NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. – It’s been nearly 30 years since NASCAR Cup Series cars have raced at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Rusty Wallace was a three-time winner at the historic track and he said he was extremely impressed with the $20 million dollars worth of renovations that were put into the track to make the 2023 All-Star race happen in Wilkes County.
“You know, with over $20 million being put in the race track and guys from SMI leading the whole deal, I’ve been up there a couple times driving past it looking at it and watching videos of it,” Wallace said. “And to think that they’ve completely rebuilt almost all of the super structure of that racetrack, I’m talking the walls the suites, the seats, the way you get in it, the drainage for the track--everything to modernize it. They’ve done that and it’s going to be so exciting because it’s the talk of the town right now.”
As Rusty said, there are a lot of renovations that made the track more modern, but one thing that was left untouched was the signage at victory lane and the terrain of the track--which will make for quite the challenge Sunday night.
The unlevel track is what makes North Wilkesboro unique--driving down hill coming out of turn four while driving up hill going into down one.
“It’s quite a unique track and that’s why drivers love it through,” said another three-time track winner, Geoff Bodine. “If they’re all the same then everyone can drive them. If they’re easy everyone can drive them. It’s really difficult--it’s downhill in the first straight away. You go around to the bank and then you go up hill to the back straight away for turns three and four. It’s a little flatter, but you go around it is slippery. The asphalt is all worn out.”
“There’s been a lot of bumping and banging action up there and it always lent itself to a lot of side-by-side, beaten, and banging racing which the fans love, and the fans hated to see this race go off the series,” Wallace said.