When Dale Earnhardt Jr. first reached out to Marcus Smith about preserving North Wilkesboro Speedway through iRacing, even he may not have known how far that effort would go. What began as a digital revival gained traction among fans online, prompting Smith to green-light a CARS Tour race at the track in 2022.
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In a matter of months, momentum snowballed, and the venue was tapped to host the All-Star Race during NASCAR’s 75th anniversary season. From that point forward, restoration kicked into high gear.
Now, with fans and drivers expressing interest in seeing North Wilkesboro host a full-fledged Cup Series points race, a few roadblocks have entered the conversation. NASCAR journalists Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi recently highlighted several issues that could stand in the way.
Brad Keselowski shared his two cents on the idea of NWS hosting a points race, suggesting NASCAR move the All-Star Race back to Charlotte Motor Speedway and drop the Roval event altogether. Ryan Blaney echoed that view as well.
But Gluck emphasized that the primary challenge lies in the schedule itself. “But I don’t know… I mean, the dates got to some come from somewhere,” he said, with Bianchi pointing out the difficulty in finding available slots on the calendar.
When Gluck floated the idea of moving the spring Bristol race, Bianchi jumped in with a reality check, citing North Wilkesboro’s limited capacity. He noted that even with Spring Bristol running at roughly a third full, its seating still dwarfed North Wilkesboro’s.
“Even Spring Bristol, at what would you say Spring Bristol was this year? A quarter full? A third full? Yeah. I mean, let’s just say a third. Because that’s not what I’ve heard,” Bianchi said.
Jordan also touched on the sponsorship landscape. While North Wilkesboro has maintained a longstanding relationship with Food City, which has backed the venue for decades, the track lacks additional corporate support. Though he acknowledged the loyalty of that partnership, Bianchi underlined the need for broader sponsorship if North Wilkesboro wants to step up to the Cup Series spotlight.
