Just like normal folks hate stale food, Alex Bowman hates stale racing. That’s why the Team Hendrick driver hopes NASCAR will continue to make changes to what he calls a “stale schedule.”
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“I think it’s (change) a really good thing,” Bowman said on a recent episode of the Chasing Checkers podcast. “I think our schedule was the same for so long that you could say it got a little bit stale. Just continuing to change it up, go to new places, kind of rearrange it a little bit, I think is a really good thing.
“Hopefully we continue to add more new places going forward. I think that’s important for our sport to go to new places and not go to the same 15 tracks twice a year forever.”
Bowman added, “There’s so many great racetracks in the country and around the world. So there’s definitely a lot of cool places that we can go race.”
To use an old saying, what’s old is now new again, and that definitely includes the resurgence of North Wilkesboro Speedway over the past three years.
Literally abandoned after the 1996 season, the 0.625-mile oval at “Wilkesboro”, as NASCAR drivers and teams like to refer to it, has enjoyed a complete facelift, a renaissance revival if you will, particularly after having hosted the NASCAR All-Star Race the last three years.
Is North Wilkesboro ready for a points-paying race?
The question now is whether ‘Wilkesboro’ is ready for prime time: to host a points-paying race in the Cup Series. While it has sold out the three all-star events to date, hosting a Cup race in only a 25,000-seat arena could be problematic.
But Bowman thinks it still can be done. “From where I sit, I think so,” he said. “I’m sure there’s logistical things that make it a little bit tougher than a normal race for us, but I think it’s fine to have a points race there.
“Honestly, the All-Star race is the biggest event for us as far as the time perspective goes. Aside from the Daytona 500, I don’t think I’ve ever been at a racetrack for so long this year as I was at North Wilkesboro.
“It’s a three-day show. There’s so many things going on, you may as well have a points race there… It’s a cool place, it’s so much history there, such a cool vibe. Obviously, the fans love it, it’s packed whenever we go there. It’s a neat place for sure.”
