Final Thoughts: North Wilkesboro All-Star Race

​This year's NACAR All-Star Race was the most anticipated All-Star Race since I've been alive. There are a few reasons for this. First, the event was brought back to North Carolina after spending some time in Tennessee and Texas due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, the beloved North Wilkesboro Speedway was revived after nearly three decades in ruins for this event. Lastly, but most importantly, my favorite driver, Ricky Stenhouse, had locked in his position in the race since he won the Daytona 500 earlier this season. ​

North Wilkesboro Speedway is a historic track in Wilkes County, North Carolina, roughly an hour and fifteen minutes north of Charlotte Motor Speedway. Many of us North Carolinians may have passed the old track on 421 heading to Boone or Greensboro. The track was opened in 1949 and hosted NASCAR Cup Series Races until 1996 when it was shut down due to a lack of demand for the sport in the area.  

The last race at North Wilkesboro was a battle between Jeff Gordon and his #24 Rainbow Warrior Dupont Chevy and Dale Earnhardt and his signature #3 Goodwrench Chevy. Gordon would win his tenth and last win of the 1996 season at North Wilkesboro. 

As far as tonight's race goes, it was boring once Larson found his way in first on Lap 55, but you've got to respect the grind it took him to get there. Larson started the race in 16th. On lap 17, the #5 team decided to pit and change out tires early on. The decision to change out tires gave Larson an advantage, and over the next 38 laps, he pushed his way to the front and continued to hold that spot for the rest of the race. Slowly, he started lapping cars one by one, ensuring he would finish in the top 10 should he have to pit due to some random incident. Ultimately, it paid off because Kyle Larson is $1 Million richer tonight. 

What's cool about Larson winning this race is that in 1996, the #5 car won the first race at North Wilkesboro in the 1996 season, driven by Terry Labonte. Labonte would also go on to win the Cup Series Championship that year. 

Personally, it was a disappointing day for me. Ricky Stenhouse and the #47 team had the worst race they've had all season. Unfortunately, it happens to be the race with $1 Million on the line, but fortunately, it doesn't count for points. Ricky did cause the only cation this race. He was running high on one of the turns, and when he attempted to get back in line, Erik Jones clipped his back driver's side, spinning Stenhouse out. Nothing too serious. 

Stenhouse wasn't able to gain any traction for most of the race. He had a few really good laps, but his lap times were not consistent enough to keep up with the lap times of Kyle Larson, an issue everyone ran into tonight. It just wasn't Stenhouse's night. We move forward. 

Overall, I was very pleased with what NASCAR did with North Wilkesboro. Seeing a track before my time revived was cool, and I enjoyed seeing a race on that super old pavement. I would have liked to have seen a longer race where teams had to strategize more on when to change tires, but I won't complain. I hope North Wilkesboro becomes a crown jewel race for the NASCAR Cup Series like Charlotte, Daytona, Bristol, or Talladega. 

Personally, I believe you could not have done an All-Star Race more perfectly. I mean, Kyle Larson didn't have to dominate the way he did, and there could have been a big wreck or two, but outside of the actual race, you could not have done an All-Star Race more perfectly. 

There isn't another league that connects with its past better than NASCAR. You can't get that much of a better throwback between the throwback event at Darlington, the North Wilkesboro Revival, and even the little moonshine shack in the middle of North Wilkesboro. This event did a fantastic job bringing together original fans and this new generation of fans. Grandpas, dads, and sons enjoying a race together. That bond keeps the sport going and will continue to keep the sport going for decades to come. It's what got me into the sport. 

I hope the North Wilkesboro Project sheds more light on the sport and helps other smaller tracks around the country become the place to be on Saturday nights, much like Friday Night Football. This race and this revival of this track helped NASCAR get back to its roots. To its original fans. Ultimately, local tracks like this will keep NASCAR alive in the future. The more, the merrier.