How North Wilkesboro Speedway got NASCAR back: It does feel a bit surreal

June 30, 2024

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — It is rainy and cold on this spring day as Speedway Motorsports CEO and president Marcus Smith walks around North Wilkesboro Speedway giving a tour of the substantial renovation project ongoing at the venerable short track that he owns, located in the foothills of the mountain range that lines North Carolina’s western region.

As Smith walks and talks, the massive undertaking is apparent everywhere as he navigates around ladders, paint buckets, hydraulic lifts, lumber, empty boxes and old cabinets throughout the facility where work is feverishly ongoing in preparation for NASCAR’s much-anticipated return to the track after a 27‐year absence when it hosts the All-Star Race on May 21. Dilapidated suites have been gutted of shag carpeting and wood paneling and refurbished to modern standards. Plumbing, drainage and sewers have been updated. So too have restrooms and concession stands. New lighting and electrical systems installed. On the racing surface, SAFER barriers were added around the outside track walls. And there are new features built as well, like a speakeasy tucked away behind the frontstretch grandstand.

The idea, Smith explains, is to “maintain the character of North Wilkesboro without it looking too new.” He is proud of how far North Wilkesboro has come since announcing last September that NASCAR was returning. And he’s excited that, improbably, NASCAR is reconnecting with a part of its past that felt long gone.

“It does feel a bit surreal,” Smith said. “I cannot wait. I’m so excited for it to get here. I’m going to enjoy every day kind of leading into it because it’s so fun to see the progress we’re making here at the track with all the construction. It’s fun to see all the excitement that people have and all the things to come.”

Not too long ago, the track’s future was bleak. In December 2019, Smith was part of a group that included Dale Earnhardt Jr. and spent a day at North Wilkesboro pulling weeds and performing other outdoor projects in an attempt to spruce up the track enough that iRacing could accurately scan the 0.625-mile oval and recreate it virtually for sim racing.

On that day, the notion that North Wilkesboro, which first opened its doors in 1947, could ever again host a Cup Series race was not simply far-fetched, it was outlandish. The facility was in decay — a garage bay had partially collapsed, as had a suite outside Turn 4. And some sections of the grandstands were dangerous to walk in for fear it would buckle and open up as you stepped.

After years of being on life support and despite multiple attempts to revive it, North Wilkesboro was very close to nearing its end. Knowing this, Earnhardt and company were here to help preserve it so that future generations of fans could appreciate it — albeit virtually.

Then, a few months later, the global pandemic put the wheels in motion for the once unthinkable to become a reality.

As a way to stimulate the economy following the pandemic shutdown, the federal government passed the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021. From this, $18 million was allocated by North Carolina governor Roy Cooper toward infrastructural improvements at North Wilkesboro; another $4 million was acquired via state grants.

And just like that, the idea of North Wilkesboro hosting a race of some kind began to take hold. On Aug. 2, 2022, the dream became a reality with various grassroots racing series competing before a crowd estimated at 9,000 people.

“It was just magical,” Smith said.

North Wilkesboro’s extensive renovations include completely rebuilt grandstands and NASCAR-ready SAFER barriers along the track. (Courtesy of Speedway Motorsports)

Standing on the rooftop atop the media center that doubles as North Wilkesboro’s victory lane, Smith watched part of that night’s action. This is when he began envisioning something even bigger.

The initial plan was for North Wilkesboro, after renovations, to hold grassroots-level races, maybe even a NASCAR Truck Series race. Its event calendar would be filled out with concerts, car shows and other community happenings.

But a Cup Series race here for the first time since 1996? That was not then being considered, Smith said. Several months later, standing underneath a remodeled suite on the concourse along the frontstretch, he points to the exact spot he was when his thinking changed.

“I was looking at all the people and watching the racing, and I thought maybe we could do more here,” he said. “That was really when I started thinking about the next iteration of North Wilkesboro Speedway. I never really thought that the All-Star Race would be possible, frankly, until I saw the people here and the excitement. And it’s for all those reasons I thought we could actually kind of make the impossible happen here at North Wilkesboro.”

Not too long after, Smith called Lesa France Kennedy, executive vice chair of NASCAR, pitching his idea. France Kennedy was receptive, Smith said. So too were other NASCAR decision-makers. They liked the concept of NASCAR returning to a track with such rich history amid a 2023 season in which NASCAR would celebrate its 75th anniversary.

The timing felt right for all involved, especially if Smith committed to improving the facility to a significant degree. This feeling was reinforced later in August, when the regional CARS Tour Series, which included Earnhardt in the field, raced at North Wilkesboro before a zealous crowd whose energy transformed the race into something special. Earnhardt described the feeling of that night as a “surreal moment” he couldn’t believe was actually happening.

