemorated the 10th anniversary of the death of Gene Adamcik, who devoted 32 years of his life developing it.

According to the Heart O’ Texas Speedway site, Adamcik began working there in the early ‘60s as a parking attendant and began racing a few years later. The track was on the brink when he and Richard Rogers began operating it in 1981. At the time it struggled to draw two dozen racers and 300 spectators on a typical night.

Teams line up in the pits to prep their cars before Friday night’s race at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Elm Mott. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America

By 1985, race nights were drawing an average of 85 cars and 2,500 spectators. Adamcik passed away in 2016 due to complications from diabetes, but his legacy can be felt rumbling through drivers and fans alike to this day.

Factory Stock drivers leave the track after their warm up laps before Friday night’s race. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America

By the time the first round of cars lined up for their practice rounds on Friday, 94 drivers, as young as 16, descended on the patch of clay in Elm Mott from all over the Heart of Texas.

For $20, fans get four hours of heart-pounding entertainment watching drivers as young as 16 clear the quarter-mile oval in under 15 seconds.

The winged sprint cars competing in Gene’s memorial race blast through the curves at speeds up to 95 mph, spraying clay and rubber through the air, and hitting 110 mph on the straights.

Outlaw Street Stock drivers line up before the first heat of the night at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway on Friday. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America

IMCA Stock Car drivers line up to race at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America

Chris Morris slides through turn two during the IMCA modified heat going on to place first during the feature race at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America

Chris Morris climbs out of his car after placing first in his heat at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Elm Mott on Friday. Morris went on to win the IMCA Modified class. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America

Friday’s grand prize went to Chris Morris, 31, of Taylor. Morris, who is paraplegic, operates his IMCA Modified class car using hand controls with unflinching precision while barreling through turns sideways, almost making it look easy.

Fans watch from the grandstands during Friday night’s race at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America

Lance Christie slides into turn one during the Sprint Car practice laps before Friday night’s race. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America

A family watch the IMCA Stock Car at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America

Fans watch Friday night’s race at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America

Junior Limited drivers head into turn two at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Elm Mott. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America

Emergency crews respond to an accident Friday after Chase Hall flips his car during the Junior Limited race at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway. It was the second flip of the season at the HOT Speedway. The announcer exclaimed “It’s the 60-year anniversary, hopefully we don’t get 60 flips this season.” Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America

Family and team members watch from the risers during Friday night’s race at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America

Paul White climbs out of his car after finishing second in the IMCA Stock Car race at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America

Team members and families work in the pits before the Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Elm Mott on Mar. 20, 2026. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America
Daniel Estes Jr. warms up his sprint car before Friday night’s race at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Elm Mott on Mar. 20, 2026. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America
Factory Stock drivers warm up before Friday night’s race at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Elm Mott on Mar. 20, 2026. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America
Factory Stock cars slide into turn one during the second race of the night at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Elm Mott on Mar. 20, 2026. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America
Factory Stock cars slide into turn one during the second race of the night at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Elm Mott on Mar. 20, 2026. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America
Outlaw Street Stock cars slide into turn one during the first race of the night at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Elm Mott on Mar. 20, 2026. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America
Kevin Smith comes into turn one during the Factory Stock practice laps before Friday night’s race at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Elm Mott on Mar. 20, 2026. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America
Nate Dixon slides through turn one during the Factory Stock practice laps before Friday night’s race at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Elm Mott on Mar. 20, 2026. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America
IMCA Stock Car drivers race at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Elm Mott on Mar. 20, 2026. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America
Drivers take off on the first lap of the IMCA Sprint Car race at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Elm Mott on Mar. 20, 2026. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America
Chris Morris leads the pack into turn one during the IMCA modified heat going on to place first during the feature race at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Elm Mott on Mar. 20, 2026. Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America