No NASCAR Cup or Xfinity on the immediate horizon, but there is a good chance Trucks could race there in 2024.
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Speedway Motorsports used the the NASCAR Cup Series’ Bristol dirt weekend as a platform to announce that racing—for now the late-model version—will return to North Wilkesboro (North Carolina) Speedway, one of NASCAR’s original tracks, in August.
North Wilkesboro Speedway hosted the NASCAR Cup Series from 1949 to 1996 but fell by the wayside as its infrastructure crumbled and NASCAR moved to bigger tracks and bigger cities. The track property was basically ignored for many years, but Speedway Motorsports, with the help of officials and volunteers from the speedway area, has removed some of the dilapidated buildings and cleaned the property.
XR Events, signed by Speedway Motorsports to oversee the track’s revival, has scheduled racing on the track’s asphalt surface in August. The pavement will be removed in September, and the track will host dirt racing in October. The surface will be repaved next year with an eye toward bigger events.
Speedway Motorsports president Marcus Smith said North Wilkesboro possibly could host the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2024 or beyond but said the track’s infrastructure won’t support Cup or Xfinity races.
XR Events hopes to schedule races for Super Late Models, Late Models, Street Stocks, sprint cars and other cars typically involved in weekly racing programs this year.
Keyword: Racing Will Return to North Wilkesboro Speedway in August