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.

"We're still extremely disappointed with the decision NASCAR made to move beyond its roots," said Gene McLaurin, Rockingham's mayor for the past 10 years. "I think this is the core fan base here in the South, and we think Rockingham could have been successful with a better date. Yet we understand the economics of the world of NASCAR, and what's happening."

It was a blow to more than Rockingham's stature. Deeply rooted in the South's textile belt, the town has faced struggles familiar to many other rural municipalities: factory closings, job losses and unemployment. Just this week a Hanes plant announced it was shutting down, taking 300 jobs with it. The NASCAR races were an economic engine that brought in visitors willing to spend money, and helped locals in the service industry get by.

"There's no doubt that, as a part of the rural South, we're struggling as most rural areas are to carve out economic growth for our citizens," McLaurin said. "But we're doing pretty well. This is a proud community."

And a persistent one. McLaurin recently led a contingent to Charlotte to meet with SMI president H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler about bringing races back to The Rock. He has a grand vision, of lights and a springtime Saturday night race like the one that helped save Darlington. The town is putting together a Web site, bringbacktherock.com, in an attempt to build grassroots support.

"We'd love to see it return," McLaurin said. "I don't mind saying that just in the last few weeks, we've visited with Humpy Wheeler, and we would love to see racing return to Rockingham. We think it would be a chance for NASCAR to maybe re-establish ties with that core base of fans that supported the sport and helped it to grow. We don't know if that's in our future or not. We are a proud part of NASCAR's history, and yet at some point we'd like to think we could see racing return to Rockingham."

It won't be easy. The 2012 schedule is getting crowded already, with International Speedway Corp. bidding to build a new facility near Seattle, exploring the possibility of another facility outside Denver, and keeping one eye always on New York. And Rockingham didn't help itself at the box office, falling well short of sellouts in its final few races even though everyone knew its survival hinged on attendance.

But the mayor will continue to lobby and politick, spreading the word that Rockingham is ready for NASCAR to return if and when the series ever decides to do so. Drivers, who relished the facility's challenge, would clearly love to go back. Old-school fans, weary of watching follow-the-leader racing on cookie-cutter tracks, clamor for the place. The infield facilities remain superior to those at some tracks that have two events each year.

Still, the idea of NASCAR returning to a track it abandoned seems about as unlikely as Michael Waltrip winning the Nextel Cup title. But these textile towns breed dogged folk. It's been three years since the team haulers last pulled out of North Carolina Speedway, and the mayor still maintains hope of them coming back.

"If we could get a groundswell of support," McLaurin said, "who knows what might happen."

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.