Stock car racing’s parent organization turns 75 this year, and the sport’s governing body developed an interesting way of celebrating. NASCAR decided to go big by going small and returning the sport to its short-track roots.
On Sunday, the sport will hold its All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in the mountains of western North Carolina. It will serve as a reminder of the sport’s heritage, at a track that has not seen a NASCAR race in more than a quarter-century.
A Historic Track’s Decline
In many respects, North Wilkesboro’s history echoes that of NASCAR itself. Located in an area known as the moonshine capital of America, the track — which hosted a race in NASCAR’s first season of 1949 — reflected the sport’s hardscrabble roots.
The track’s founders ran out of money during the construction process, leaving them without the funds to grade the track properly. As a result, North Wilkesboro’s front stretch goes downhill while its back stretch runs uphill, adding a unique challenge for teams trying to optimize cars’ performance and setup.
Junior Johnson — the moonshiner-turned-stock car racer that Tom Wolfe famously profiled as “The Last American Hero” — hailed from Wilkes County and cut his teeth at North Wilkesboro. Benny Parsons, another Hall of Famer from Wilkes County, learned to race at North Wilkesboro, eventually battling with legends like Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip.
By the 1990s, however, NASCAR had outgrown its Appalachian and southern roots and seemingly outgrew North Wilkesboro. Few seats, and virtually
