The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
NASCAR returns to once-abandoned North Wilkesboro track for All-star race
When Dale Earnhardt Jr. entered the gates of North Wilkesboro Speedway on a cold December day in 2019, he took one look around the dilapidated track and thought it would never host another NASCAR race.
Weeds were growing up through cracks in the track’s asphalt surface.
The grandstands were rusted out and falling apart. Scraps of metal, wood and plastic fencing were scattered about, and the weather-tattered press box in the infield had paint chips falling off. There was no plumbing, no electricity.
North Wilkesboro Speedway had proudly hosted two Cup Series races per year and was the site of 15 Richard Petty victories before it was abandoned 27 years ago as NASCAR transitioned to bigger markets. It was essentially a ghost town.
“I’m looking around and thinking, ‘this track is too far gone,’” Earnhardt said.
Not that racing at North Wilkesboro was on Earnhardt’s mind at the time.
He arrived that day with a crew of 21 to help clean up the track’s surface and preserve it forever for iracing’s digital platform. That meant cleaning the overgrown track thoroughly enough to have it “mapped” through laser scanning.
Less than four years later, North Wilkesboro Speedway is hosting the NASCAR All-star race.
The story of the dramatic restoration of one of racing’s oldest tracks began on a flight from Charlotte to Las Vegas in September 2019.
Marcus Smith, the CEO of track owner Speedway Motorsports, had agreed to fly Earnhardt out West after the Hall of Fame driver’s airplane crashlanded at Elizabethtown Municipal Airport in Tennessee a month earlier, leaving him without transportation. On the flight, the two men began discussing NASCAR’S future, and Earnhardt, a racing historian, asked Smith if he would give him permission to preserve the 0.6mile oval track for future generations. Smith agreed.
It didn’t take long for North Wilkesboro to become the most popular track on the iracing platform, and fans began talking about the need for live racing to return there after more than a quarter of a century.
“There was a tsunami of support. It grew and grew, and as it continued, I was like, people don’t get it,” Smith said. “They don’t get it. They didn’t really understood how far dilapidated the track was beyond repair.”
Smith thought the push would fade, but it didn’t. Finally, he agreed to host the CARS Tour race last August at North Wilkesboro dubbed the “Racetrack Revival.” That night, combined with an $18 million allocation from a federally backed economic revival program, persuaded Smith to begin pursuing a Cup Series race at North Wilkesboro.
A few months later, North Wilkesboro Speedway was chosen to host the Allstar race for NASCAR’S celebratory 75th anniversary season, and restoration on the track shifted into full gear.