North Carolina State Funds Revitalizing Historic Racetracks

351stang

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The state of North Carolina recently approved $40mm to revitalize two historic NASCAR tracks: North Wilkesboro Speedway and Rockingham Speedway. Demolition has started at North Wilkesboro. Racing for ALS visited the track in 2020 to take photos and it was in rough shape.


Construction Photos:
 

JaCobro

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That’s cool. Can’t wait to see N. Wilkesboro when it’s done. When it reopened in 2010 for the PASS series race I was there wrenching and hanging rear tires for Jody Lavender. Man that was awesome. We should of won that race. Led it all day. Chase Elliot ended up winning. Our front tire changer had a brain lapse and we came out second behind Chase after pit stop. If I’m not mistaken he was penalized after for a “cheated” motor.
 

351stang

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That’s cool. Can’t wait to see N. Wilkesboro when it’s done. When it reopened in 2010 for the PASS series race I was there wrenching and hanging rear tires for Jody Lavender. Man that was awesome. We should of won that race. Led it all day. Chase Elliot ended up winning. Our front tire changer had a brain lapse and we came out second behind Chase after pit stop. If I’m not mistaken he was penalized after for a “cheated” motor.

To be honest, I had no idea how significant North Wilkesboro Speedway is when I was there. I shot the video and did research afterwards. I was amazed at the historic presence the track had. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a campaign and a bunch of volunteers help clear and scan the track for iRacing a few years back.

Even if NASCAR CUP cars don't run there, I would love to go to an SRX or a modified race when it's completed.
 

CobraBob

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That is very cool. Wish I lived near enough to NC to have experienced racing venues there in the past. Such great racing history.
 

351stang

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Some more details for those that are interested.

North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short track that held races in NASCAR's top three series, including 93 Winston Cup Series races. The track, a NASCAR original, operated from 1949, NASCAR's inception, until the track's closure in 1996. The speedway briefly reopened in 2010 and hosted several Stock Car Series races, including the now-defunct ASA Late Model Series, USARacing Pro Cup Series, and PASS Super Late Models, before closing again in the spring of 2011. The track is located on U.S. Route 421, about five miles east of the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. It measured 0.625 miles (1.006 km) and featured a unique uphill backstretch and downhill front stretch.

Breaking news, the track is getting rebuilt! North Carolina governor Roy Cooper signed a $25.9B budget into law for the state. Of that, $40 million is allocated to three racetracks. Racetracks in NC budget: Charlotte Motor Speedway, Rockingham Speedway and North Wilkesboro Speedway. $18 million of that budget is set for Wilkes County upgrades. Specifically, “to coordinate with relevant local government units for water and sewer and related infrastructure projects for service to the North Wilkesboro Speedway.”
 

RES0574

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You should check out VICELAND Abandoned Episode 07, Carolina Speedways. Rick goes back to a majority of those old tracks, and there is decent video on there, especially from the drone shots. The series as a whole is really good. Could not understand why it was only a single season because he covered some very interesting topics. Route 66, Detroit, New Orleans (Six Flags), etc.
 

351stang

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Never knew "The Rock" was closed, the drag strip back in the 90's was great.

It would be nice to see them fixed up. I drove past Rockingham Speedway in 2018, it was sad to see everything overgrown and neglected.

Rockingham drag strip never closed and the Speedway opened for a few amateur events in 2021. The track surface at the Speedway is extremely rough and they are going to repave it with the funding.
 

dwest731

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Hell yeah! Been to the rock strip on a Friday night with my 92 fox a couple times. Glad they are bringing life more than arca a few years ago back to the track. I’m maybe 30 mins from there
 

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