NASCAR Spotters Concerned over Visibility at North Wilkesboro Speedway

What’s Happening?

When on-track activity started at the North Wilkesboro Speedway on Tuesday, NASCAR spotters got a look at the spotters stand and did not like what he saw. According to Aric Almirola’s spotter Joel Edmonds, the stand was placed both at a bad angle and so low that they could not see the bottom lane in turn three and four. Edmonds later said on Twitter that spotters seem to be moving to the backstretch for the next couple of days.

The facility looks great but a giant swing and a miss on the spotters stand @NWBSpeedway we are 40 below the fans in turn 1 at the lowest part of the racetrack with the worst angle possible and at eye level with turn 4 👎🏻👎🏻 pic.twitter.com/9Icf5WARJX

— Joel Edmonds (@FishingSpotter) May 16, 2023

• Freddie Kraft was alluding to the stand in place for the ASA series race that was slated to happen on Tuesday. The race was eventually postponed to Wednesday night due to inclement weather. Kraft did later mention that the CARS tour and ASA Tour was looking at alternate solutions yesterday, but that solution has yet to be seen publicly.
• This incident comes on the heels of the race track having to be patched up on Tuesday as well. That patch did incite some concern from the fanbase, however, it is encouraging to know that these things are happening early in the week rather than during the big show this weekend.
• Fans on social media understood the frustration of Kraft, and even offered some of their own creative solutions. If the stand location does not change before this weekend, it will be interesting to see how racing in turns three and four are and how teams try to work around it.

The Main Characters

Kraft points out a video of what the stand location looks like during on-track activity.

Now you see him…

Abracadabra

Now you don’t. pic.twitter.com/FviCwaPAyX

— Freddie Kraft (@FreddieKraft) May 16, 2023

Kraft even offered to buy race tickets in the turn three grandstand.

Anyone know of anyone selling tickets in the Junior Johnson grandstands for this weekend?

I’m not joking.

— Freddie Kraft (@FreddieKraft) May 17, 2023

Kraft shouted out CARS and ASA for their work on finding an alternate solution.

Shoutout to the @CARSTour and @racewithstars Tour for recognizing a major issue with the spotters stand, and working quickly to resolve the issue.

— Freddie Kraft (@FreddieKraft) May 16, 2023

Edmonds later said that they are going to likely be placed on the backstretch for the next couple of days.

Around the Garage

Spotter Brett Griffin poked some fun at the controversy. He later autocorrected Snoke to Smoke.

Griffin also seems to be enjoying some vacation over the next couple of days.

Joel Edmonds is still happy that NASCAR is not at Texas this weekend.

Noah Gragson gives his take.

In the Stands

One fan suggested multiple spotters, which Griffin said was allowed.

Only theoretically can a spotter clear a driver through turns three and four.

I guess spotters now know how Joel feels.

Not an unfair point.

A lot of bad could happen as John is implying.

For context, here is where the spotter stand used to be after Bill Miller asked.

Brad expressed some concern about what the fan view would look like at the track.

Josh Gardiner showed off the spotters stand from the infield.

Not a bad idea at all.

It seems as if these series are trying to work on an alternate solution, which is a positive. Whether or not NASCAR does remains to be seen. Hopefully NASCAR finds an alternate solution because this spotters stand will not cut it.