Sport's 'ultimate success story' is New Hampshire

LOUDON, N.H. -- At first, not even Bill France Jr. was convinced. And why should he be? Here was a board-flat race track built on the site of an old motorcycle course, nestled deep in the woods of a small, rural state, rising from a two-lane highway that passed through Shaker villages and over dirt roads. The man who built the speedway, Bob Bahre, often asked the former NASCAR chairman about his odds of eventually receiving a Cup Series date. The answer was always the same.

"Your chances," France would tell him, "are slim and none."

And yet here were are, surrounded by 93,521 grandstand seats, at a facility that until this current economic recession was as sure a sellout as there was in NASCAR. The fact that New Hampshire Motor Speedway succeeded -- heck, the fact that it was even built in the first place -- stands as something of a testament to the fervor for auto racing in a part of the world that's been breeding modified fans and drivers for decades. But 20 years ago, before the then-Busch Series came to the Granite State for the first time, there was a natural degree of apprehension. People in the South wondered, why is NASCAR going up there? People in New England wondered, why is NASCAR coming up here?

Drivers wondered, how exactly do you find this place?

"When we came up to New Hampshire and I pulled in here, I thought, where in the world are we going? I thought, are we going to Lake Winnipesaukee?" recalled Kenny Wallace, who placed 24th in that first NASCAR event in New Hampshire, a 1990 race won by Tommy Ellis. "We're going down this little two-lane road in front of the race track, and it reminded me a lot of going to [North] Wilkesboro, going past the chicken coops. And low and behold, here's a race track that seats 100,000 people. It was a lost soul for a little bit, before it became so popular. It is true, if you build it, they will come. That's what happened here."

France may have had his doubts, and drivers coming up to New Hampshire for the first time could have indeed used a GPS to find the place, but to many in the industry, there was never any question the little track in Loudon would be a huge hit. NASCAR vice president Jim Hunter knew from his days running Darlington Raceway that the Southern 500 attracted more spectators from New England than almost any other region of the country. Former driver Brett Bodine knew from his days racing modifieds that the area was just waiting to be tapped. (Continued)