The feeling of disbelief from Dale Earnhardt Jr. about North Wilkesboro Speedway’s comeback story can now be measured in months.
The NASCAR Hall of Famer had that feeling when the historic .625-mile track was reborn with racing at the regional and touring level there last August. He was an active participant on the Late Model side, and the facility – while still wanting for creature comforts and basic amenities – responded with a warm embrace from those in attendance.
That feeling has kept going, from Earnhardt getting the official word last September that North Wilkesboro would host the NASCAR All-Star Race in 2023, bringing the Cup Series back to the foothills track for the first time in nearly 27 years. He received another shot of reality Thursday, when officials shed light on a fittingly old-school All-Star Race format for the May 21 event.
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Earnhardt wistfully flashed back to his appearance there last summer, thanking the fans for their grace in bearing with the track’s rough edges from early in the reconstruction process. Once the engines roared back to life there, not many folks there seemed to mind.
“Everybody was just so happy to be there, and as soon as the cars started rolling, everybody was like, you know, sort of this surreal moment where you’re thinking, ‘Man, I can’t believe that this is happening,’ ” Earnhardt said. And I was thinking that in the car and after the race, and I’m like, ‘I just can’t believe that we actually raced here, and that we had such a great turnout, and we had such great energy.’ And everybody, even all the drivers, competitors are just so happy to be part of it.
“And I think that it’s just going to multiply when we go there for the All-Star week, and when we’re all standing there, all of us here, when we’re standing there, for that race to begin, that moment is going to happen for all of us. We’re going to be like, ‘I never thought this would happen. I can’t believe this is actually about to happen.’ ”
Earnhardt was on the early edge of trying to preserve the speedway, getting his hands dirty in helping a crew prepare the track for iRacing simulator scans way back in 2019. The progress has advanced well beyond that weed-whacking, shoveling and sweeping in recent months, with a North Carolina government grant helping the track’s leadership group breathe new life into the place.
Renovations continue to take shape, with new concrete being poured, a new LED scoring pylon, and salvage efforts for the existing structures that ring the Wilkes County oval. Marcus Smith, Speedway Motorsports president and CEO, has called the rejuvenation a “resto-mod” with efforts made to retain the track’s vintage character while adding modern underpinnings. He also has a longer-term vision for what the track could be, even beyond racing.
“From the beginning, I have been interested in seeing the speedway be a venue for entertainment and a kind of a destination for festivals and music events, car show events, Christmas shows and of course, races,” Smith said. “So we’re already fielding calls for special events that can happen there and working on the future calendar. I think that those are things that we definitely intend for the speedway to be a spot that people go to for many, many years ahead.”
The steps that have already been made at North Wilkesboro, plus that vision for permanence, have also resonated with NASCAR competition officials, who have watched the track’s rebirth with interest. The 2024 racing calendar hasn’t come to light yet, but Steve O’Donnell — NASCAR Chief Operating Officer – said Thursday that the support for the rebuilding efforts has made an impression.
“I think still too early to talk about even ’24 but it’s something that certainly has us intrigued in terms of the fan feedback, the fact that it’s already sold out is really neat, and the industry getting behind it,” O’Donnell said. “So that’ll be important once we get through there — how’s the track hold up, what do the drivers think, how’s the Next Gen car perform. All that’s certainly something we want to look at and wouldn’t rule out going back there as well.”
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In the meantime, what’s old is gradually becoming new again. The former ghostlike, crumbling vestiges of North Wilkesboro Speedway now beam with fresh paint. The All-Star Race was for decades a Charlotte Motor Speedway mainstay that only recently rotated among other Speedway Motorsports tracks; it’s now breathing anew, and without throwing any major gadgetry at the race format.
Smith had jokingly – or perhaps not so jokingly – tapped Earnhardt on Thursday as the track’s de facto chairman of the board. The 48-year-old racer turned NBC Sports analyst plans to return there next month, competing in a CARS Tour event during the weeklong run-up to the main event. Whether his seat at the head of the table on the North Wilkesboro board is imaginary or not, Earnhardt said that he’s hopeful for the future of both track and event.
“It’s perfect, right? I mean, that race needs a reboot. And here we go,” Earnhardt said. “I mean, it’s great for the track, it’s great for the All-Star Race as well because, this talk about ‘Do we need the All-Star Race?’ Come on. We need the All-Star Race. You know, there’s been a little talk about man, maybe we shouldn’t have it. Maybe we don’t need the Clash. … I don’t like that conversation. We need the Clash. We need the All-Star Race. We need these non-points, low-pressure, winner-takes-all moments that happen throughout, once or twice a year, and this race needs to matter, right? And maybe this will steer it back in that direction.”
