A popular Dallas County drag strip that was in danger of losing its permit was allowed to renew it after all.
Noise and disturbance complaints had increased in recent years at Yello Belly Drag Strip, located in an unincorporated area between Irving and Grand Prairie.
Loud music, cars and crowds at Yello Belly prompted complaints.
Neighbors and community members, including law enforcement, in September shared their concerns with commissioners, weeks before the race track's permit was expiring.
But last month, its operational permit was issued to the legacy family owners before it expired Oct. 3.
The area where the drag strip is located falls within Commissioner Elba Garcia's district.
She says it's been going well ever since.
"I'm very pleased that working together, Yello Belly has had no complaints since the new permit started," she said. "I want to thank all the community, all the elected officials, the chief of police and, of course, the owners of Yello Belly for their cooperation."
Former Irving City Manager Mark Zeske used to go there as a teen-ager.
He said in September that he loves it and was an auto-racing journalist for decades, but oversight has gotten lax.
"They're just too loud at the wrong times. And consequently, they really need to be held accountable."
Grand Prairie Police chief Daniel Scesney had said that officers recently responded to an active shooter call at the race strip.
"As you can imagine, that was a pretty large response," he said. "What it turned out to be was people just shooting at the back of the property. The owner felt that our response was excessive."
Yello Belly owners had not returned messages for comment, but have communicated with Garcia.
"Everybody loves the racetrack," she said. "Nobody complains about the race track. They complained about the loud noise after 10 o'clock on weekends. And that's logical. We just want to live together and have a good quality of life and that's what community is all about."
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