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They're about to go racing again at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

I know it because I have seen it with my own eyes. Eyes that, like those of any old-school race fan, thought they had seen the final laps run at the 63-year-old racetrack. More than a few of those eyes will become misted over when the command to start engines is given at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday and engines roar to life in the hills where stock car racing was born.

Amazing what a little resilience and a lot of weed killer can do.

For those of us from North Carolina, the North Wilkesboro track was a local track...more so than in the big city of "Charlotte" (which is in Concord, NC). There's been rumors for years the NW was going to get racing back, but it's finally going to happen. If driving West to Appalachian State via highway 421 you run right past the track. When I drove by it a couple of weekends ago it was great to see the new ad banners hanging off the back of the stands and the new sign on the highway. This is great to see, excellent article.

This is awesome. Hopefully it pumps life back into that area which is dead after Lowe's pulled out.

SuperJon wrote:This is awesome. Hopefully it pumps life back into that area which is dead after Lowe's pulled out.

No doubt.

One of the biggest mistakes NASCAR has made was to take races away from tracks like North Wilkesboro and give them to tracks in California, Texas and Chicago.

Not that the sport should try and grow, but forgeting it's roots was wrong.

BlueHen86 wrote:One of the biggest mistakes NASCAR has made was to take races away from tracks like North Wilkesboro and give them to tracks in California, Texas and Chicago.

Not that the sport should try and grow, but forgeting it's roots was wrong.

Here are the two guys you can thank for North Wilkesboro dying (from the article):

Track mogul Bruton Smith, who bought the track with New Hampshire Motor Speedway founder Bob Bahre, each shipping one race date to other facilities, commented as late as summer 2009 that the track was "returning to the earth."

Bruton Smith's company Speedway Motor Corp, has gobbled up eight tracks (Charlotte, Atlanta, Bristol, Infineon, Kentucky, Las Vegas, New Hampshire, and Texas) that host eleven of the 36 races, while the France family's International Speedway Corp owns 12 tracks (California, Chicagoland, Darlington, Daytona, Homestead, Kansas, Martinsville, Michigan, Phoenix, Richmond, Talladega, and Watkins Glen) that host 19 races. The other five races are held between Dover, Pocono, and Indianapolis. As you can see, SMC and ISC pretty much run things and will do whatever they see fit to make a buck, including completely abandoning their roots.

It's good to see the local effort at North Wilkesboro. It was always one of my favorite short tracks to watch. To shut down a track like that to run a race at New Hampshire is nothing short of a fucking joke; almost as bad a joke as having two races in California, in front of 3/4 empty stands.

93henfan wrote:

BlueHen86 wrote:One of the biggest mistakes NASCAR has made was to take races away from tracks like North Wilkesboro and give them to tracks in California, Texas and Chicago.

Not that the sport should try and grow, but forgeting it's roots was wrong.

Here are the two guys you can thank for North Wilkesboro dying (from the article):

Track mogul Bruton Smith, who bought the track with New Hampshire Motor Speedway founder Bob Bahre, each shipping one race date to other facilities, commented as late as summer 2009 that the track was "returning to the earth."

Bruton Smith's company Speedway Motor Corp, has gobbled up eight tracks (Charlotte, Atlanta, Bristol, Infineon, Kentucky, Las Vegas, New Hampshire, and Texas) that host eleven of the 36 races, while the France family's International Speedway Corp owns 12 tracks (California, Chicagoland, Darlington, Daytona, Homestead, Kansas, Martinsville, Michigan, Phoenix, Richmond, Talladega, and Watkins Glen) that host 19 races. The other five races are held between Dover, Pocono, and Indianapolis. As you can see, SMC and ISC pretty much run things and will do whatever they see fit to make a buck, including completely abandoning their roots.

It's good to see the local effort at North Wilkesboro. It was always one of my favorite short tracks to watch. To shut down a track like that to run a race at New Hampshire is nothing short of a fucking joke; almost as bad a joke as having two races in California, in front of 3/4 empty stands.

Even Dover has lots of empty seats. The seats that my wife and I used to sit in are now covered by a giant plastic advertisement.

