What do you want NASCAR to do with North Wilkesboro moving forward?

I have to say this: I don't care how the race was, this was a success for NASCAR. That track was in pre-demo condition a year ago and yet they made the All-Star Race happen and the atmosphere from television was amazing. Make it the permanent home of the All-Star or have a "Hall of Fame" race there annually, have a festival ala Goodwood, and get weekly racing back at this track. It is just too good to let it sit empty anymore.

North Wilkesboro should definitely come back to the NASCAR schedule. If it's the All-Star Race or a points race, I'm for it. Just bring Xfinity next year and keep working on bringing back Rockingham.

North Wilkesboro feels like I'm watching Nascar's version of Fenway Park. An old quirky venue that people love for the charm and reminds fans of where the sport came from.

As someone way older that saw the Cup Series run at NWS in the past here's my $.02 worth. The trucks have less HP, but were able to race side-by-side because the engines are unrestricted and can breath! Removing or greatly reducing the restrictors would allow the engines to accelerate quicker and more cars would move up to a 2nd groove. Going back 27 years, the cars were vastly different from the Gen 7 car and each other. Since 2000 NASCAR has been continuously tightening the rules to make the cars and engines more equal. Now the chassis are exactly the same and the engines are as close to equal as NASCAR can mandate. When everyone runs the same stuff at the Cup level, they all basically run the same speed. (The trucks run spec engines, but there is some differences in the cars.) Everyone wants tire falloff. They got that. But some teams and drivers can manage tires way better than others and it showed. Some guys started picking off cars after a long run because they took care of the tires early and had some left when needed. Repave the track! They repaved the pits; paved most of the infield and did a chintzy pot-hole repair job on the racing surface. Anyone who lives up north can tell you that this is never a good repair.

Would love to see a points paying race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on the schedule. That would be cool

The short track package needs to be fixed before we return to North Wilkesboro but it was good that the track did return.

Hendricks motorsports have hit 3 in a row here, amazing achievement. I say repave it and us it as a points race we need a replacement for auto club this makes more sense. As Denny said ask the drivers how to make it better! I agree the drivers know what we want, let them speak.

I like the idea of a Carolina sweep, or swing. Have Darlington, Rockingham(?), North Wilkesboro, and the 600 in the month of May or something would be pretty cool to see

It needs a repave, Goodyear needs to tweak the tire, and it should be a points race with 400 laps, and it will be the best short track we have.

The Return of North Wilkesboro Speedway still active to this day has never forget.

We need a better All-Star format. This should have been something like a 75-100 lap stage 1. Fan vote on inverting the field. 50 lap stage 2. 10 lap shootout to the end. Or something similar. Those old Winston formats were awesome!

Agree with everything you said. Spot on. I hope we see Wilkesboro (with a new surface) as a regular fixture on the schedule for decades to come. Just make it so the race is actually interesting (which is not the track’s fault). Keep up the good work!

I’m not gonna jump the gun on this, but keep it on the schedule as the all star race for a few more years but the car needs major adjustments to its short track package. The car is the issue not the track

The track can produce great racing! It’s just how the packages are for NASCAR. Other than that, I feel confident that NWS will stay for a while and I’m so grateful to have NWS back, regardless of the racing product!

I’m not disappointed at all. Larson whooped their tails period the atmosphere was amazing As a fan of nascar since the early 90’s I was just so happy to see this track brought back from the dead. Great job by everyone involved

I think it should become a points race very soon. It is not a super flashy, barn-burner track. Once it gets to an acceptable level facility-wise, it would function better as a race that isn’t winner-take-all.

Id say keep it as the All Star for a couple years, paired with Trucks, but maybe later in the season run a Xfinity and an ARCA race, then go from there

I hope it stays on the schedule. Man everyone was saying how bad the surface was on tires. What blew me away was the 5 was able to do a burn out for a whole lap and I don’t think he blew a tire.

Bring it back for points next year. In regards to the package, make the bristol dirt package the short track package, and give them a softer tire through the end of this year. For next year keep that change and plan now for 100 more horsepower at all tracks except superspeedways.

love the video. the dirt thing that keeps coming up is this ... august of 22 they ran a bunch of races on the unrepaired surface, October of 22 they were going to run a month of races with it as a dirt track. Smith and Earnhardt Jr talked after the final race of august and chose to not pull up the surface for 23 but will probably put a new serface down for 24 although there is disagreement on what serface it should be but that is between asphalt and concrete.

Now that we know NASCAR is willing to bring back old tracks, I think they should bring either Indy(the oval) or Chicagoland back for even just an all star race.

