Legendary NASCAR Track To Get $18 Million Makeover
I remember when our son was a freshman in high school playing in the North Carolina state golf regionals I found myself driving about 75 minutes north of Charlotte on 421 and seeing a large brick structure on the side of the road covered in ivy and foliage. It was huge. Something that big doesn’t just get abandoned like that, right? And then I saw a sign (with a couple of letters missing), “North Wilkesboro Speedway.” I thought, “OMG, this can’t be.” I mean, this track’s nickname is “The Birthplace of NASCAR,” and now here it is being reclaimed by nature? Wow.
The last Cup race contested there was September 29, 1996 as Jeff Gordon held off Dale Earnhardt Sr. to win the Tyson Holly Farms 400. If there was ever a poster child for NASCAR’s mistake in abandoning its roots, it’s North Wilkesboro Speedway. Now, for some good news, thanks to an $18 million grant from the state of North Carolina, North Wilkesboro is poised to make a comeback! Now there have been renovation starts and stops before, but hopefully this one sticks. Wouldn’t it be great for North Wilkesboro to get the kind of revival (love) that Darlington and Rockingham have gotten in recent years?
