North Wilkesboro, after NASCAR All-Star Race success, has a good kind of problem

New York Times

19-05-2025

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — As NASCAR has expanded into new markets over the past few years, some of these additions have seen fan support taper off by the third year, the shiny new toys losing their luster.
North Wilkesboro Speedway found itself in similar territory this weekend. The rustic short track, once left for dead only to be brought back to life, hosted NASCAR's non-points All-Star Race for a third consecutive year. Would fans continue to pack the place as they did when NASCAR first returned after a nearly 20-year absence and make it the exception to the rule?
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This question was answered emphatically Sunday night, even before Christopher Bell outdueled Joey Logano in the closing laps to claim the $1 million winner's prize. The sold-out crowd was amped during pre-race ceremonies, singing along to various songs over the public address system and loudly cheering and booing during driver intros. Then came the race itself, which more than delivered.
'For the third straight year, we've had tremendous support from fans not only in North Carolina but around the world who are captivated by the return of North Wilkesboro Speedway to the NASCAR circuit,' said Speedway Motorsports president and CEO Marcus Smith, whose company owns the facility. 'Like Lambeau Field to football and Fenway Park to baseball, North Wilkesboro Speedway has become America's throwback racetrack.'
If the idea is that the All-Star Race is supposed to be a special event that causes the crowd to be juiced to another level while also producing a stirring race, then Sunday night's 250-lapper certainly checked these boxes. North Wilkesboro proved to be a worthy ongoing host, erasing the skepticism a track often faces in its critical third year, which heavily factors into whether it sticks around on the Cup Series schedule.
Going forward, the question surrounding North Wilkesboro isn't about whether it should remain as host for the All-Star Race, but whether it should host something bigger — a points race.
'I think it deserves it,' Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman said. 'I'm sure it has its challenges to pull it off, but it's a great racetrack. It's got a great vibe, and it's a special place.'
Many others shared Bowman's sentiment throughout the weekend, and this was before the green flag even waved on the main event. Moving forward, expect this drumbeat to grow louder. Even the FS1 broadcast got in on it, with commentators Mike Joy, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer stumping for this to happen.
"NORTH WILKESBORO – BEST SHORT TRACK ON THE SCHEDULE."- Christopher Bell after his All-Star win pic.twitter.com/W1Hl8nfIDA
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 19, 2025
Bringing a points race to a new track is rarely straightforward. There is, however, a realistic path for North Wilkesboro.
As NASCAR has worked to overhaul its calendar over the last five-plus years, decision-makers have learned that the sport is best with a schedule featuring greater variety in the tracks across the 38-race schedule (36 points races and two exhibitions). They've also become more amenable to making bold changes.
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This mindset already worked in North Wilkesboro's favor in 2023, when the track landed the All-Star Race, something few thought possible. Similar thinking would need to happen this go-round too.
With the Cup schedule already at capacity, adding a new track somewhere requires a spot to be cleared. And this is where it gets complicated.
NASCAR isn't likely to shift a date from one of the tracks it owns to an outside company, not when each date is worth millions and millions in television dollars and they're exploring other markets. This means, in all likelihood, Speedway Motorsports would need to shift one of the 15 dates it has within its portfolio. These 15 races are held at one of 10 tracks the company owns outright and another at a venue it rents, Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas.
A frequent suggestion is to shift the spring race at nearby Bristol Motor Speedway to North Wilkesboro. Attendance has been so-so at the Tennessee short track, and recent racing has left something to be desired.
But, again, there are complications. Although Bristol's spring race may appear to have sparse crowds, this is somewhat deceiving. The venue can accommodate 140,000-plus spectators, so a race at Bristol that is only one-third full will still outdraw a sellout at North Wilkesboro, where the max capacity is somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000. (Speedway Motorsports is a privately owned company and doesn't release its exact attendance figures.)
There are other factors in play too. NASCAR already has several races in the Mid-Atlantic region, with eight tracks (Atlanta, Bowman Gray, Bristol, Charlotte, Darlington, Martinsville, North Wilkesboro and Richmond) hosting a combined 13 races. Bristol also has strong corporate support in the form of Food City, which since 1992 has served as entitlement sponsor for the spring race — the second-longest active race sponsorship. COTA is widely considered the likeliest candidate to move, since its contract with Speedway Motorsports is up for renewal, but this confined geographical setup makes moving a race from Texas to North Wilkesboro a head-scratcher.
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'Whatever Marcus wants, it's his place,' Trackhouse driver Ross Chastain said. 'So if he wants to go to NASCAR and pitch something; I'm sure there's a lot more than just saying, What do we want?' It's up to the track owners and promoters and our sanctioning body, so for me to even begin to comment, I'm like, 'Whatever they want to do.' But that was a great race. We definitely better keep coming back here.'
It's a good problem to have for North Wilkesboro. Definitely better than what would've likely come if Sunday's race failed to produce strong ticket sales and a solid race.
Instead, the fans showed out, the racing delivered, and North Wilkesboro's spot on the Cup schedule — one way or another — is very much secure.
(Top photo of Sunday's NASCAR All-Star Race: David Jensen / Getty Images)