NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — Between the big turnout in the grandstands and the general energy that flowed through the industry this weekend — so much about NASCAR’s long-awaited return to North Wilkesboro Speedway felt like a success.
Now a new question has come into focus.
What is the future of the racetrack?
The speedway that was revived after laying in abandonment for the better part of 27 years was littered in kudzu vines and dirt and crumbling wood less than a year ago. But thanks to millions of dollars in pandemic-relief funding and the cultural power of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the opportunity Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith saw, that same speedway renovated into one of the most high-tech racetracks in the sport.
Racetrack officials told reporters in the months leading up to the construction that the speedway was meant for more than just Sunday’s All-Star Race.
That sentiment was echoed after Sunday’s event.
When asked if there is a place for North Wilkesboro on the SMI schedule of NASCAR events next season, Smith left the proverbial door open.
“It’s a question that’s on my mind, as well,” Smith said. “I think that when you see a successful week of events like we’ve had here, it’s natural to think, ‘Boy, maybe we could come back here.’ I’m definitely thinking that way, that it’s got a lot of potential.
“I’ve never been to a NASCAR week where everybody was in such a good mood and everything was just going so well. It’s definitely something that we’re thinking about.”
Smith added that his company has just started working on next year’s schedule with NASCAR, so decisions don’t have to be made immediately.
“Not speaking to next year specifically, I do think that there’s definitely a place in the NASCAR world for North Wilkesboro Speedway, and whether it’s a special event like All-Star, maybe one day it’s a points event, I don’t know,” Smith said. “I think it’s a very important place for short track racing, the late model races, the modifieds, you name it. It’s a special place. It’s like walking into a museum that’s active and living and very special for the competitors and the fans alike.”
There were a few fan concerns coming into Sunday’s race. Most prominent among them involved the parking and traffic and general infrastructure of the rural northwestern North Carolina community that surrounded the track.
Many of those were quelled Sunday. Case in point: An SMI spokesperson said that all parking lots run by the racetrack were cleared an hour and 42 minutes after the end of the race.
One concern that still remains in the air, however, was the track itself.
The asphalt with epoxy resin patches dotted throughout hadn’t been repaved since 1981. That meant it was super slick — a function that excited many drivers before the race and frustrated them during it.
Does North Wilkesboro Speedway need to undergo a repave if it wants to continue racing in big events like Sunday?
“It depends on who you ask,” Smith said with a laugh. “I talked with Darrell Waltrip earlier before the race, and he said, you’ve got to repave this thing. I talked with the King, and he said, let them race on this old pavement.
“There are a lot of different ways to think about it. What I think is that our team has done an amazing job at preserving the track, keeping it together. They’ve learned some new things on the surface and kind of managing it, keeping it together and creating a really varied surface that I think challenges the teams.”
He added: “It’ll be interesting to see how it weathers, and when it needs to be repaved, we’ll repave it. I think I would lean towards not repaving until we absolutely have to.”
Smith added that his goal in the next repave would be to present a track where the asphalt surface is not like a parking lot surface but something that comes “out of the box racing really well.”
Many drivers said they’d support returning to the track. Kyle Larson, Sunday’s victor, said so. Bubba Wallace, who finished second, said he’d fully support running 400 laps there.
“I think we all kind of feel that,” Smith said. “This is a special place and a special event, and it’s because of this rebirth opportunity. It’s never happened before that you’ve taken a sporting venue and left it for dead and it’s been revived. It’s a true Lazarus story.
“I intersected with a number of those fans that had a similar story, and for everybody I would say, this place is going to have racing on the calendar in the very near future.”
