HARRISBURG, N.C. — In this era of instant news and social media, Scott Cooper and his communications team at Speedway Motorsports used old-school PR to turn a sinkhole into ticket sales for the May 19 NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Was the large cavity discovered under the track’s main grandstand a sinkhole, or was it confirmation of an urban legend concerning a long-lost moonshine cave?
A track press release only speculated, but media members from across the country pounced on the moonshine aspect and ran with it.
“Once our operations guys found the initial hole, we knocked it open to find there was an even bigger hole, approximately 700 square feet, a huge cavity,” said Steve Swift, senior vice president of operations and development for Speedway Motorsports, which owns the historic race track. “You could park a Chevrolet pickup truck in the hole, and it was right under the turn one grandstands.”
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