NASCAR should consider taking a race away from tracks that currently have 2 races and don't sell out. If it were up to me only Bristol would have two races.

BlueHen86 wrote:NASCAR should consider taking a race away from tracks that currently have 2 races and don't sell out. If it were up to me only Bristol would have two races.

You must not have seen the spring race at Bristol - tons of empty seats. I even saw some steel at the August Bristol race, which would have been unheard of a couple of years ago. The August Bristol race has historically been the hottest ticket in NASCAR.

93henfan wrote:

BlueHen86 wrote:NASCAR should consider taking a race away from tracks that currently have 2 races and don't sell out. If it were up to me only Bristol would have two races.

You must not have seen the spring race at Bristol - tons of empty seats. I even saw some steel at the August Bristol race, which would have been unheard of a couple of years ago. The August Bristol race has historically been the hottest ticket in NASCAR.

It's just further proof of how bad the economy is. I think Bristol should always have two races. I feel the same for Martinsville (mainly because people LOVE short track racing), Daytona, and Talladega (because you have to have the super speedways), and Charlotte as it's the home of NASCAR. Every other track should have one race, which would force a shorter season that is desperately needed.

ASUMountaineer wrote:

93henfan wrote:
You must not have seen the spring race at Bristol - tons of empty seats. I even saw some steel at the August Bristol race, which would have been unheard of a couple of years ago. The August Bristol race has historically been the hottest ticket in NASCAR.

It's just further proof of how bad the economy is. I think Bristol should always have two races. I feel the same for Martinsville (mainly because people LOVE short track racing), Daytona, and Talladega (because you have to have the super speedways), and Charlotte as it's the home of NASCAR. Every other track should have one race, which would force a shorter season that is desperately needed.

You'll never get a $$$horter $$$eason.

Hell, they continue racing at half-filled tracks because the TV viewership continues to be very high (I think they set a record last year) and that's where the real money is coming from.

I don't disagree with your sentiment, btw. I'm all for a 20 year rewind, except for the safety features. Scrap the chase, make the cars more stock in appearance, pull back some of the races west of the Mississippi, where fan support is low. BH86's plan is not bad either. They should do a real gate count and put the bottom 5 tracks in percentage of capacity on 2 year notice that they will lose a race if the attendance does not increase. You'd see ticket prices drop from $100+/ticket to $50- in a heartbeat.

I wonder if my roommate has heard about this. He loves to honk his horn and throw his arms out the window EVERY time we drive past this track.

93henfan wrote:

ASUMountaineer wrote:
It's just further proof of how bad the economy is. I think Bristol should always have two races. I feel the same for Martinsville (mainly because people LOVE short track racing), Daytona, and Talladega (because you have to have the super speedways), and Charlotte as it's the home of NASCAR. Every other track should have one race, which would force a shorter season that is desperately needed.

You'll never get a $$$horter $$$eason.

Hell, they continue racing at half-filled tracks because the TV viewership continues to be very high (I think they set a record last year) and that's where the real money is coming from.

I don't disagree with your sentiment, btw. I'm all for a 20 year rewind, except for the safety features. Scrap the chase, make the cars more stock in appearance, pull back some of the races west of the Mississippi, where fan support is low. BH86's plan is not bad either. They should do a real gate count and put the bottom 5 tracks in percentage of capacity on 2 year notice that they will lose a race if the attendance does not increase. You'd see ticket prices drop from $100+/ticket to $50- in a heartbeat.

Oh yeah, you're right about a shorter season. The same goes for MLB, but it'll never happen. Have you seen the new Busch (I have a hard time calling it Nationwide) cars? They are what the cup cars should look like--brand identity. Hopefully, they'll wise up soon enough to make the necessary changes...we'll see.

ASUMountaineer wrote:Have you seen the new Busch (I have a hard time calling it Nationwide) cars? They are what the cup cars should look like--brand identity. Hopefully, they'll wise up soon enough to make the necessary changes...we'll see.

Totally agreed. They get the cooler models too. Mustangs, etc. versus Taurus and Impala.