It’s not everyday you see a motorsport series bring a long abandoned race circuit back from the dead. And seeing cup cars on a track where you’d usually see late models is weird, but in a good way.

NASCAR needs to look at the racing package. When fans are leaving before the race is finished, something’s wrong. Also, Larson loves winning the most boring All-Star races.

the track's fine, the short track package needs a LOT of work but the racing's good, where do they go from here? a points race to replace Fontana next year possibly

The history, the atmosphere, the local fan support, ALL of these things at North Wilkesboro are AWESOME. But...the racing reminded me why they left. I think the solution here is a banking reconfiguration. Give North Wilkesboro some new pavement and a banking configuration that lends itself to multiple grooves, less tire wear, and more passing. THAT, combined with all the other great aspects of the track, can keep North Wilkesboro on the NASCAR schedule with happy fans for many decades to come!

i propose SMI get the throwback race at Wilksboro and NASCAR take the All Star Race to Iowa. I think the All star race is a good way to introduce a track and build hype for it before it hits the schedule as a points race

As someone born in 2003 I loved the atmosphere that I could see on the tv and I really hope it stays at least as the all star race. However I think we don’t really need to do a full replace I think we could do Larsons idea where we pave a upper grove and make it a multi groove track, want tire wear but a possibility of a slower lap time go up top, want a faster lap time but more tire wear go to the old surface on the bottom. I think this would add an interesting element to the track to give it even more personality. However of course we need this awful short track package fixed

One facet of the racing missing from what would be in a points race in both the open and the all star race was lap traffic. Yes, there was some but not to the extent of a full 36-40 car field. This was half the length of a normal race also. The combination of race traffic on this track along with 400 laps would cause a lot more cautions and restarts. That's where the fun stuff really happens on a short track.

It was awesome to see North Wilksboro back

it was exciting to see how far could Larson go, could he lap the entire field? How much of a dominating race could he run?

The weekend and celebration of NASCARs history were great. Main event was a flop though. Pretty much agree with what you said. Re-pave, keep it an all star race for a few years, and then reintroduce it as a points race. Additionally, while throwback week at Darlington is always fun, I'd consider giving North Wilkesboro a crack at throwback weekend at some point.

Honestly, I think it should stay on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule in some capacity. No matter how bad the racing gets, it's important that NASCAR have one of its founding tracks on the schedule. It could have a better run with a repave. In a way, it was a Gen 4-style race. One driver curb-stomped the field, the race was clean and the best car ended up winning. Looking back on it, it's relieving that the NASCAR Cup Series field is able to calm their tits for once.

I do have one idea for North Wilkesboro, make it the cup series CHAMPIONSHIP race, yes you heard me correctly, it can be a perfect finale for NASCAR and give SMI a perfect amount of time to get the track ready for November

It is great that North Wikesboro is back on the NASCAR schedule & I think it is time for them to get a points paying race. I could see it as a replacement for the Chicago street race if that does not work out. On a side note with North Wikesboro returning to NASCAR, it is also time for F1 to return to Germany by heading back to the Nurburgring (the GP course not the original 14 mile layout).

Next "old school" track they bring back I think should be Rockingham. Lots of people said it'd be better suited to modern NASCAR racing and the new car, being faster and multilane.

there is ALWAYS room for improvement. Was the rave the best ever last night? far from it but I love how the track looks. With a better repave and a better setup/tires and a 300 or 350 lap race? Sign me up

I'd like to see north Wilkesboro part of nascar and Dale Jr. Did a great job

I don't know if this is me being not too much of a fan of both races but I believe in the truck race there were a few drivers who hated racing on the extremely old surface especially when I was listening to hailie deegan who was having a rough day all around (granted she made multiple mistakes and like everyone else was sliding around like a drift event). So yea repaving and better package I like those ideas.

Points paying event at North Wilkesboro ASAP

NASCAR needs to keep Wilkesboro on the schedule from this day forward

I like the idea of the Carolina swing especially with it being around holiday’s (Easter, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Father’s Day) as well as the end of the school for the kiddos (award banquets, sports playoffs, etc) and beginning of summer. Just seems like the best timing for the drivers and the SE fans to plan to attend.

