What better place to hold a NASCAR All-Star Race in the 75th anniversary of the sport than North Wilkesboro Speedway, a track that has sat idle since 1996 but is enjoying its revival through the advocacy of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the cooperation of Speedway Motorsports president and CEO Marcus Smith.
“There’s something about it, it’s just got a special place in our history,” Earnhardt said. “And I’m so excited to see what can happen beyond this. The All-Star Race is a great thing, but going forward North Wilkesboro can continue to contribute to our lives and to our families’ lives.”
The 0.625-mile oval was part of NASCAR’s foundation in its earliest years, joining the Modified Division schedule in 1948. The track hosted the year-ending race for the Cup Series — then called Strictly Stock — in its first season in 1949. It became an annual stop on the schedule, hosting two races a year starting in 1951. North Wilkesboro became popular among competitors and fans for its close-quarter racing but also its unique layout, with the frontstretch running downhill and the backstretch going uphill. North Wilkesboro Speedway hosted 93 Cup Series races from 1949 until it was removed from the schedule following the 1996 season.
Speedway Motorsports founder Bruton Smith purchased a 50-% interest in North Wilkesboro in 1995 after the death of track developer and owner Enoch Staley, and in 1996 New Hampshire Motor Speedway owner Bob Bahre bought the remaining 50% from the Staley family.
After 1996 the track sat mostly dormant — except for a brief revival 12 years ago — until Earnhardt led a clean-up effort in order to have the track laser-scanned for the iRacing simulation platform. The scan was intended to preserve the facility, at least in a digital format, when North Wilkesboro appeared to be closer to demolition than to revival.
That clean-up effort and the virtual track’s popularity among iRacing enthusiasts sparked a new interest in preserving the track and an $18 million allocation from the Federal American Rescue Plan moved through the North Carolina state budget. Those funds were designated for infrastructure improvements and helped to rejuvenate the track this year. An agreement was also struck for an additional $4 million grant from the North Carolina General Assembly for additional facility upgrades. The total for the revitalization project is now north of $22 million.
“North Wilkesboro is going to remain historic, and it will remain authentic, but it will also be modern, and that will be a great thing to see,” said Earnhardt.
Deemed as the Field of Dreams of Racing, this weekend will be the first time since 1996 that the NASCAR Cup Series has raced at North Wilkesboro Speedway, a resurrected 0.625-mile track that will host a truck race on Satyurday, then the NASCAR All-Star Open and the All-Star Race on Sunday at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., respectively.
This weekend’s event will be the 39th running of the NASCAR All-Star Race and North Wilkesboro is the fifth different track to host the event, joining Charlotte, Atlanta, Bristol and Texas.
The second All-Star Race in 1986 was held at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the next 33 would be held at Charlotte Motor Speedway. In the 2020 season, due to restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the race was rescheduled and moved to Bristol Motor Speedway. Then in 2021, the special non-points event was moved to Texas Motor Speedway for the first time.
Hendrick Motorsports leads the Cup Series in All-Star race victories with 10 wins among five drivers — Jimmie Johnson (4), Jeff Gordon (3), Terry Labonte, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson (1 each).
Last season’s All-Star race at Texas Motor Speedway was won by Ryan Blaney, who dominated the event once getting out front, leading 84 of the 140 laps. It was his first all-star victory and the fourth for Team Penske, joining Joey Logano (2016), Kurt Busch (2010) and Ryan Newman (2002).
In total, the 38 NASCAR All-Star Races have produced 26 different winners, led by Johnson’s four. Eight former winners are entered this weekend — Larson, Blaney, Elliott, Logano, Newman, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.
The on-track activity for the NASCAR Cup Series at North Wilkesboro Speedway will begin Friday with practice for both the All-Star Open and the All-Star Race from 4 p.m. until 4:50 p.m., followed by qualifying — the Pit Crew Challenge — at 5:45 p.m. Both events will be televised on FS1.
The All-Star Open and All-Star Race will have a simplified format featuring two heat races to set the starting lineup, a 100-lap All-Star Open and a 200-lap main event. The Pit Crew Challenge will determine the starting lineups for the two heat races and the Open. Each car’s qualifying position will be based solely on its pit stop time from the Pit Crew Challenge.
Timing lines will be established one box behind and one box ahead of the designated pit box and teams must complete a four-tire stop.
On Saturday, the 21 drivers already locked into the All-Star Race field will be split into two 60-lap heat races to determine the starting lineup for the All-Star Race. All laps, caution and green, will count. Each heat race will get one chance at overtime if needed. Results of heat 1 will establish the inside row, results of heat 2 will establish the outside row.
The remaining teams not already locked into the All-Star Race will compete in the 100-lap All-Star Open on Sunday. Caution laps count and the Open will get one chance at overtime if needed. Three Open drivers — the top two finishers and the winner of the fan vote — will advance to the All-Star Race.
Technical rules for the cars will remain the same in the All-Star Race as other Cup Series short track races. The All-Star Race will be 200 laps with a competition caution at or around Lap 100. Caution laps will count and standard overtime rules are in effect (unlimited attempts).
Each team will start on sticker tires for the All-Star Race and have three additional sets to use. After the competition break, only one additional set of stickers can be used.
Twenty-one drivers have earned their spot in the main event — those who won a points event in either 2022 or 2023, drivers who won a All-Star Race and compete full-time and drivers who won a Cup Series championship and compete full-time.
“I’ve only ever driven by North Wilkesboro and known it as a closed race track,” said Ross Chastain. “There has been a lot of hype over this race weekend and obviously Marcus Smith and a lot of others have put a lot of effort into making it happen. It will be fun to go up there and check it all out. I’m going to get my feet wet with the late model race and hopefully get more comfortable with the track, and then the truck race on Saturday afternoon before going for the million dollars on Sunday night.”
{h5 style=”text-align: center ”}NASCAR All-Star Race{/h5}
North Wilkesboro Speedway
Sunday, 8 p.m.
TV: FS1, 7 p.m.
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 125 miles (200 Laps)
Total purse: $3,563,159
Defending winner: Ryan Blaney
{h5 style=”text-align: center ”}NASCAR All-Star Open{/h5}
North Wilkesboro Speedway
Sunday, 5 p.m.
TV: FS1, 5 p.m.
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 62.5 miles (100 Laps)
Total purse: $664,600
{h5 style=”text-align: center ”}Craftsman Truck Series{/h5}
{h5 style=”text-align: center ”}Tyson 250{/h5}
North Wilkesboro Speedway
Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
TV: FS1, 1 p.m.
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 156.25 miles (250 Laps); stage 1 ends on Lap 70, stage 2 ends on Lap 140, final stage ends on Lap 250
Total purse: $696,922