North Wilkesboro Speedway ready for its NASCAR return

By Bob Pockrass
Published

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — Among the list of things former NASCAR driver and television broadcaster Benny Parsons asked his wife to do prior to his death in January 2007 was to try to get North Wilkesboro Speedway to reopen for NASCAR racing.

It took more than 16 years to get it done, but Terri Parsons — along with many others — can celebrate that achievement this week.

The NASCAR All-Star Race this weekend will be the first NASCAR race at the historic 0.625-mile oval since 1996.

The track was the place that nurtured the love of racing for the Parsons family, just like hundreds of families in the area.

Speedway Motorsports, sparked by interest from its CEO Marcus Smith and famed NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and with the help of an American Rescue Plan grant that contributed $14 million of the $18 million renovation project, decided last year to bring the all-star race to the track as part of NASCAR's 75th anniversary celebration.

Terri Parsons, following the dedication of a grandstand that honors Benny Parsons, said she never lost faith.

"There was never a day I didn't think this would happen," Parsons said. "I didn't think it would happen this soon. But I've got 17 years into this — do you think I would have waited that long to decide nothing was going to happen?"

Speedway Motorsports bought half the track in 1996 along with New Hampshire's Bill Bahre and they took the race dates to their tracks. Speedway Motorsports then assumed total control of the track in 2007 when it bought out Bahre for his tracks.

There were hard feelings in the 1990s and 2000s with Speedway Motorsports founder Bruton Smith over him taking the date and closing the track.

Parsons said the key was the community rallying behind the re-opening of the speedway and pledging its support to get the project done was key to convincing Bruton's son, Marcus, to revive the track.

"It took hundreds of people doing their part, checking their egos at the door and understanding that it took all of us to make this happen — not just one person," Parsons said. "People that Bruton was mad at hadn't been in office for years. A lot of them had passed away.

"It took Marcus and his love for history. Thank God for Dale Jr. — he came in and kicked the field goal. It would have taken us longer if he had not gotten involved."

While the track surface is the same and the grandstand seats are pretty much the same, there is new lighting, new fencing, a new pit road, and new suites — all done over the last eight months.

"John Q. Public Citizen is now proud of where they're from again — and they played a role in this," Parsons said. "If they had not put those signs in their yards, ‘We Want You Back,' Marcus would not have gotten the message that it's not just elected officials wanting to do something for their economy.

"It's everybody that lives in this place."

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass, and sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass.

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