I was right there with you on turn 3 over in the front row, you probably caught the back of my head a couple times! It was a pretty great weekend but honestly the actual all star race was one of the least interesting parts of the whole event. The truck race was honestly more exiting this time, especially when one of the guys burst into flames during practice! Fortunately he walked away just fine and was apparently racing again the next day at Hickory…

As far as the track itself, it is in dire need of a repave. Don't go for a reconfigure like i heard Denny suggest of progressive banking, just some new asphalt. There are also things need done to the car because North Wilkesboro isnt the only short track with this problem. Maybe a different tire or redesign of the aero package would help in the short run, but i think the ultimate answer will be giving them back power. I know we'll never see the 900 horsepower monsters of the late 90s again but at least get them back in the 750 range.

Well, after watching how this weekend went for the return of NASCAR racing at North Wilkesboro Speedway, while the truck race was exciting, the All-Star Race had only one caution and 3 lead changes, so I agree with Iceberg on the short-track package for the Next-Gen cars needing some more work. However, I also think that it's a good idea with North Wilkesboro being part of a 3-race stretch in the Carolinas starting with Darlington, North Wilkesboro and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte. Also, I would like to see what would happen if the All-Star Race was back on Saturday night at North Wilkesboro and let me hear what anybody thinks the format should be for the event next year. All-in-all, in the end, that's all I've got to say, so goodbye!

I'm with your plan here, Jaret. North Wilkesboro as a Chase cutoff race on its original fall date in 2026!

My honest opinion is NASCAR should not return to this track until there is a full repave with a universally loved short track package. That’s the first step to improve short track racing.

Awesome video. Thank you for sharing your experience with the races and the track! I haven’t seen racing at North Wilkesboro since I was 11 years old watching late models over 15 years ago. It was Incredible to watch the highlights of the races and see cars on that track again.

Apart from the racing product, the fans were just a disgrace. Incidents of violence that had to be broken up by police, the Bubba scanner incident. I expected this type of stuff from Chicago, not North Wilkesboro

The regular season race at North Wilkesboro should be a new traditon for July 4th weekend. Give that race specifically an identity just like the Coke 600 and the Southern 500. I might even consider racing 500 laps since it's just one race per year. Have it be 35-40,000 seats to keep the demand up. Imagine it: The Freedom 500 from North Wilkesboro Speedway on July 4th Weekend.

Rip the bandaid and pave it. Make it a points race (but keep it the weekend before the 600) and the throwback weekend. Turn Darlington's Mothers Day race into the All Star Race.

With the amount of money they spent on the facility, it’s definitely not going anywhere. I think it will definitely be back next year in some fashion

Definitely would love to see a points race at NW! The race was great. It for sure delivered on the hype

What's next for North Wilkesboro Speedway?? Give the track a points paying race in either the Spring or Fall If the track needs a repave, repave it. It's a 42-year-old surface, and nobody knows how much longer the surface will last. But it'll need a fresh coat of asphalt sooner than later

They were originally going to rip up the pavement in the late summer. Use dirt until the end of the season and then repave. They were never going to put dirt on it

I thought it was fun, you could tell some drivers didn't care as much as others on the track, but i have waited a long time it was amazing!

Im going to the Coca cola 600 this Sunday very hyped

Great video.

I think the right thing to do is to give 'em a regular Cup date and move the throwback weekend to there. The downside, though, is it may be at the cost of a Darlington weekend, which I wouldn't like, personally speaking.

2:55 ive been going to races since about the time you were born (not because Im much older then you I just had a father and older brother who loved racing too) and I've been to at least 200 races (cup, Indy, Busch, trucks, featherlights, arca, ECT.) And I can say that energy is what races were like going to as a kid on the 90s. The fan fare was so much bigger and so much more, you could tell the sponsors cared more about making the experience fun and worth while then they do these days. And the races themselves were just always huge weekend long parties with tens of thousands of strangers you never met before and may never meet again but who cared. We were all there to watch a dam race baby! Still love going to races today they're still always fun cause I try to keep that old school energy alive when I go! But the parties sometimes just ain't what they used to be. To those who had partied before us, To those who have partied with us, And to those who will party after us.

It definitely needs the repave, an upgrade to the seating to suit more than 80,000, cause there were millions wanting to head to the track. Demolish Texas and give that race to North Wilkesboro, but finding a sponsor would be hard (First Union went bankrupt in the 2008 recession). But that's just 1 small portion. The elephant-sized hole in the wall is the fact that the short track package sucks. It became another snoozefest despite 23XI and Trackhouse's efforts to liven it up (Wallace battling Suarez). NASCAR REALLY needs to work on that. Also, the dirt race should be at Rockingham and not Bristol to at least get it on there

They need to take the diffuser off these cars on the flat short tracks, the diffuser makes the dirty air worse especially on these single groove race tracks. More power sure would help too, as well as possibly try a grooved tire.

