Menu
North Wilkesboro Speedway’s immediate future has been the subject of much debate, particularly when looking at the 40+-year-old track surface. Well, a now-deleted tweet may have leaked what the future is for that track surface. A Speedway Charities event for October 21st where people were told they could drive on the aged surface “For the final time”.
Now, the screenshot, which was reposted on Imgur, did not say who explicitly at Speedway Children’s Charities made this tweet, but it does show that a repave of North Wilkesboro Speedway could be imminent. The potential of a repave of North Wilkesboro Speedway has been discussed since the All-Star Race happened back in May, so why would they be potentially looking at it now?
The future of North Wilkesboro Speedway is bright, but it is uncertain. Is the future of the track to be the All-Star Race? Is it a potential points race replacing a date such as Bristol or Auto Club Speedway?
Many people are clambering for one thing or another, but the racing product of the All-Star Race definitely left some questions regarding the future of North Wilkesboro Speedway. Now, a lot of that may be down to the Next-Gen short track package, but many attributed the repave to at least some of the issue. Denny Hamlin even called for the track to be repaved in “Actions Detrimental” following the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro.
Hamlin discussed that the Next-Gen car does not work well on a single-groove race track, which North Wilkesboro definitely was due to the nature of its asphalt. He felt that there are ways that a track can become multi-grooved after a repave including putting in variable banking at a place like North Wilkesboro.
However, not everyone is totally on board with repaving North Wilkesboro. Repaves tend to produce race tracks that are single-groove, and some reconfigurations do not work. Texas Motor Speedway is an example of a track that many have not liked since it was repaved.
Could a simple change to the short track package be what is needed at North Wilkesboro? The Craftsman Truck Series race that weekend was received quite well by fans, and that was on the current, 40+ year-old track surface.
On top of that, Richmond, which has an old track surface similar to North Wilkesboro, produced a solid race in the spring of 2022 and the spring of 2023. These races were because of major tire fall-offs and differing strategies between teams. Could North Wilkesboro and the old track surface be what is needed for the best short track racing for these next-gen cars?
A lot has to be considered for North Wilkesboro Speedway in 2024, but a repave is imminent at some point. The track surface is old, and, at some point, the track needs to be repaved. Given that it is already September, and a May or April race is only six or seven months away from the event mentioned in this tweet, a repave for 2024 may be a bit soon. However, a 2024 repave could be exactly what North Wilkesboro needs, but maybe it is not.
CorvetteRacing48 wants it to be a normal repave with no reconfiguration.
ChaseTheFalcon says that a repave means North Wilkesboro could be getting a points date.
epzik8 says that they had to repave it for the track to come back.
JDMcDuffie said that NWB could get Bristol’s spring date.
just_shy_of_perfect said that the short track package needs to be fixed.
jzajac wants North Wilkesboro to become the throwback race.
Who knows what the future holds for North Wilkesboro Speedway? A repave may be imminent, and maybe that will seal its spot on the 2024 calendar.
