CONCORD, N.C. — The revival of North Wilkesboro Speedway is well under way.
The revitalization of the .625-mile oval in Wilkes County was a Sisyphean task. The facility had fallen into some disrepair after losing its NASCAR Cup Series events prior to the 1997 season, but a core group spearheaded by Speedway Motorsports officials has given the five-eighths-mile track a new life.
On Aug. 31, the Race Track Revival effort culminated in a 125-lap CARS Racing Tour Late Model Stock Car event — and the result was 20,000 fans, a solid race and an appearance by one of the driving forces behind the revitalization.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. started sixth and finished third in the event, carrying a Sun Drop paint scheme on a No. 3 JR Motorsports late model that harkened back to one of his cars from the 1990s, but his participation in the revival was far deeper than that.
An avid iRacing fan, Earnhardt Jr. and his Dirty Mo Media group went up to the track a few years ago to help clear it of brush and debris. The object was to help iRacing scan the track into its racing simulators for use on the platform, and it made a huge difference in starting this particular firestorm of public opinion.
Earnhardt Jr.’s drive to compete in the late model stock car event gave the spark to what turned out to be a very eventful night at NWS. The announcement that he would be racing in the event created a massive buzz, and when race night came, it was evident.
More than 20,000 fans showed up, many of them wearing Sun Drop T-shirts.
You read that right.
The roads leading to the speedway were jammed full of fans hours before the event began. An autograph session by the CARS Tour drivers featured lines from turn four nearly to turn one, and the start was delayed because there were still so many fans trying to get in.
Earnhardt Jr. started sixth in the 125-lap main and finished third, behind his JR Motorsports driver Carson Kvapil, who won the race going away despite a late restart that closed the running order.
Earnhardt’s first time racing a late model in several years turned out to be a good one, as the third-generation driver overcame right-rear damage and a loose race car to fbank the show money. In the closing laps, he was as fast as any car on the track — with the exception of Kvapil’s iRacing Chevrolet.
To experience such a momentous occasion was gratifying. That 20,000-plus fans showed up for the event — the stands were packed and the pit area overflowing — was amazing in its own right. The enthusiasm level was through the roof. Proof of this came prior to the start of the race.
The crowd, already huge, began to do “the wave” from turn two to turn four. When that petered out, all 20,000 began chanting to let the racing begin.
It did, soon after that.
The grassroots nature of this revitalization is what will save tracks with histories like North Wilkesboro. There are many around the country, and all they need is some passion, some thoughtful planning and some support.
Speedway Motorsports had all that and the result was a great experience. Unique tracks such as North Wilkesboro are not all that common anywhere, and more and more speedways are facing encroaching development concerns, financial difficulties and the like.
Saving North Wilkesboro was a giant effort that paid off well. That means, in most cases, it can be replicated all over the country, with some thought and the right ideas.
The future can be told by no one, but giving it a kick in the direction you want it to go is how things get done.
That was the case on the last day of August in North Carolina — and it can be the case in the future all over the country.