Not everyone is great with babies, and Texas Motor Speedway was a problem child when it was added to the NASCAR schedule in 1997.

The racetrack was a little cranky in Turn 4 for the first couple races, and in 1998 everyone learned that Turn 1 still wasn’t potty trained.

NASCAR told then-general manager Eddie Gossage to get the track straightened up or NASCAR would ship out. And, much to drivers’ delight, that’s what happened.

This week, as TMS embarks on its “10 Years Strong” celebration, drivers say the Fort Worth racetrack has evolved from one they didn’t want to see on the schedule to one they look forward to racing on.

“I don’t think you can describe how much better everything has gotten at Texas,” said Kyle Petty, who has attempted to qualify for all 10 Nextel Cup races at TMS. “I think Eddie and those guys, the first couple of years with some of the issues they had with the track, with those guys totally revamping the racetrack, it took a lot of courage.”

The Samsung/Radio Shack 500 Sunday highlights RaceWeek 2006, which includes a Crown Royal IROC Series race Friday and the O’Reilly 300 Busch Series race Saturday.

Texas Motor Speedway has played host to NASCAR races for 10 seasons.

The racing has improved, Mark Martin said. His teammate, Greg Biffle, ran away last April for a dominating victory, but more side-by-side racing has developed as the 1.5-mile quad-oval has aged.

“It wasn’t very good to start with, and they stepped up to the plate and made it great,” said Martin, who has one Cup victory and three Busch wins at TMS. “It certainly is a place that the drivers love to go race at and the fans love to go watch.”

TMS will host NASCAR Nation again in November, the track’s second year with two Busch and Cup dates. Situated in the nation’s seventh-largest media market, TMS is a sponsor’s delight.

Its place in the Chase for the Championship has given it elite status.

“It has improved every year, and now it has become one of the highlights of the season,” said Jimmie Johnson, who has five top-10 finishes in five starts at TMS. “Not only did it get a second race, but a race in the Chase for the Championship has made Texas even more important to everyone in our sport.”

Petty said TMS could probably use three of four races a year because of the passionate fan base that is among the best in NASCAR.

“It’s one of the few places we go still to this day that people in Fort Worth and the people in the surrounding area ask you, ‘How do you like our track?'” he said. “They don’t say, ‘How do you like Texas?’ Those people consider it their racetrack, and they totally embrace that racetrack in their community.”

Petty said TMS, entering its 10th season, is all grown up.

“In a lot of ways it’s just like wine. It’s aged very, very well,” Petty said. “I just think everything about the place has gotten better.”