I loved it i dont care that its hard to pass i love watching them use the bumper and the strategy of not using up your tires i love this style of racing i want it to be a points race

A Carolina sweep would be pretty cool. Darlington, North Wilkesboro, Charlotte All Star, Coke 600. A month where the teams don’t travel more than 1.5-2 hours away. And yes, for all that is holy and just, do not put dirt on this track and ruin another track

I would be happy if they ran Truck or Xfinity races once a year. Also have the CARS tour and ARCA run there. Like you said the track needs to be re-done. That pavement is in it's last legs it needs to be fixed. They also need to bring back the ROCK (Rockingham). That track has been repaved recently.

Blame the cup short track package. Arca and trucks put on a great show

I think Larson nailed it when he said they should add some strips. They need to find some kind of sidewalk paving machine that will put a 36 -in strip right against the wall and another one in the middle of the track. Just enough for the right sides to get a little more grip. Then rip the spoilers off the car. Give him a little more horsepower and bring them back this year for testing. It's not far away. Maybe a Wednesday night? Non-points race for the sake of the sport.

As a local grassroots racer/promoter, I'm dreaming of putting on some autocross and drifting events on in the infield. I fear the rent will be too damn high... but we'll cross that bridge if we get to it.

Short track package is awful needs to be changed now. Just rip off the band-aid and repave immediately and let the teams test there over the offseason that way the track gets some where in it depending on if/when they repave add xfinity with trucks to the weekend as well whether it's the all star race or not just so the track is worn in a bit for cup

If you watched the CARS Tour or the ASA tour, you saw a great short track racing. NASCAR has a big problem because they took the road course car and tried to convert it to run ovals and didn’t listen to the people that know better and now we’re stuck with this pile of garbage. The only way to fix the GEN 7 is to rip it completely apart. Need to go back to 10 inch wide tires, remove the brake package and reduce the size of the rotor, remove all under car, aerodynamics, run a ride height rule, remove the splitter. It would help if they got rid of radial tires too. The biggest problem with the All Star Race was that Goodyear brought a rockhard tire that did not fall off after 30 laps.

We have the best intermediate track car in the history of the sport and probably the worst short track car. The only way to fix it is to add horsepower. This car needs to have around 800 horsepower and it will run fine at any short track.

A re pave would be the best thing for North Wilkesboro. That alone would help improve the racing and help get it on the schedule as a points race, not just for Cup, but all 3 series. There is so much potential for Martinsville-like racing there. Darlington’s Southern 500 is a crown jewel event, I’d like to see SMI and NASCAR make a push to get Wilkesboro up to that level. That being said, now they need to work on getting Rockingham back up to snuff and get at the very least the trucks and Xfinity series back there full time starting next season, and maybe get Cup racing back at least once a year by 2025

Here at 80 views. Yeah, where do we go from here?

Race itself was kind of a snooze fest. Was expecting more given the hype around this past weekend. The Indy 500 qualifying and Bump Day on Sunday was much more exciting to watch and follow than the NASCAR race was (for me).

I will say, Kyle larson’s charge to the front was really fun to watch

I love that they did this. NASCAR might do a lot to pander to normies (which is fine, i want normies to like NASCAR too) but this nailed the fan service for the core fandom. They did something that was laughably impossible a couple years ago, I appreciate that they took a major gamble on this. We knew the surface was past its sell by date, and we knew the Gen7 short track game is weak… and that I thought accounted pretty much all the downsides this weekend. And the racing wasn’t unwatchable, just kind of a dull feature to close it out, but the rest of it was a lot better. Even the broadcast was fun. Maybe it’s just me but the FOX cringe level seems to be better this year overall. Repave it ASAP and run as much lower tier stuff as you can find, and get it a points paying date on the schedule soon. I don’t mind the Don’t do the dirt. There’s a million purpose built dirt tracks out there. Go do the dirt race on one of those. And don’t tell me they don’t have the amenities to hose a cup event. If we can pull this NWB all star weekend off in the amount of time they did it, they can figure it out.

Where I'm hoping NASCAR goes with North Wilkesboro is that it gets the Chicago street race's date next year. I'd give almost anything for this track to be back on the points-paying schedule.

It needs a new Surface by was good to see the old track back because I've been in I've been a Nascar fan for a long time and I'm a old school fan and I love to see this race and keep going

The tracks not the problem. The truck race proves that. And the tire fall off is exactly what we’ve been wanting to see since the next gen was introduced. I don’t think a repave is a wise move. I think they just need to closely monitor the cracks on the pavement and give the upper lines time to improve. If the bottom is ground to shit the middle line becomes a lot faster. Fix the next gen on short tracks. That’s the real issue.

