North Wilkesboro’s 0.625-mile short track found its way back to modern racing in 2023 after a 27-year-long sleep. The historic venue hosted the NASCAR All-Star Race in May and has now become a regular on the stock car racing calendar. A key part of its revival journey was the iconic Dale Earnhardt Jr. and December 9, the one date that kickstarted everything.
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Earnhardt was one among the crew that was at the track on that cold day in 2019. He had a shovel in hand and he was hacking weed around the decaying monument that screamed echoes of the past.
The purpose of the activity was to clear up enough space for iRacing engineers to be able to accurately scan the oval for SIM racing. At that moment, the idea of a revival was simply out of logic.
The track’s garage bay had partially collapsed and its grandstand threatened to break down at will. There was no money to preserve this piece of history for future generations to appreciate and enjoy, which is why Earnhardt Jr. was trying to keep it alive virtually through iRacing. Fortunately, a global pandemic and a North Carolina government grant came to the rescue wearing a red cape.
Five years ago today, the North Wilkesboro clean-up day. One of the early steps towards returning racing to the historic track https://t.co/R0XWO0bFBd
— nascarman (@nascarman_rr) December 9, 2024
As a method to oil the economy following the pandemic, the government passed the American Rescue Plan Act, of 2021. $18 million was forwarded towards the infrastructural development of North Carolina and just like that, the heart of North Wilkesboro began beating again. In 2022, various grassroots-level races began taking place in front of crowds estimated at 9,000.
Fans react to the historic day on which Dale Jr.’s dream was realized
The next year, NASCAR announced that it would be holding the All-Star race there. The man at the center of it all, Earnhardt, was beyond pleased with what was happening.
He told the press, “When we’re standing there, for that race to begin, that moment is going to happen for all of us. We’re going to be like, ‘I never thought this would happen. I can’t believe this is actually about to happen.’”
And it happened, alright. Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson put on a stellar show as he reached victory lane after leading 145 of the 146 laps. He grabbed a $1 million check for his effort.
Five years later, we look back to the day on which Earnhardt Jr. was at the track pulling weed. The transformation that the track underwent since can be attributed to those 24 hours and the icon’s vision.
One fan wrote on X noting the same, “I cried that day.” Another added, “So glad that Dale spearhead this project. North Wilkesboro has a special place in NASCAR. Racing history.” One more comment read, “A wonderful day, indeed!” Earnhardt’s contribution to the revival will be etched in history for as long as the short track stands.
