Residents cling to hope of Rockingham revival

It was the perfect antidote to the sound and the fury and the glitz, a back-roads drive through quiet places like Cheraw and Bennettsville and Hamlet into the heart of the cold, piney woods. The NASCAR season may have officially opened amid the brazen spectacle of Daytona, but it was Rockingham where it always truly began.

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At least it did for 39 years, until its lone remaining Nextel Cup date was moved to Texas to help settle a lawsuit brought against NASCAR. The last race at North Carolina Speedway was three years ago this weekend, when Matt Kenseth nipped then-rookie Kasey Kahne at the line. The product on the racetrack was overshadowed by poor attendance, worse weather, and a rural location which just didn't fit the sport's big-city push.

But there was just something that felt right about leaving those condo towers and motorcycle dealerships behind, and winding up into the North Carolina Sandhills where racing seemed more at home. This was the domain of the die-hards, people who camped out despite conditions that were often frigid and wet, drivers who held on despite tires worn down to the cords. Rockingham was never for the meek.

The big show is out in Fontana, Calif., this weekend, trying to capture a piece of a Los Angeles market its sponsors and television partners crave. But people in NASCAR are such creatures of habit, it's natural for some minds to wander to that little paper-clip shaped track sitting dark off U.S. Highway 1.

"I just figured it was me, because for 12 years we were gearing up for our race, the first race of our season," said Chris Browning, the former general manager at North Carolina Speedway, and now the president of Darlington Raceway. "But I was in Daytona last week, and a lot of folks brought up Rockingham when I was walking through the garage and stuff. So I'm probably not the only one."

The place isn't sitting idle. Speedway Motorsports Inc., the Charlotte-based racetrack conglomerate that purchased Rockingham as part of the lawsuit settlement, still maintains the facility and keeps a superintendent on site. NASCAR teams test there in preparation for races at Darlington, which is similar in tire wear. Racing schools conduct courses there. Parts of movies -- including Will Ferrell's Talladega Nights -- are filmed there.

But those things don't make up for the sting of losing the Cup races, which gave the place an identity. Sure, many visitors wound up staying or eating in the nearby golf Mecca of Southern Pines. But the name belonged to Rockingham. (Continued)