People will grow to hate this track because historically it’s a caution free track where only about 10 cars on the lead lap. Fans just think they want this track back because they don’t ACTUALLY know why it left in the first place.

I wonder when they repave if they did the variable banking how the racing would be with some obvious changes to the short track package.

I hope in 2024 the short track package would be fixed

track surface should stay the same but also add some multi groove flare in some way, but they should REALLY look into improving their short track package. I don’t expect to see alot of passing for the lead but at i should see some sort of hard racing in the top 10 at a track like this. Also this track in the future should own its place on the schedule for cup and trucks as a points paying race replacing texas. anyway from watchin the race this weekend, it was enjoyable for the most part till sunday. hope NASCAR doesn’t fumble with this special track in the future.

My best possible nascar schedule for 2024. Won't happen cause contracts but my best case Busch clash-Daytona Road course, Cota, new Auto Club, Sonoma, Five Flags speedway. It's February go somewhere warm not named LA. Week 1 Daytona Week 2 Rockingham,LV,PHX Week 3 LV,PhX, Rockingham Week 4 PHX,Rockingham,LV Order those either 3 ways Week 5 Atlanta Week 6 Cota Week 7 Richmond Week 8 Bristol(not dirt) Week 9 Martinsville Week 10 Talladega Week 11 Dover Week 12 Kansas Week 13 Darlington All star race-Nashville superspeedway Week 14 Charlotte Week 15 Gateway Week 16 Sonoma Week 17 Milwaukee Mile or Iowa Week 18 Daytona(4th of july) Week 19 Pocono Week 20 New Hampshire Week 21 ATL Week 22 North Wilkesboro Week 23 Michigan Week 24 Brickyard 400(no road course) Week 25 Milwaukee or Iowa Week 26 Texas Week 27 Dover Week 28 Richmond Week 29 playoffs Darlington Week 30 Kansas Week 31 Bristol Week 32 Chicagoland Week 33 Talladega Week 34 Charlotte roval Week 35 LV Week 36 Phx Week 37 Martinsville Week 38 Homestead

I wasn't particularly thrilled with the race itself but it was a great atmosphere. More of a conga line with one or two exceptions. But it really did have a nostalgic feeling. I rate it as OK.

Keep the track, but change the aero package. 750 horsepower at max.

It was exciting when they had restarts but I think if it was longer and had green flag pit stops I think that would add some fire to it especially more lap traffic to go through

Every time the trucks ran canadian tire motorsports park the attendance for all 3 days the series was there attendance was 85,000

Does the success of north wilksboro suggest you could see a return of rockingham?

Turn it into a permanent dirt track and hold a Cup race there every year. And put Bristol back to two concrete races.

keep it for the All star race as a "crown jewel event"

I agree with Kyle Larson, repave the outside lane only and have another all star race there. Could prove to be some exciting different action on the racetrack.

Yes pave it. I think yes race on it wear it out break it in how ever you see it. Run points race on it.

If they come back and resurface the track, I hope they make it concrete.

Right now I see it becoming a points race to replace autoclub as the second race of the season which would be bad due to the cold

NASCAR should keep this as the All Star race track also bring the Xfinity here and the weekly series also the CARS Tour should keep racing here each year and the ARCA and Wheelen Modifieds should run here the track was rebuild so now is time to use it as in the 90s

The track was great, the atmosphere was great. There were only two things that really killed what could have been a really memorable race: 1. The awful short track package, and 2. The commentating. To fix the package really seems like a no-brainer- give the cars more power and therefore give the drivers more ability to make things happen. Now the commentating is a little less obvious other than "Keep DW far away from the booth". It's not just that simple though since the others guys really aren't all that great either.

For that bit about your hometown short track, im kinda worried thats whats going to hapoen to wall stadium in nj, its basically my childhokd track and i really dont want to see it go any tine soon

This track is close enough to Bristol, which doesn’t have the same stature it once held, that maybe it’s time to have ONE points race at each!

Bro you’re so much better in These videos where you seem to be talking off the cuff compared to your more scripted short docs about particular drivers or events from the past. If you could incorporate the two styles I think it could only help. You know enough about the sport where i don’t think you need to script those entire videos, Just some notes to keep you on track and you’d know what to say. Please don’t take that as me being shitty I’m not I’ve just noticed how much better you sound in these