“It was important for us for our 75th to look at what’s possible (as a venue to host the All-Star Race),” NASCAR COO Steve O’Donnell said. “So a number of discussions came up on what short tracks can be available, and North Wilkesboro was talked about, maybe in the future we could go. But after the CARS Tour race that accelerated the conversations, we really thought this was possible.”

A few weeks after the CARS Tour race, Earnhardt and O’Donnell joined Smith in Raleigh, N.C., for a press conference with the governor to announce that North Wilkesboro would host the 2023 All-Star Race. After decades of being gone, NASCAR was, indeed, returning.

As word began to trickle out with the news, friends of Terri Parsons didn’t tell her North Wilkesboro was back on the NASCAR calendar. They only told her she needed to watch the press conference. NASCAR returning to North Wilkesboro was deeply personal to her.

The track had been beloved by her late husband, Benny Parsons, a native of Wilkes County and former Cup champion who upon retirement became a hugely popular television analyst. And when NASCAR left North Wilkesboro after the 1996 season, Benny became a strong advocate that the track, akin to a mom-and-pop business amid a NASCAR boom where new big-money speedways were being added, shouldn’t be completely discarded.

Benny died in 2007 after battling cancer, and Terri picked up the advocacy for North Wilkesboro. She began working with Wilkes County on formulating a plan in addition to initiating conversations with Smith and his father, Bruton, who purchased half the track in the mid-1990s and later became the sole owner.

So, taking the advice of her friends, Terri Parsons made it a point to watch the press conference despite having a doctor’s appointment that conflicted.

“When they unveiled it all, I thought I was going to fall on the floor,” Parsons said. “In fact, when they went to take my blood pressure they asked, ‘Why is your blood pressure so high?’ I was like, ‘Oh my God, North Wilkesboro got the All-Star Race.’ And of course, none of them were race fans so they didn’t know what I was talking about. It was really quite funny.”

Parsons’ reaction wasn’t unusual among those who have a special connection to North Wilkesboro. Earnhardt, whose role in North Wilkesboro’s resurgence is instrumental, was informed of the news in a phone call from Marcus Smith.

“I was shocked,” Earnhardt said. “I thought he was going to tell me we were going to have a Truck Series race or about some new key that was going to unlock a lock there that would be good for its future because I never thought Cup would ever, ever go back. That was never the idea.

“It wasn’t like there was a little momentum or we were feeling this might happen. He just called me one day and was like, ‘Guess what?’ And I was like, ‘Are you kidding me? This is crazy.’ But it’s perfect.”

Shag carpeting, wood paneling and even old, torn-up couches were hauled out of North Wilkesboro Speedway to bring it up to modern standards. (Jordan Bianchi / The Athletic)

Like so many diehard NASCAR fans, Steve Wilson was left dismayed that North Wilkesboro had been abandoned. Wanting to do something to aid the cause, the native of Richmond, Va., co-founded Save the Speedway, a group consisting of like-minded fans. They too worked and cajoled to find a possible place for North Wilkesboro in modern-day NASCAR.

“Surreal in a lot of ways, vindication in others after so many years of being told that it can’t happen, it won’t happen, find something else to do, you’re wasting your time,” Wilson said of hearing the news. “Dedication that after years of effort to push the goalposts, the support that the community had to make it happen was rewarded.”

Rarely do racetracks go dormant, teetering on complete despair only to find a way back to modern-day relevance. North Wilkesboro is the exception.

It remains to be seen what role North Wilkesboro will have in NASCAR beyond the All-Star Race. All parties involved speak optimistically about the track’s future going forward, though none will definitively state what will happen next.

“Never rule something out,” O’Donnell said. “We’ve always tried that when we go somewhere, not just go once and leave. So I think based on ticket sales, based on the excitement — hopefully we put on a really good race — it’s something to take a look at to see how do we include this going forward? There’s a lot of interest in the sport right now in terms of racing (in new markets), but we want to embrace our roots as well.”

The telltale sign that this is likely not a one-time occurrence is how much Speedway Motorsports has invested financially into renovating the facility. (Speedway Motorsports has not disclosed its exact financial commitment.) Such investment would likely mean a return next year, and perhaps beyond. Another short track on the Cup schedule, especially one with so much history that’s popular among fans, checks a lot of boxes.

Maybe that’s the All-Star Race, maybe it’s an actual points race. Whatever form it is, North Wilkesboro is back and isn’t likely to be going anywhere anytime soon.

“This is a venue that is really, really special,” Smith said. “I’m really excited about hosting future races, and I don’t know if that’s (grassroots series) or NASCAR, or you name it. We’re fielding calls (weekly) from people who want to host special events here in the future. So that’s pretty cool. It’s a good time.”

GO DEEPER

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and 'forgotten' North Wilkesboro put on a night to remember

(Top photo of a 1996 race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, the last year in which it hosted the NASCAR Cup Series: ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images)

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