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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

Long-awaited Wicked movie adaptation lives up to the hype

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-Butera in Wicked

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-Butera in Wicked.

The musical Wicked is indisputably the biggest Broadway smash of the 21st century, having grossed more $1.6 billion in New York alone and achieving the rare feat of running for over 20 years. All of which is to say that the long-awaited movie adaptation of The Wizard of Oz prequel will most likely be a massive success whether it lives up to what longtime fans envisioned or not.

Part one — yes, this 2 hour and 40 minute film is merely the first act of the musical; part two arrives a year from now — introduces Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the green-skinned witch who goes on to become Dorothy’s nemesis, and G(a)linda (Ariana Grande-Butera), the pink-garbed “good” witch, as they meet at Shiz University in Oz. Glinda is the ultra-popular one with sycophantic hangers-on, while Elphaba is shunned by almost everyone, sometimes including her disabled sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode), who’s desperate to make her own space away from Elphaba.

Her mistreatment by others leads Elphaba to get angry, which manifests itself in uncontrollable magic. Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) notices this and takes a personal interest in her, giving her one-on-one instruction in hopes of harnessing her power. In the meantime, Elphaba and Glinda attempt to go from forced roommates to actual friends, although Glinda’s entitled personality is more of an obstacle than anything else they encounter.

Directed by Jon M. Chu and written by original book writer Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, the film does a great job of distinguishing itself from the stage version while still remaining true to what made it so beloved. As Chu showed in his last film, In the Heights, he has an innate feel for how to tap into the essence of the source material while expanding it into something befitting the scope of a blockbuster movie.

In this case, he finds a way to give even greater emphasis to the bigotry that Elphaba faces simply because of her green skin; the fact that she is being played by a Black woman drives home the point even more. The story remains light and fluffy for the most part, but the ostracization/otherness that Elphaba feels is delivered in a powerful way, as is her empathy for talking animals like Dr. Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage), who are facing their own persecution.

Of course, the highlight of the film is Stephen Schwartz’s music, and while not all of the songs are equal in impact, they still make for a cohesive whole. The number of songs and order they appear in the first act is identical to the stage musical, with the standouts remaining “The Wizard and I,” “Popular,” and “Defying Gravity.” While there is some superfluous action and cutaways added to certain numbers, it’s not enough to distract from what makes the songs effective.

Oddly, the progression of the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda works better on stage when the timeline is accelerated, but Erivo and Grande-Butera make up for this slight lack with their fantastic performances. The emotion each brings to their characters fits them almost perfectly, and there’s simply no denying the strength of each of their voices. Bode, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, and more make for a solid supporting cast.

The well-known ending of the first act of Wicked is a huge high point that is so good that it almost makes up for the fact that audiences won’t see the second film for a long time. But if part one is any indication, part two should turn out to be another great musical theater adaptation in a decade that has already seen its fair share.

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Wicked opens in theaters on November 22.

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