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Your daily guide to Texas Motorplex's pulse-pounding Stampede of Speed

Rev your engines for more than a week of heart-racing action at the 37th annual NHRA Texas Fall Nationals, aka the Stampede of Speed.

Fans from across the country will descend on Texas Motorplex, just 35 minutes south of Dallas and Fort Worth, October 2-10.

"We will be hosting events for diehard motorsports fans, non-traditional motorsports fans, and people that have never even heard of the Texas Motorplex," says Andy Carter, Texas Motorplex general manager.

The Stampede of Speed event calendar features both ticketed and non-ticketed events leading up the NHRA Texas Fall Nationals. Here are some highlights:

Saturday, October 2: Night Lights
This celebration is a reminder of how precious special moments together are. Attendees send a decorated lantern into the sky to join thousands of others adorned with hopes, dreams, and messages.

Sunday, October 3: Stampede of Speed Beer, BBQ, and Dustin Lynch Concert
Hot 'cue and even hotter music is the theme of the day, as some of the best grillmasters show off their tasty delicacies paired with refreshing cold beer from DFW-area breweries. Dustin Lynch, Flatland Calvary, Wade Bowne, and Kyle Park will entertain the crowd from the afternoon into the evening, leading to the first of the week's many fireworks displays.

Monday, October 4: The Stampede of Speed Nitro Side Show
This ticketed event features some of the wildest race cars on the planet as they try to set speed records by roaring down the track. The pits will be open for fans to get up close and personal with some of the world's most exotic race cars.

A massive fireworks display caps off an eye-opening, pulse-pounding evening of racing.

Tuesday, October 5: Inaugural NHRA Texas Stampede of Speed Shootout
Competitors from across the region will race in the Stampede of Speed Shootout featuring Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, and Pro Mods. The top 16 sportsman and Top Dragsters will battle it out with a winner-take-all shootout to end the day. Pro Mods from every association including NHRA will face off in a first-ever, no-rules, anything-goes race to be the quickest at the Stampede.

Wednesday, October 6: NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Pro Invitational (9 am-6 pm)
Pub Crawl and Movie night with The Snake (6 pm-10 pm)
See these powerful race cars make test laps in advance of the NHRA Texas Fall Nationals. The stars of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series will be onsite preparing for the fourth race of the NHRA Countdown.

This first-ever-for-NHRA open schedule test session is a chance for curious motorsports fans to get a taste of the ground-pounding excitement that will play out Friday-Sunday.

Join the stars of the NHRA as they sample local brews and eateries in Waxahachie on a walking pub crawl followed by an exclusive showing of the film Snake & Mongoose, featuring drag racing legend Don "The Snake" Prudhomme hosting an in-person Q&A and autograph session.

Thursday, October 7: Texas Fall Nationals Sportsman Qualifying (9 am-6 pm)
Fan Fest in downtown Waxahachie (6 pm-9 pm)
The racing action continues at Texas Motorplex as the NHRA Texas Fall Nationals officially begins with sportsman qualifying action.

The wildly popular and free Fan Fest event highlights race cars, interactive games, live music, and family fun. A massive driver autograph session will be the highlight of the evening, which will conclude with a fireworks show.

Friday, October 8: Friday Night Live at Texas Motorplex
For the second year in a row, Friday Night Live is turning the traditional qualifying schedule on its head with music, exhibition runs, and a special guest DJ. It all will surround the Friday night NHRA pro qualifiers as they try to top their respective categories at speeds of over 330 mph in under four seconds.

The night ends with a free after-party on the starting line.

Saturday, October 9: Final Qualifying for NHRA Texas Fall Nationals
Teams will only have two chances to make the show or be relegated to spectator status, so tension will be high as teams vying to be one of the lucky 16. The annual DRAW auction accompanied by a concert will begin following the racing action.

Sunday, October 10: NHRA Texas Fall Nationals Race Day
Following a massive opening ceremony, the top drag racers from around the country will be racing to get one step closer to a world championship at the only playoff race in the state of Texas. Hundreds of thousands of dollars will be on the line, as well as the chance for racing immortality.

As always, the pits will be open for fans to mix and mingle with the racers throughout the day. At the conclusion of the event, fans are welcome to join the winner’s circle celebration on the starting line where the Stampede of Speed will finish with the largest fireworks display of the week.

Get your tickets and learn more here.

Enjoy more than a week of activities and events.

Stampede of Speed

Photo courtesy of Texas Motorplex

Enjoy more than a week of activities and events.

concerts races promoted

Movie Review

Andrew Garfield leads peasant rebellion in medieval film The Uprising

Andrew Garfield in The Uprising

Photo by Betina La Plante/Focus Features

Andrew Garfield in The Uprising.

Writer/director Paul Greengrass made his name with a cinéma vérité style of filmmaking that brought immediacy and depth to three Jason Bourne films, United 93, Captain Phillips, and more. In The Uprising, he uses those skills to tell the story of the so-called Peasants’ Revolt in 14th century England.

Greengrass wastes no time starting the main plot as Ploughman (Andrew Garfield) and his fellow villagers object to onerous taxes put on them by the country’s nobility, led by the young King Richard II (Woody Norman), to fund an ongoing war. Ploughman initiates a violent response over the tone-deaf — and unseemly — way the king’s guard go about their business, and the rebellion soon starts to spread across the countryside, with the citizens looking for a degree of autonomy.

The ever-expanding group makes their way toward London to try to make their case to the king himself. Meanwhile, the king’s top advisors, including Archbishop Sudbury (Stephen Dillane) and Treasurer Hales (Tom Hollander), try to usurp power from the inexperienced monarch even as the king’s mother (Katherine Waterston) tries to get him to be more assertive.

The history of the English monarchy is long and lurid, as Shakespeare detailed in multiple plays, including Richard II. Though the events in the film took place almost 650 years ago, it’s easy to see parallels between what the peasants were fighting for and modern-day politics. Greengrass’ storytelling intent is solid, and the righteous anger the citizens feel is initially relatable and palpable.

But the populism theme of the story soon gets bogged down in drudgery and minutiae that is difficult to understand, especially when the details are lost in the thick regional English accents. The leaders of the rebels — including John Ball (Jamie Bell), Wat Tyler (Cosmo Jarvis), and Alyce (Thomasin McKenzie) — are shown doing a lot of planning, but the strong feelings they have about their quest don’t come across well, leaving the audience as passive observers.

When there is action, Greengrass and his team employ a frenetic style that is not great for comprehension. While the gist of what is happening and what side is winning is legible, individual moments go by so quickly so as to be nearly meaningless. Save for Ploughman, any connection that has been made with various characters proves futile, as Greengrass doesn’t seem to have any time for emotion. Scenes that should feel thrilling or heartbreaking instead come off as empty.

Garfield is a two-time Oscar nominee who has done great work across multiple genres. He’s fine in this role, but whether it’s the story, the filmmaking, or something else, he’s not as captivating as usual. The same goes for other strong actors like Bell, McKenzie, Dillane, Hollander, and Waterston, who each seem to be giving their all to their performances but are somehow muted in the process.

Done right, The Uprising could have been a rip-roaring account of people standing up against their oppressors. What Greengrass has made, though, is a film that can’t translate its medieval story for a modern audience and concentrates too much on unexciting elements and too little on thrilling ones.

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The Uprising is now playing in theaters.

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