NASCAR executed its return to North Wilkesboro Speedway this weekend after leaving for 27 years. With it there was obvious nostalgia as well as obvious hype built up to NASCAR returning to its roots in a near unprecedented way in this millennium. Being there in person it was definitely a unique experience in some of the best ways and fir the most part it was actually quite fun and the racing was good for nearly the entire weekend, until the main event. So today we ask, "Where does North Wilkesboro and NASCAR go from here?"
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Outro Song:
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#NASCAR #Motorsports #racing
37 comments
What do you want NASCAR to do with North Wilkesboro moving forward?
Stay North Wilkesboro Speedway has active for Nascar Cup,Truck and Xfinity series
NASCAR needs to fix the short track package then we need a points race
Do what Kyle Larson said about Texas. Demolish it and do a repave.
The only thing I can say is you will not get door to door good racing every single week. It just won’t happen. I’m sorry but it’s facts. Some people think that every race has to be elite edge of your seat racing all day long. It just don’t work like that. Nascar fans are full of “yea buts” it’s never good enough. Never ever good enough.
The Return of North Wilkesboro Speedway still active to this day has never forget.
I have to say this: I don’t care how the race was, this was a success for NASCAR. That track was in pre-demo condition a year ago and yet they made the All-Star Race happen and the atmosphere from television was amazing.
Make it the permanent home of the All-Star or have a “Hall of Fame” race there annually, have a festival ala Goodwood, and get weekly racing back at this track. It is just too good to let it sit empty anymore.
too bad the weather would’nt be nice enough in november to be the championship race
Nah I have one better shave 3 inches down off the track repave it and make it a 400 mile points race like martinsville that’s what nascar needs to do. I’ve been to both a points race and an all star race and ide much rather see a points race there yearly than an all star race the all star race to me is to short of a race.
@Ryan Taylor make half the track pavement and the other half concrete
North Wilkesboro should definitely come back to the NASCAR schedule. If it’s the All-Star Race or a points race, I’m for it. Just bring Xfinity next year and keep working on bringing back Rockingham.
Yes definitely bring Xfinity to North Wilkesboro and Gateway. Even and Arca East race should be there and Modified series in June or something.
The track can produce great racing! It’s just how the packages are for NASCAR.
Other than that, I feel confident that NWS will stay for a while and I’m so grateful to have NWS back, regardless of the racing product!
Agree with everything you said. Spot on.
I hope we see Wilkesboro (with a new surface) as a regular fixture on the schedule for decades to come.
Just make it so the race is actually interesting (which is not the track’s fault).
Keep up the good work!
How is it not the tracks fault when every race there in the past was a snoozefest just like last night. People need to not live off nostalgia for these tracks. The track will never provide great racing…
@Cory Perez like @TheIceberg says, the current short track package is…well…garbage.
Just look at the truck race—that was a great contest with great racing.
@Cory Perez Look at Martinsville and Bristol races with the Gen 6 and now look at them today with the current car and package. On top of that the truck race at NW was solid and the midweek late model races were great. It’s 110% the car.
I like the idea of a Carolina sweep, or swing. Have Darlington, Rockingham(?), North Wilkesboro, and the 600 in the month of May or something would be pretty cool to see
Darlington should stay on Mother’s day. Pfft
Carolina Fest
@Run Rafa Run #THEBESTINTHEWORLD it should. Mothers Day is in May, so it works
I would love if the rock returned to the schedule.
@Run Rafa Run #THEBESTINTHEWORLD
Mother’s Day is in May, dingus
Would love to see a points paying race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on the schedule. That would be cool
I’m not disappointed at all. Larson whooped their tails period the atmosphere was amazing
As a fan of nascar since the early 90’s I was just so happy to see this track brought back from the dead. Great job by everyone involved
One facet of the racing missing from what would be in a points race in both the open and the all star race was lap traffic. Yes, there was some but not to the extent of a full 36-40 car field. This was half the length of a normal race also. The combination of race traffic on this track along with 400 laps would cause a lot more cautions and restarts. That’s where the fun stuff really happens on a short track.
it was exciting to see how far could Larson go, could he lap the entire field? How much of a dominating race could he run?
Exactly making an endurance race and race until you’ve been eliminated by being lapped and then tap out?
North Wilkesboro feels like I’m watching Nascar’s version of Fenway Park. An old quirky venue that people love for the charm and reminds fans of where the sport came from.
Well, after watching how this weekend went for the return of NASCAR racing at North Wilkesboro Speedway, while the truck race was exciting, the All-Star Race had only one caution and 3 lead changes, so I agree with Iceberg on the short-track package for the Next-Gen cars needing some more work. However, I also think that it’s a good idea with North Wilkesboro being part of a 3-race stretch in the Carolinas starting with Darlington, North Wilkesboro and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte. Also, I would like to see what would happen if the All-Star Race was back on Saturday night at North Wilkesboro and let me hear what anybody thinks the format should be for the event next year. All-in-all, in the end, that’s all I’ve got to say, so goodbye!
Now that we know NASCAR is willing to bring back old tracks, I think they should bring either Indy(the oval) or Chicagoland back for even just an all star race.
As someone way older that saw the Cup Series run at NWS in the past here’s my $.02 worth.
The trucks have less HP, but were able to race side-by-side because the engines are unrestricted and can breath! Removing or greatly reducing the restrictors would allow the engines to accelerate quicker and more cars would move up to a 2nd groove.
Going back 27 years, the cars were vastly different from the Gen 7 car and each other. Since 2000 NASCAR has been continuously tightening the rules to make the cars and engines more equal. Now the chassis are exactly the same and the engines are as close to equal as NASCAR can mandate. When everyone runs the same stuff at the Cup level, they all basically run the same speed. (The trucks run spec engines, but there is some differences in the cars.)
Everyone wants tire falloff. They got that. But some teams and drivers can manage tires way better than others and it showed. Some guys started picking off cars after a long run because they took care of the tires early and had some left when needed.
Repave the track! They repaved the pits; paved most of the infield and did a chintzy pot-hole repair job on the racing surface. Anyone who lives up north can tell you that this is never a good repair.
The weekend and celebration of NASCARs history were great. Main event was a flop though. Pretty much agree with what you said. Re-pave, keep it an all star race for a few years, and then reintroduce it as a points race. Additionally, while throwback week at Darlington is always fun, I’d consider giving North Wilkesboro a crack at throwback weekend at some point.
I loved it i dont care that its hard to pass i love watching them use the bumper and the strategy of not using up your tires i love this style of racing i want it to be a points race
It is great that North Wikesboro is back on the NASCAR schedule & I think it is time for them to get a points paying race. I could see it as a replacement for the Chicago street race if that does not work out. On a side note with North Wikesboro returning to NASCAR, it is also time for F1 to return to Germany by heading back to the Nurburgring (the GP course not the original 14 mile layout).
Awesome video. Thank you for sharing your experience with the races and the track! I haven’t seen racing at North Wilkesboro since I was 11 years old watching late models over 15 years ago. It was Incredible to watch the highlights of the races and see cars on that track again.
Definitely would love to see a points race at NW! The race was great. It for sure delivered on the hype