It’s a rite of Spring for the Texas Auto Writers Association.
After all, in the Fall, we bounce 4-wheel-drive vehicles through the Texas Hill Country.
And in the Spring, a young auto writer’s fancy turns to  cars…and speed.
The Auto Writers invited all manufacturers to send their fastest, meanest, best handling cars to the Texas Motor Speedway north of Fort Worth.
And the writers spent the day wringing them out on the twisty infield race course.
All they asked of us is…wear a helmet and try not to bend the sheet metal.
We drove some dream cars like the jaguar XKR, which is about as potent an automotive sex symbol as you’ll find.
Then came the Corvettes, Mustangs…
And Fiat brought a more butch version of the cute little 500, the Abarth.
But the convertible 500 in mild form is still a lovely way to spend an afternoon.
Dodge was there with it’s new Alfa Romeo-based Dodge Dart.
But to stir your blood, there is no substitute for cubic inches.
Meanwhile the factory reps did their best to keep us all on message..,.even if it was just to demonstrate the latest electronics from Toyota.
It was a busy day, jumping from one car to the other, grabbing a helmet, hitting the track, and in the end, tallying up the votes for our favorites.
When the dust settled, the Nissan GTR Black Edition was named Car of Texas and Supercar of Texas, just beating out the Cadillac CTS-V and Jaguar XKR.
Sprinkled throughout the categories were wins for Buick, Jeep, Chrysler with their new Dart, Ford and Subaru.
The Chevy Volt was named Green Car of Texas and the Chrysler town & Country Minivan was Family Car of Texas.
I confess I didn’t drive them. Why? If you had free track time at Texas Motor Speedway, would the words electric car or minivan even enter your mind?
I thought not.