How do you restock NASCAR's talent pool and reignite the fan base? Go local.
Stock car racing's grassroots are intertwined with moonshiners running from revenuers to protect their cargo. As it became more organized — and popular — speedways rose from the dirt.
So where are they now?
Many of those local short tracks are but a distant memory, abandoned and dilapidated remnants of metal where fans once gathered religiously at the altar of speed. Disappearing too are the proving grounds where wheelmen battled to build reputations that would attract opportunities on the regional tours and eventually the NASCAR ranks.
The local track
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North Wilkesboro Speedway
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Perhaps part of NASCAR's plateau and inevitable slide can be traced to when the sport was pulled from its deep southern roots and extended to areas where support was lukewarm at best. In today's economy, the average fan can't afford or isn't willing to spend vacation dollars to travel to racetracks. And even in NASCAR's top touring divisions, the travel costs have escalated to a degree where many teams simply can't compete on a full-time basis.
Since 1949, North Carolina — known as the hub of NASCAR — has lost 27 racetracks that were once on the premier tour. Nine additional speedways have fallen off the radar across the border in South Carolina and seven more to the north in Virginia.
As southern tracks have fallen from the NASCAR schedule, so too has the presence of fans and drivers from the Carolinas and Virginia. The last Carolina Cup champion to win a title was Dale Jarrett in 1999.
Tale of a track
One of the first tracks to host NASCAR events was North Wilkesboro Speedway. The 0.625-miler opened in 1949 and ran its last Cup event in 1996 after the track was purchased to transfer dates to Texas Motor Speedway and New Hampshire.
The recent announcement that North Wilkesboro was reopening could not have come at a better time. After a well-deserved facelift, racing will return to North Wilkesboro with the USARacing Pro Cup Championship Series next October.
Although North Wilkesboro won't be ready for prime-time NASCAR any time soon, the reclamation project was heralded by racing fans and the possibilities for use are obvious.
With the current ban on testing for the top three series in NASCAR, North Wilkesboro also provides another close alternative for teams located within an hour's drive of the speedway.
Andy Hillenburg, who purchased North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham two years ago, doesn't see Wilkesboro as competition for his track. In fact, he welcomes Wilkesboro and any track as an ally.
"I see it as great for the Carolinas," Hillenburg said. "If there are additional races it raises the awareness of racing in the Carolinas."
And awareness will hopefully equate to attracting new fans and potential participants.
Rockingham and the adjoining "Little Rock" track have been popular with the NASCAR set since testing on sanctioned venues was prohibited. Hillenburg runs his Fast Track High Performance Driving School at the track and rents out the locale for movies and commercials. And then there is the racing that Hillenburg hosts at The Rock — Street Stock, Pro Stock and ARCA.
If Hillenburg had not rescued Rockingham from the weeds in the Sandhills, the track would be nothing more than lore from race fans that made the pilgrimage to the 1.017-mile oval from 1965 to 2004.
Hillenburg believes that the loss of tracks such as Wilkesboro and Rockingham has snowballed against Sprint Cup venues like Lowe's Motor Speedway and Darlington Raceway. When there's a buzz going at local tracks, it permeates to other venues in the region.
The driver and his tracks
Two-time Cup champ Tony Stewart pays it forward as both a track and race team owner. After purchasing Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, five years ago, Stewart worked diligently to make the venue more competitor and fan-friendly. On the team side, he continues to offer jobs in NASCAR, USAC and World of Outlaws.
