{"id":1933425,"date":"2023-05-18T12:47:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-18T16:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nascars-all-star-race-goes-big-by-going-small\/"},"modified":"2023-05-18T12:58:20","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T16:58:20","slug":"nascars-all-star-race-goes-big-by-going-small","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nascars-all-star-race-goes-big-by-going-small\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR&#8217;s All-Star Race downsizes for a big impact."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnascars-all-star-race-goes-big-by-going-small%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1933425&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Reviving a Historic Track: NASCAR&#8217;s All-Star Race Returns to North Wilkesboro Speedway<\/h2>\n<p>Stock car racing\u2019s parent organization turns 75 this year, and the sport\u2019s governing body developed an interesting way of celebrating. NASCAR decided to go big by going small and returning the sport to its short-track roots.<\/p>\n<h3>A Historic Track\u2019s Decline<\/h3>\n<p>In many respects, North Wilkesboro\u2019s history echoes that of NASCAR itself. Located in an area known as the moonshine capital of America, the track \u2014 which hosted a race in NASCAR\u2019s first season of 1949 \u2014 reflected the sport\u2019s hardscrabble roots.<\/p>\n<p>The track\u2019s founders ran out of money during the construction process, leaving them without the funds to grade the track properly. As a result, North Wilkesboro\u2019s front stretch goes downhill while its back stretch runs uphill, adding a unique challenge for teams trying to optimize cars\u2019 performance and setup.<\/p>\n<p>Junior Johnson \u2014 the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nascars-all-star-race-goes-big-by-going-small\/\" title=\"NASCAR's All-Star Race downsizes for a big impact.\">moonshiner-turned-stock car racer<\/a> that Tom Wolfe famously profiled as \u201cThe Last American Hero\u201d \u2014 hailed from Wilkes County and cut his teeth at North Wilkesboro. Benny Parsons, another Hall of Famer from Wilkes County, learned to race at North Wilkesboro, eventually battling with legends like Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip.<\/p>\n<p>By the 1990s, however, NASCAR had outgrown its Appalachian and southern roots and seemingly outgrew North Wilkesboro. Few seats, and virtually no luxury suites and other modern amenities, meant the track couldn\u2019t compete for scarce race dates with newer \u2014 and glitzier \u2014 tracks in the Northeast and West.<\/p>\n<p>The track was sold, and its race dates transferred to tracks in Texas and New Hampshire. Jeff Gordon won North Wilkesboro\u2019s last race, in 1996, symbolizing how the infusion of new money had made stock car racing more buttoned-down and corporate.<\/p>\n<h3>Unlikely Revival<\/h3>\n<p>After North Wilkesboro closed more than a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/beavis-and-butt-head-are-back-with-a-movie-and-havent-matured-at-all\/\" title=\"Beavis And Butt-Head Are Back With A Movie And Haven\u2019t Matured At All\">quarter-century ago<\/a>, a dedicated group of fans and civic boosters held out hope that the track would one day reopen. Even as weeds grew in the stands and on the track, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/review-loki-finally-gives-marvel-fans-the-series-theyve-been-waiting-for\/\" title=\"REVIEW: Loki Finally Gives Marvel Fans the Series They\u2019ve Been Waiting For\">die-hard fans<\/a> kept the dream of racing\u2019s return alive.<\/p>\n<p>Salvation finally arrived in the unlikeliest of forms for this historic track. In late 2019, Dale Earnhardt Jr., son of the legendary North Carolina driver and a NASCAR Hall of Famer in his own right, began an effort to clean up North Wilkesboro\u2019s weeds and debris so engineers could scan its surface and convert it into a virtual track for iRacing.<\/p>\n<p>But what began as an effort to preserve North Wilkesboro in the virtual world eventually turned into something very real. The track reopened for some grassroots racing last summer and fall, with Earnhardt Jr. participating, showing his gratitude \u2014 and disbelief \u2014 that the track had come back from its seeming demise.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly thereafter, NASCAR announced that North Wilkesboro would host the sport\u2019s All-Star Race this weekend as part of the sport\u2019s 75th anniversary celebration. In preparation for the race, the track received new lights, upgraded safety fencing, a repaved pit road, and upgraded suites.<\/p>\n<p><strong>And before anyone points out that most of the money for the North Wilkesboro renovations came from Democrats\u2019 2021 so-called \u201cstimulus\u201d measure, I should state for the record that Washington should NOT finance such projects, particularly when the federal government is $31 trillion in debt. States, localities, and private entities can choose to fund these projects so federal taxpayers don\u2019t fund additional boondoggles in the name of \u201cCovid relief.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Grand Reopening<\/h3>\n<p>Fans traveling to North Wilkesboro this weekend may find a fan experience comparatively primitive by modern standards. Amenities at the track remain somewhat scarce, and parking rare. With only one way into the track and one way out, departing the track after Sunday night\u2019s race will take time and patience.<\/p>\n<p>But many diehard stock car racing fans will have patience in abundance as they enjoy the renewal of a track many of them had longed to return to. This weekend\u2019s race comes as NASCAR tries to recreate the experience of short track racing, constructing a new track in the Los Angeles Coliseum last year for an exhibition race, and converting another California track from a two-mile oval into a more intimate experience on a smaller track.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to North Wilkesboro, however, NASCAR doesn\u2019t have to recreate any experiences \u2014 it still has the original. And while historic sporting venues such as Detroit\u2019s Tiger Stadium, the Boston Garden, and Chicago Stadium have long since fallen victim to the wrecking ball, North Wilkesboro endured long enough to see its renaissance. That alone should prove a reason to celebrate this weekend.<\/p>\n<p><em>Chris Jacobs is founder and CEO of Juniper Research Group, and author of the book &#8220;The Case Against Single Payer.&#8221; He is on Twitter: @chrisjacobsHC.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NASCAR marks its 75th anniversary by returning to its short-track roots. The All-Star Race will be held at North Wilkesboro Speedway in western North Carolina, celebrating the sport&#8217;s parent organization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":1933426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[7871,16129,5663,25620,5069],"class_list":["post-1933425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-all-star","tag-downsizes","tag-impact","tag-nascars","tag-race"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1933425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1933425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1933425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1933426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1933425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1933425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1933425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}