The historic North Wilkesboro Speedway has proven its worth by playing host to two successful All-Star Race weekends in 2023 and 2024. Does that make it good enough to host a points-paying Cup Series race? Many don’t think so despite the track’s revival from ruins after an ambitious project undertaken by fan-favorite icon Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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Joseph Srigley, editor-in-chief of tobychristie.com, recently expressed a strong take on X about how he’d like some changes in the Cup Series calendar. He pitched for North Wilkesboro to have a points-paying race, among other propositions.
Unfortunately, fans did not like the idea.
That boring ass race why the hell would they have the all star race there? The shorter the track the less of an ability to pass smh
— Adrien (@Adrien96894017) February 3, 2025
One replied, “Wilkesboro simply isn’t that good though. The racing is weak and can’t pull the $$ in to justify a points race back there in them tight roads. People close enough to go will stop eventually and choose TV at home like they did before unfortunately.” The prediction is largely agreeable.
Another asked, “North Wilkesboro has produced a terrible racing product every time the cup cars are on it, why would we want a point race?” The track has a reputation for being a less competitive one, amplifying the Next Gen car’s overtaking troubles. Perhaps resurfacing it might earn it a better reception. For another fan, the issue with it was entirely different.
They lamented, “NWB still needs some renovations in the stands, it’s very uncomfortable really anywhere there. But pending renovations I think that NWB can and should easily take a date from somewhere.” North Wilkesboro has a capacity of nearly 25,000 and is designed with a vintage aesthetic.
How Dale Jr. revived North Wilkesboro Speedway after years of neglect
On December 9, 2019, Dale Jr. and others were at the track clearing it up. The abandoned coliseum was breaking and withering away, leaving little time for it to be scanned and immortalized on iRacing. Being a huge fan of it, the JR Motorsports owner had tried his best to raise the money needed to renovate it, but unfortunately, he could not.
Just when all hope seemed lost, the global pandemic and a government grant came to the rescue. To fire up the economy again after the pandemic, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 was passed. $18 million was forwarded to the infrastructural development of North Carolina and the track was soon brought back to life.
Dale Jr., the man in the middle of it all, said in an episode of Dirty Air, “So it was announced that the All-Star race will come back (to North Wilkesboro Speedway). My initial reaction to that was a bit disappointed. Why would I be disappointed about that? Because I want Wilkesboro to have a points race. Wilkesboro for me is still on the comeback trail. It is not fully back until it’s got a points race.”
Dale Jr. still feels that North Wilkesboro is on the “fringes” and it’s not “100% back into our DNA,” which worries him. So he wants the points race to feel like it’s back – it’s truly back.
