Facility upgrades set a fresh tone as Hickory Motor Speedway prepares for its 2024 season-opener

HICKORY, N.C. -- Fans and competitors at Hickory Motor Speedway will enjoy more than just a new season of racing Saturday night. Kevin Piercy, the promotor of the famed half-mile NASCAR Home Track, is putting the finishing touches on multiple upgrades in advance of the facility's opening races of the 2024 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series season. Among them are new bathrooms and a repaved infield, plus some concrete patching and resealing of the racing surface. Piercy also plans to renovate the sponsor suites in the main tower. Those updates are expected to be completed in April. The upgrades were made possible thanks to a more than $500,000 grant from the state of North Carolina; the funding was made available to the track as part of a larger grant program for select speedways in the state. “What we tried to do with the grant that was awarded to Hickory Motor Speedway was do something for everybody,” Piercy said. “We tried to do the bathrooms in the grandstands so the fans would have a very clean place to go to the bathroom. Nice fixtures and things to use. We also did the bathrooms and the infield for the competitors. We were having a lot of [asphalt] chunks coming up in the infield. “A lot of people have asked why we didn’t pave the track. Well, if we had paved the track, then we wouldn’t have had any money to do anything else, and we wanted to be able to do multiple things.” [caption id="attachment_422730" align="aligncenter" width="1300"] Hickory Motor Speedway has been in operation since 1951. It hosted 35 NASCAR Cup Series races from 1953-71. (Photo: Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)[/caption] The most noticeable upgrade for fans and competitors alike will be the renovated bathrooms, which all got facelifts with new toilets and stalls, a fresh coat of paint and epoxy floors. Piercy was still putting the finishing touches on the restroom upgrades Thursday while Lee Faulk Racing drivers Toni Breidinger and Taylor Reimer were at the track testing in advance of Saturday’s opener. He acknowledged that, without the help of the grant from the state of North Carolina and Governor Roy Cooper, the upgrades likely wouldn’t have taken place. RELATED: Check out the complete list of NASCAR Regional tracks “Racing has been a tough sport to be in. To take $500,000 and put it into a race track with today’s economy is a little bit risky,” Piercy said. “This shot in the arm was huge, especially for a place like Hickory. “We’re very, very appreciative from what we did get and the opportunity to do what we’re doing, because it’s very nice.” Beyond a potential repave, Piercy's wish list for more upgrades at Hickory includes a new scoreboard that can double as a video board. That’s not in the immediate future, but he is hopeful. [caption id="attachment_422731" align="aligncenter" width="1300"] Roughly 40 feet of asphalt on Hickory's racing surface has been replaced with concrete in areas that needed attention. (Photo: Yem Sanlaeid/NASCAR)[/caption] “I still have some money available; we didn’t use it all yet,” Piercy said. “The biggest thing I want is a newer, upgraded scoreboard with the possibility of some video capabilities. That’s a big expense that we don’t have enough yet for. Maybe Gov. Cooper will find fit to give us another grant, and I think we’d really be in good shape after the second one.” Saturday’s opening night, which will be available to watch live on FloRacing, will feature twin 40-lap features for the headlining Late Model Stock Car division. Limited Late Models, Street Stocks, Super Trucks and Renegades will also be in action Saturday. Based on the number of drivers and teams testing at the track in recent weeks, Piercy expects a strong contingent of cars across all five divisions. “We had people that wanted to practice, and we had to close basically for three weeks while we were paving the infield,” Piercy said. “People have seen the renovations as we’ve been going along, and everybody is excited and very complimentary of them. It looks like we’re going to have a good field of cars this week. A lot of people are calling to come. “We’re excited for people to see what we’re doing here.” Gates for Saturday's opening race of the 2024 season at Hickory open at 4 p.m. ET, with racing scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET.