There's something hauntingly fantastic about this video. Yes, the infrastructure is old and crumbling. But you can feel the character of this glorious place and the stories it tells. There's no multi-billion dollar track that will ever achieve what this place has seen. This is and will forever be the heart of NASCAR.
This video is really something. It made me feel a flood of emotions. The joy of being a child during a great era of NASCAR and of The South in general. Also the sadness of realizing Im getting older and many of the things I loved growing up will slowly fade away until I myself have joined them.
Roy Mullins You've been able to put my own thoughts into words. I love doing videos of things that have seen better days. It's interesting and sad, but you said it best, my friend.
This is the place I used to go with my dad as a kid... the place I saw my first Nascar race. It's hard watching this track slowly fade into nothing more than a memory.
Heartbreaking! In our younger days, we spent many happy hours watching the races at this grand old lady in the Brushy Mountains. So much history lies behind this video, and it truly brings tears to see the beautiful lady today. Age has not treated her kindly, nor did two stubborn but rich old men treat her fairly. North Wilkesboro never deserved the fate handed to her by Bob Bahre and Bruton Smith. A pox on both your houses. Thanks so much for showing this. I didn't want to watch it, but I couldn't not watch it.
Thanks for sharing the video of the track. Looks really cool from high above. Neat angle to see it from. We have shared this to our facebook page for everyone to check out. Thanks again.
I love the video. It's cool how the racetrack is in the middle of such a natural area. It's lush rolling hills, then racetrack, then more lush rolling hills.
I was just there today and wanted to go inside so badly! thanks for the great aerial view! Sad to see the track sitting all alone - I hope that something could be done to resurrect this forgotten gem! Carla
This is one of my favorite videos on the entire Internet. Very well done. I have a DJI drone myself, and actually did a similar video for my hometown track, which just ran its last race and is being bulldozed. I got the idea from this. North Wilkesboro is a thing of beauty, and this really shows what is still there and what it could still be. I went to some races there in 2010 when it briefly reopened, and it was the most nostalgic experience I have ever had.
This video was great! It really hit home with this track. Thank you so much for making this and if you could make more videos of drag strips and circle tracks that would be awesome! Thank you
Absolutely amazing! I was there a few months ago taking pictures but could not get enough access to do the track justice. I would encourage you to document all the abandoned raceways you can find as it is amazing subject matter and a valuable contribution to history. Thank you.
Erick, thank you for the kind words. I am looking for more places to shoot. There is a FB group called "Lost Speedways" and I have asked them for input.
This is the new U.S.A., haywire. Bought up and abandoned by corporations. I'm looking forward to how they settle between the Home Depot and Lowes situation. We are fucked peeps.
this makes me sad. To see this track in the shape it is in now. Just a shell of what made NASCAR so great. That is how I can describe this track now. This place had character. Something that is lacking in NASCAR today. It still angers me and upsets me to this day that Rockingham and North Wilkesboro were casualties of NASCAR's greed and expansion.
Wilkes County means nothing to fancy-pants executives. All the great ideas and innovation originated here, and then corporate guys came in, bought it, and left.
It's our fault too, we quit filling the stands, found watching on tv and from the comforts of home better than going to the track. So we as fans own part of the blame too the track, the sponsors, nascar none of them can make money and stay open if we arent in the stands
I would not say it was our fault. Most races at North Wilkesboro were sold out. The deal was they wanted to expand into different markets back in the early 90s. NASCAR had its sellout crowds in the 90s and they wanted to expand on it. North Wilkesboro tried to keep up with the growth but could not. Tracks like Martinsville and Bristol did, but North Wilkesboro could not
Thomas Jowers Bruton Smith & the then owner of New Hampshire bought it so they could take each of it's two dates on the schedule. One for Texas and the other for New Hampshire to have a second race. Wilkes was always a sell-out. The bigger tracks sold the pie in the sky because they had more seats. Now they are lucky to outdraw NW's sell-outs for their events and often cover entire sections with banner ads. It was pure greed from SMI that shut this track down. They also openly never had any interest in running other events there like Trucks, or even ARCA. Poor planning thinking NASCAR would just keep growing, no clue that it was at it's peak and would start to drop with time.
Spike Rogan North Wilkesboro wasn't keeping up with the times. The amenities were really outdated and the septic system there wasn't too good either. It also doesn't help that it's smack dab in the middle of the most over served racing market in the world. It just can't compete with eight other tracks on the Sprint Cup schedule in the South, especially when Charlotte is only 90 minutes away.
Excellent video of the by-gone era. Brought back so many memories. Remember having the Highway Patrol stopping traffic on (then two lane) US421 for race attendees to cross to the parking fields. Always look up at the stands when heading to and from the mountains. My only suggestion would be to include some audio highlight clips of past famous races/drivers. Having selected audio fade in and out of the great background music would add a sense of history to the great visuals.
The biggest problem isn't the crumbling infrastructure although it's a very close second, it's that North Wilkesboro is located right in the most saturated racing market in the world. Atlanta, Bristol, Charlotte, Darlington, Daytona, Kentucky (I would consider that more of a midwest track but I included it because it's in a southern state), Martinsville, Richmond and Talladega are all within a days drive of North Wilkesboro. All these tracks don't kill each other because most of the people that attend these tracks come from the local area. Most of the people that go to Bristol are from the East Tennessee area. In North Carolina, you have North Wilkesboro, Rockingham and Charlotte Motor Speedway. With tickets over $100 a person, extortionist hotel prices and other etc., the fans who want to support all three of the tracks can't afford it. They can only afford to support Charlotte. The bottom line: I could maybe see the Trucks and/or Nationwide Series return to Rockingham but I'm afraid North Wilkesboro is doomed to the race track graveyard. The best thing to do would be to tear it down to give it a merciful end.
bret riley I totally agree man. I used to absolutely love to go to a NASCAR race. Now I'd rather watch paint dry then to attend any race at my local track, which is Charlotte.
Ryan Roberts while it breaks my heart to see the track like this, and I agree that NASCAR did get greedy and expand to quickly, turning away from NASCAR isn't really the answer. There are still a lot of great things about the sport and some fantastic racing! Give it another chance!
Thomas Goris Thomas, thanks man for the response. I'll be honest, I really miss the races from a long time ago. I could sit and watch an entire race. Today, it just seems so boring. I still follow it to see who wins and other news. I did however, enjoy that deal at Charlotte last Saturday lol.
bret riley Exactly, and I remember when these Saturday night races were so good, I'd be on the edge of my seat. But now, I just use them to fall asleep.
Most saturated market for asphalt racing, but not mega dirt events. NWMS has a good chance at being a great dirt venue. It would be the cheapest and quickest way to get the doors back open. Major dirt tours could be running here as soon as 2016. Local dirt tracks in the Mid-Atlantic regions are doing well. Everyone wants to talk about Nascar's roots, well it really did start on pavement. This track would be a great asset to the dirt track at Charlotte. It really is the perfect size and in a great location to do the bigger touring series. An Eldora in the east. I hear a lot of things about what the real problem is. Bruton Smith wanting 12million for it is a start. I have heard the town is not very supportive, which is amazing considering how much a track like this could do for the area, an area that could use a little boost. There would be a ton of work just to get it up and running and safe for fans and drivers. I would imagine it needs repaving at this point, what a perfect time to remove the old asphalt, start hauling in clay and reconfigure it as a 1/2 mile. Dirt it and save it, otherwise it will be razed and will never return as a track.,
There is so much potential for this track still. Not so much as a NASCAR Sprint Cup track, but maybe the Modified Tours and ARCA. They could even restore the outside and make the inside of the buildings into a museum and have it run as an active track still...
I live 30 mins from the track and ride by from time to time. Glad to see it is still in better shape than one would think since riding by it on the backroad(that crosses over 421) it doesn't look in the best shape. I really hope something can be put together to get some kind of race there
It's absolutely riveting watching this video NOW seeing what the track has become in just a couple of short years. Its' resurrection is basically unprecedented in the history of american sports facilities.
One thing I've always wanted to do if I had the money, is to renovate tracks like this and reestablish them to race-ready. It's a shame to see such great tracks go to waste and not see anyone help the tracks.
I would too, but beyond the structural problems of the track is the fact that it lies on what I call the "421 Axis of Doom." Highway 421 is the link between Charlotte Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway. North Wilkesboro wouldn't be able to compete with both.
If I ever win the Powerball or Mega Millions (at least 100 million), I am going to buy this track, overhaul whatever is crumbling/falling apart, update the facility, completely redo the infield area (new garages, rework pit road), add SAFER Barriers, a lighting system, add new bathrooms, build proper parking lots, make a small museum that fans will be able to visit and relive all of the fantastic memories this track gave us until NASCAR left after the 1996 Winston Cup race that Jeff Gordon won, add new catch fence to replace the rusting old one, make the walls slightly taller, add a medical and media center to the infield, and lastly, add more seats to bring the seating capacity up to 70,000. I would spare no expense to bring NASCAR back to this track. There are too many cookie-cutter tracks (1.5 miles) that have hurt NASCAR and we need this legendary short track to live again as a stop on the Truck, Nationwide, and Sprint Cup Series schedule.
You would need a whole lot more than $100 mill to bring this track back on the circuit. Just the SAFER barriers this place would need alone would probably be a quarter of your budget. The track would need to be totally stripped of its asphalt and repaved, the buildings would either need to be torn down and rebuilt, or they can be repaired if they can be. The grandstands would need to be inspected and if nessisary, torn down and rebuilt. I'd say play the Powerball when it hits around $500-$600 mill. That should be more than enough. Good luck, I'd love to see this place reopen.
Amazing vid, so smooth, are you a professional photographer or videographer? Music is matched perfectly, a joy and eerie to watch! It would be great if they could find a creative way to recycle the use of the facility if it's not feasible to use as original purpose! Might be a great setting for markets: farmers, flea or other with various vendors. Though, it would be especially cool if they could draw vendors who deal in NASCAR or racing memorabilia or related products!
Thank you for the kind words. "Professional" is a loaded word. I am better than a lot of people, and a lot of people are better than me. But it is work that I love. And a FB group called "Save the Speedway" has received a lot of new likes this past week. I don't know if this racetrack will return to any type of use, but the ravages of time are fascinating, sad, and inevitable.
hey Bob Ashbury is there anyone i can talk to about maybe visiting this track? I have a Jeep Patriot and I'm a huge NASCAR fan I seen the last race at North Wilkesboro on TV before they closed it and I would love to go inside it take some pictures of my Jeep before it finally crumbles away is there anyone i can talk to you to make this happen?
That would be cool, but I highly doubt it. I actually went there two weeks ago in an attempt to do a follow up to this video. The "caretaker" there would not allow me anywhere near the track. Although I could have slipped off somewhere and flown over the track anyway, I respected the speedways wishes and went home.
Man that sucks, can you still get to the buildings around the track not inside of it I just want to get my Jeep in some shots for memories not on the actual track. I just want to know how close I can get to get some pictures
ashamed it's gone. Like many others before it, good memories. The track was sold so they (Bruton Smith and Bob Bahre) could get the race dates for Texas Motor Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Ironically,NHMS is now owned by Bruton.
This would be a fantastic place to have a Camaro event like Camaro Fest. I rode past this race track on the day the very last day of nascar racing. It was packed. They had cars parked in the cow pasture across the road, with a barbed wire fence around it. Ever though I do not like nascar, It's still sad to see this historic place fall to ruins like it has.
When you get a minute go to RUclips and punch in "Life after people".Discovery Channel had these episodes on a few years ago, The special effects are FANTASTIC. It shows the world 50 to 1,000 years after all human life is wiped out in a catastrophe like a meteor. You'll get hooked to watch all the episodes I promise.Amazing.
When I look at the track, I picture Richard Petty flying around there in his 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner and Leeroy Yarborough chasing him in his 1969 Torino . It's a shame that they can't do other racing there. All I have to say is, they better not stop the Southern 500 at Darlington or I'll be pissed.
they should maybe get rid of indianapolis and bring places like this back. indianapolis continues to hold lackbuster racing while tracks like this had good racing. indianapolis was popular initially but after the tire-ridden 2008 race, they can't even fill half of the stands, heck now they probably barely fill a quarter of those stands, plus indy is the hallowed grounds for open-wheel racing, stock cars are not as popular in this part of the country, if you want stock cars in indy, put them on the lucas oil raceway, a place the xfinity and truck series should have never left, i put together a fictional schedule with 38 points race that includes nashville superspeedway instead of indy on the cup schedule because let's face it right now nascar would not go back to north wilkesboro and i wanted to include another southern race, nashville, though fans complained about lackbuster racing there, would definitely have a better race than indy as that track is much more acclimated to stock cars than indy is, though nashville will never have the prestige like north wilkesboro does, but like i said indy should go and north wilkesboro should come back, the initial popularity of the brickyard 400 might have come more from curiosity of stock cars racing at a place renowned for the indy 500, now that fans have basically seen all there is to see there, they don't want to go there now, so like i say get rid of it, though stock cars were popular at indy initially, i think indy will forever be an open-wheel-only track, plus nascar leaving indy would not do any harm to the speedway, it will always be there because of the indy 500 and indy is a national historic landmark, even if racing were to somehow leave indy, they would amke it a museum for sure, north wilkesboro is basically to nascar what indy is to indycar, what i have just said though is merely an opinion and probably will not be taken seriouly by nascar if they ever read this
New Hampshire replaced on of these North Wilkes races also, and that track has had boring races all around except for like 2 of them. It's a shame none of these track company's will renovate it. I think it looks harder than it would actually be.
Andrew Byrd NH got a 2nd race though because it is the only New England track on the schedule. Would be nice if the races were more exciting though, but I do understand why they wanted 2 races there.
It hasn't sold out for years. Its a shame they they had all that empty land and unlimited budget, but decide on a Charlotte clone. 20 years later, its proving itself as a massive mistake.
Too bad, It was a nice track. Although the racing surface seems to be in decent shape along with some of the grandstands the rest of the facility is deteriorating fast and most of the buildings including the towers, suites, bathrooms ect... would need to be torn down and rebuilt due to there dilapidated condition. Even with repairs and renovations, The track would have little chance of getting back it's old glory or filling the stands...
sucks to see tracks like these with TONS of character and legacy behind them, abandoned for BORING cookie cutters being run twice a year. someone needs to save this place.
Benn a long time since I saw Wilkesboro, its pretty sad! If the truth be told!!! Progress, can be Cruel, I wonder if the powers that be were right to abandon this great short track? Guess we all have to make that decision in our own minds!!!
J'aime la NASCAR et de voire ce circuit abandonner ça me fout le cafard, c'est tellement triste que je n'ai pu allée jusqu'à la fin de la vidéo VIVE LA NASCAR
This is the exact reason that I dont care about NASCAR anymore. They have forgotten where they came from. Its all about the money now. Every track being built is a copy of Charlotte. And the cars are just as bad. Lets go back to the days of Pontiac, Buick, Ford and Chevy. And you raced for yourself not for a team of drivers
local racing wasnt even worth it to keep it going? maybe the owners couldnt afford the upkeep? what kills me is someone still takes care of the grass on the inside and everything, yet they just let the track fall apart...sad indeed
The track has pretty much been shuttered since 1996, other than a few test sessions, and a P.A.S.S. Latemodel event a few years ago. S.M.I. (Bruton Smith) still owns the track but there have been many attempts to buy it, but Bruton won't sell it to anybody that really wants to do anything really racing related. Junior Johnson, Tommy Houston and Teresa Earnhardt, Morgan Shepherd, Harry Gant, and many more have attempted to buy North Wilkes to reopen as a local short track, being the closest paved tracks are in Hickory and Winston-Salem (Tri-County in Valdese shutdown...), but Bruton would pretty much rather have it developed into a housing development than lower the price for a good racing oriented group to buy it....
Yea this is such a shame. it is what is wrong with Bruton and nascar. to many cookie cutter mile and a half tracks if they shut down darlington I will never watch nascar ever again. I think a event here in stead of 2 time to bristol and 3 times to lowes would be cool.
Too bad this track is sitting here rotting but the reality is that North Wilkesboro is in the middle of nowhere and too far away from any population center. The best thing to do is to tear it down because right now its becoming an environmental hazard. Can you imagine a lighting strike hitting that place and starting a fire? If the folks at Rockingham went bankrupt this place does not stand a chance in hell....
Where it's located is a problem, but not because it's in the middle of nowhere. It's because North Wilkesboro is in the most saturated race market in the world.
And in the middle of nowhere. No infrastructure to support a modern NASCAR race. Few hotels, no other attractions like malls or shopping. Just the track itself. It's a cool track but it's far out there. I live in VA and we have two NASCAR tracks. If I had to pick between Richmond and Martinsville I would say Martinsville is in trouble because it's in the middle of nowhere and may be the next track to go or at least lose one of its races.
Lorenzo Haskins Dude, Martinsville is not going anywhere. Martinsville is so iconic, popular, and well liked from NASCAR that it is staying on the schedule. The beating and banging in the tight turns, the tracks famous hot dogs, and paper clip design is what makes Martinsville famous. I don't know what makes you think that Martinsville is in trouble. If you ever say that to Darrell Waltrip and Richard Petty, the two who did well driving there besides Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, they would think that you are out of your fucking mind.
I too love Martinsville Tyler, I'm from VA, but with Brian France at the helm of NASCAR and that idiot Mike Helton as president there is no telling what they may do next. Remember they got rid of the Southern 500, one of the most iconic races on the schedule. NASCAR doesn't care about history but just making money. I'm willing to bet when the 2024 season comes around Martinsville will not be on the schedule.
There's something hauntingly fantastic about this video. Yes, the infrastructure is old and crumbling. But you can feel the character of this glorious place and the stories it tells. There's no multi-billion dollar track that will ever achieve what this place has seen. This is and will forever be the heart of NASCAR.
That's very nice of you. Thank you!
Mauler it's true
This video is really something. It made me feel a flood of emotions. The joy of being a child during a great era of NASCAR and of The South in general. Also the sadness of realizing Im getting older and many of the things I loved growing up will slowly fade away until I myself have joined them.
Roy Mullins You've been able to put my own thoughts into words. I love doing videos of things that have seen better days. It's interesting and sad, but you said it best, my friend.
Roy Mullins Like Bob said, that was well said :(
This is the place I used to go with my dad as a kid... the place I saw my first Nascar race. It's hard watching this track slowly fade into nothing more than a memory.
Heartbreaking! In our younger days, we spent many happy hours watching the races at this grand old lady in the Brushy Mountains. So much history lies behind this video, and it truly brings tears to see the beautiful lady today. Age has not treated her kindly, nor did two stubborn but rich old men treat her fairly. North Wilkesboro never deserved the fate handed to her by Bob Bahre and Bruton Smith. A pox on both your houses.
Thanks so much for showing this. I didn't want to watch it, but I couldn't not watch it.
Thanks for sharing the video of the track. Looks really cool from high above. Neat angle to see it from. We have shared this to our facebook page for everyone to check out. Thanks again.
I love the video. It's cool how the racetrack is in the middle of such a natural area. It's lush rolling hills, then racetrack, then more lush rolling hills.
I was just there today and wanted to go inside so badly! thanks for the great aerial view! Sad to see the track sitting all alone - I hope that something could be done to resurrect this forgotten gem!
Carla
Wow. Great to see the track once again. Great memories of the place.
Once upon a time...
This is one of my favorite videos on the entire Internet. Very well done. I have a DJI drone myself, and actually did a similar video for my hometown track, which just ran its last race and is being bulldozed. I got the idea from this. North Wilkesboro is a thing of beauty, and this really shows what is still there and what it could still be. I went to some races there in 2010 when it briefly reopened, and it was the most nostalgic experience I have ever had.
Thank you for those incredibly kind words! ~Bob
This video was great! It really hit home with this track. Thank you so much for making this and if you could make more videos of drag strips and circle tracks that would be awesome! Thank you
Absolutely amazing! I was there a few months ago taking pictures but could not get enough access to do the track justice. I would encourage you to document all the abandoned raceways you can find as it is amazing subject matter and a valuable contribution to history. Thank you.
Erick, thank you for the kind words. I am looking for more places to shoot. There is a FB group called "Lost Speedways" and I have asked them for input.
That was awesome, but sad. It was like going to a ghost town and remembering what it was like in it's glory. Great video :)
This is the new U.S.A., haywire. Bought up and abandoned by corporations.
I'm looking forward to how they settle between the Home Depot and Lowes situation. We are fucked peeps.
I wasn't even born when North Wilkesboro hosted his final race and I want it to come back
this makes me sad. To see this track in the shape it is in now. Just a shell of what made NASCAR so great. That is how I can describe this track now. This place had character. Something that is lacking in NASCAR today. It still angers me and upsets me to this day that Rockingham and North Wilkesboro were casualties of NASCAR's greed and expansion.
Wilkes County means nothing to fancy-pants executives. All the great ideas and innovation originated here, and then corporate guys came in, bought it, and left.
It's our fault too, we quit filling the stands, found watching on tv and from the comforts of home better than going to the track. So we as fans own part of the blame too the track, the sponsors, nascar none of them can make money and stay open if we arent in the stands
I would not say it was our fault. Most races at North Wilkesboro were sold out. The deal was they wanted to expand into different markets back in the early 90s. NASCAR had its sellout crowds in the 90s and they wanted to expand on it. North Wilkesboro tried to keep up with the growth but could not. Tracks like Martinsville and Bristol did, but North Wilkesboro could not
Thomas Jowers
Bruton Smith & the then owner of New Hampshire bought it so they could take each of it's two dates on the schedule. One for Texas and the other for New Hampshire to have a second race. Wilkes was always a sell-out. The bigger tracks sold the pie in the sky because they had more seats. Now they are lucky to outdraw NW's sell-outs for their events and often cover entire sections with banner ads. It was pure greed from SMI that shut this track down. They also openly never had any interest in running other events there like Trucks, or even ARCA. Poor planning thinking NASCAR would just keep growing, no clue that it was at it's peak and would start to drop with time.
Spike Rogan North Wilkesboro wasn't keeping up with the times. The amenities were really outdated and the septic system there wasn't too good either. It also doesn't help that it's smack dab in the middle of the most over served racing market in the world. It just can't compete with eight other tracks on the Sprint Cup schedule in the South, especially when Charlotte is only 90 minutes away.
Excellent video of the by-gone era. Brought back so many memories. Remember having the Highway Patrol stopping traffic on (then two lane) US421 for race attendees to cross to the parking fields. Always look up at the stands when heading to and from the mountains. My only suggestion would be to include some audio highlight clips of past famous races/drivers. Having selected audio fade in and out of the great background music would add a sense of history to the great visuals.
The biggest problem isn't the crumbling infrastructure although it's a very close second, it's that North Wilkesboro is located right in the most saturated racing market in the world. Atlanta, Bristol, Charlotte, Darlington, Daytona, Kentucky (I would consider that more of a midwest track but I included it because it's in a southern state), Martinsville, Richmond and Talladega are all within a days drive of North Wilkesboro. All these tracks don't kill each other because most of the people that attend these tracks come from the local area. Most of the people that go to Bristol are from the East Tennessee area. In North Carolina, you have North Wilkesboro, Rockingham and Charlotte Motor Speedway. With tickets over $100 a person, extortionist hotel prices and other etc., the fans who want to support all three of the tracks can't afford it. They can only afford to support Charlotte. The bottom line: I could maybe see the Trucks and/or Nationwide Series return to Rockingham but I'm afraid North Wilkesboro is doomed to the race track graveyard. The best thing to do would be to tear it down to give it a merciful end.
bret riley I totally agree man. I used to absolutely love to go to a NASCAR race. Now I'd rather watch paint dry then to attend any race at my local track, which is Charlotte.
Ryan Roberts while it breaks my heart to see the track like this, and I agree that NASCAR did get greedy and expand to quickly, turning away from NASCAR isn't really the answer. There are still a lot of great things about the sport and some fantastic racing! Give it another chance!
Thomas Goris Thomas, thanks man for the response. I'll be honest, I really miss the races from a long time ago. I could sit and watch an entire race. Today, it just seems so boring. I still follow it to see who wins and other news. I did however, enjoy that deal at Charlotte last Saturday lol.
bret riley Exactly, and I remember when these Saturday night races were so good, I'd be on the edge of my seat. But now, I just use them to fall asleep.
Most saturated market for asphalt racing, but not mega dirt events. NWMS has a good chance at being a great dirt venue. It would be the cheapest and quickest way to get the doors back open. Major dirt tours could be running here as soon as 2016. Local dirt tracks in the Mid-Atlantic regions are doing well. Everyone wants to talk about Nascar's roots, well it really did start on pavement. This track would be a great asset to the dirt track at Charlotte. It really is the perfect size and in a great location to do the bigger touring series. An Eldora in the east.
I hear a lot of things about what the real problem is. Bruton Smith wanting 12million for it is a start. I have heard the town is not very supportive, which is amazing considering how much a track like this could do for the area, an area that could use a little boost. There would be a ton of work just to get it up and running and safe for fans and drivers. I would imagine it needs repaving at this point, what a perfect time to remove the old asphalt, start hauling in clay and reconfigure it as a 1/2 mile. Dirt it and save it, otherwise it will be razed and will never return as a track.,
There is so much potential for this track still. Not so much as a NASCAR Sprint Cup track, but maybe the Modified Tours and ARCA. They could even restore the outside and make the inside of the buildings into a museum and have it run as an active track still...
Miss the races there...I remember driving passed it on 421 and seeing the grandstands from the highway.
This...This little track right here is what NASCAR was all about. Damn shame that its just sitting there, with nothing happening at it.
This is why I play old racing games NR2003 has the track and I race gen6 cars on it.
I live 30 mins from the track and ride by from time to time. Glad to see it is still in better shape than one would think since riding by it on the backroad(that crosses over 421) it doesn't look in the best shape. I really hope something can be put together to get some kind of race there
Awesome vantage points in this video, man. Very interesting area
God, that's the most depressing thing I've ever seen. Such a letdown from the great racing that used to happen there.
R.I.P. North Wilkesboro Speedway :(
MrBWhite88 in 2011 the track had its first race since 2011, and alot of things were fixed, like electricity and the roads
+ImpressiveMcGamer but now in 2016 it still sits abandoned rotting away.
Hi, Bob, very good work my friend, really enjoyed it, obviously you put thought and time into what you shot and edited, well done :-)
Really fucked up too see a Legendary track like North Wilkesboro look like this. It deserves better
It's absolutely riveting watching this video NOW seeing what the track has become in just a couple of short years. Its' resurrection is basically unprecedented in the history of american sports facilities.
IT IS SO SAD TO SEE THE TRACK LIKE THIS. THIS TRACK DESERVES TO BE TREATED A LOT BETTER.
I remember Jeff Gordon winning the final event here. So sad to see a great track get left behind 😔
I really wish these kinds of tracks would still be used today.
Shame...we need more short tracks on the circuit, and North Wilkesboro was a great track...
One thing I've always wanted to do if I had the money, is to renovate tracks like this and reestablish them to race-ready. It's a shame to see such great tracks go to waste and not see anyone help the tracks.
A track is not happy unless there are fans in its grandstands and cars on its surface
I want this track to come back
I remember seeing races on it before they stopped going there. Would really make Nascar unique again.
I would too, but beyond the structural problems of the track is the fact that it lies on what I call the "421 Axis of Doom." Highway 421 is the link between Charlotte Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway. North Wilkesboro wouldn't be able to compete with both.
It’s back.
great footage man. truly enjoyed this.
Thank you so much for this.. So very sad for our sport, I fear for Rockingham.
If I ever win the Powerball or Mega Millions (at least 100 million), I am going to buy this track, overhaul whatever is crumbling/falling apart, update the facility, completely redo the infield area (new garages, rework pit road), add SAFER Barriers, a lighting system, add new bathrooms, build proper parking lots, make a small museum that fans will be able to visit and relive all of the fantastic memories this track gave us until NASCAR left after the 1996 Winston Cup race that Jeff Gordon won, add new catch fence to replace the rusting old one, make the walls slightly taller, add a medical and media center to the infield, and lastly, add more seats to bring the seating capacity up to 70,000.
I would spare no expense to bring NASCAR back to this track. There are too many cookie-cutter tracks (1.5 miles) that have hurt NASCAR and we need this legendary short track to live again as a stop on the Truck, Nationwide, and Sprint Cup Series schedule.
You would need a whole lot more than $100 mill to bring this track back on the circuit. Just the SAFER barriers this place would need alone would probably be a quarter of your budget. The track would need to be totally stripped of its asphalt and repaved, the buildings would either need to be torn down and rebuilt, or they can be repaired if they can be. The grandstands would need to be inspected and if nessisary, torn down and rebuilt. I'd say play the Powerball when it hits around $500-$600 mill. That should be more than enough. Good luck, I'd love to see this place reopen.
MossyOakRcn42 The owner doesn't want to sell it, it is "braggin rights" to him. Sadly :/ Doesn't actually appreciate it.
North Wilkesboro motor speedway has been made great again.
Who owns the blue Pontiac Catalina inside the gate? I have seen it in several videos about the track.
+Jeff Marcosky Probably the caretaker or guard
Crazy how much it has fallen apart in the few years since this was taken!
Nice video! Sad to see these old tracks sit idle. Nice old car parked by the gate. Can anyone make out what it is? 76 Pontiac?
Amazing vid, so smooth, are you a professional photographer or videographer? Music is matched perfectly, a joy and eerie to watch! It would be great if they could find a creative way to recycle the use of the facility if it's not feasible to use as original purpose! Might be a great setting for markets: farmers, flea or other with various vendors. Though, it would be especially cool if they could draw vendors who deal in NASCAR or racing memorabilia or related products!
Thank you for the kind words. "Professional" is a loaded word. I am better than a lot of people, and a lot of people are better than me. But it is work that I love. And a FB group called "Save the Speedway" has received a lot of new likes this past week. I don't know if this racetrack will return to any type of use, but the ravages of time are fascinating, sad, and inevitable.
Very Nice!!
hey Bob Ashbury is there anyone i can talk to about maybe visiting this track? I have a Jeep Patriot and I'm a huge NASCAR fan I seen the last race at North Wilkesboro on TV before they closed it and I would love to go inside it take some pictures of my Jeep before it finally crumbles away is there anyone i can talk to you to make this happen?
That would be cool, but I highly doubt it. I actually went there two weeks ago in an attempt to do a follow up to this video. The "caretaker" there would not allow me anywhere near the track. Although I could have slipped off somewhere and flown over the track anyway, I respected the speedways wishes and went home.
Man that sucks, can you still get to the buildings around the track not inside of it I just want to get my Jeep in some shots for memories not on the actual track. I just want to know how close I can get to get some pictures
+Bob Asbury yah he normally yells out of his house that he is calling the cops but he never does.
+Buzzing Bark lol
Breaks my Heart.
please some more great stuff like that
Its still usable. They had over 9,000 there at one event with any paint work
Really sad to see this track falling apart from age.
ashamed it's gone. Like many others before it, good memories. The track was sold so they (Bruton Smith and Bob Bahre) could get the race dates for Texas Motor Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Ironically,NHMS is now owned by Bruton.
I heard that some drivers use this track for testing. Is that still true?
I'm pretty sure they don't.
This would be a fantastic place to have a Camaro event like Camaro Fest. I rode past this race track on the day the very last day of nascar racing. It was packed. They had cars parked in the cow pasture across the road, with a barbed wire fence around it. Ever though I do not like nascar, It's still sad to see this historic place fall to ruins like it has.
When you get a minute go to RUclips and punch in "Life after people".Discovery Channel had these episodes on a few years ago, The special effects are FANTASTIC. It shows the world 50 to 1,000 years after all human life is wiped out in a catastrophe like a meteor. You'll get hooked to watch all the episodes I promise.Amazing.
When I look at the track, I picture Richard Petty flying around there in his 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner and Leeroy Yarborough chasing him in his 1969 Torino . It's a shame that they can't do other racing there. All I have to say is, they better not stop the Southern 500 at Darlington or I'll be pissed.
It's sad to see what the track shape is in.😢 I hope in 2015 someone buy this track and reopen it again. Soo than later
they should maybe get rid of indianapolis and bring places like this back. indianapolis continues to hold lackbuster racing while tracks like this had good racing. indianapolis was popular initially but after the tire-ridden 2008 race, they can't even fill half of the stands, heck now they probably barely fill a quarter of those stands, plus indy is the hallowed grounds for open-wheel racing, stock cars are not as popular in this part of the country, if you want stock cars in indy, put them on the lucas oil raceway, a place the xfinity and truck series should have never left, i put together a fictional schedule with 38 points race that includes nashville superspeedway instead of indy on the cup schedule because let's face it right now nascar would not go back to north wilkesboro and i wanted to include another southern race, nashville, though fans complained about lackbuster racing there, would definitely have a better race than indy as that track is much more acclimated to stock cars than indy is, though nashville will never have the prestige like north wilkesboro does, but like i said indy should go and north wilkesboro should come back, the initial popularity of the brickyard 400 might have come more from curiosity of stock cars racing at a place renowned for the indy 500, now that fans have basically seen all there is to see there, they don't want to go there now, so like i say get rid of it, though stock cars were popular at indy initially, i think indy will forever be an open-wheel-only track, plus nascar leaving indy would not do any harm to the speedway, it will always be there because of the indy 500 and indy is a national historic landmark, even if racing were to somehow leave indy, they would amke it a museum for sure, north wilkesboro is basically to nascar what indy is to indycar, what i have just said though is merely an opinion and probably will not be taken seriouly by nascar if they ever read this
Can you still buy the track?
One more example of how Bruton Smith screwed the race fans. I attended the LAST NASCAR race at this track...one of my great racing memories!!
such a pity that instead of this place we have Texas
New Hampshire replaced on of these North Wilkes races also, and that track has had boring races all around except for like 2 of them. It's a shame none of these track company's will renovate it. I think it looks harder than it would actually be.
Andrew Byrd NH got a 2nd race though because it is the only New England track on the schedule. Would be nice if the races were more exciting though, but I do understand why they wanted 2 races there.
Texas doesn't need 2 races, heck it doesn't even need one.
The funny thing is Texas was not sold out this year.
It hasn't sold out for years. Its a shame they they had all that empty land and unlimited budget, but decide on a Charlotte clone. 20 years later, its proving itself as a massive mistake.
Awesome job on the video. It's a shame its just sitting and wasteing away. Rib north wilkesboro speedway
Too bad, It was a nice track. Although the racing surface seems to be in decent shape along with some of the grandstands the rest of the facility is deteriorating fast and most of the buildings including the towers, suites, bathrooms ect... would need to be torn down and rebuilt due to there dilapidated condition.
Even with repairs and renovations, The track would have little chance of getting back it's old glory or filling the stands...
sucks to see tracks like these with TONS of character and legacy behind them, abandoned for BORING cookie cutters being run twice a year. someone needs to save this place.
Benn a long time since I saw Wilkesboro, its pretty sad! If the truth be told!!! Progress, can be Cruel, I wonder if the powers that be were right to abandon this great short track? Guess we all have to make that decision in our own minds!!!
If they put the track for like 2millons this track would be saved
J'aime la NASCAR et de voire ce circuit abandonner ça me fout le cafard, c'est tellement triste que je n'ai pu allée jusqu'à la fin de la vidéo
VIVE LA NASCAR
One of the many ways NASCAR killed their golden goose.
Can't beieve it's not been turned into condos!!
a shame they dont race here anymore
Anyone know what the music is?
Hi. It is "Lost Frontier" by Kevin Mac Leod.
Darlington is not far behind here. Sickens me.
Darlington isn't going nowhere regardless if it has 1 race
This is the exact reason that I dont care about NASCAR anymore. They have forgotten where they came from. Its all about the money now. Every track being built is a copy of Charlotte. And the cars are just as bad. Lets go back to the days of Pontiac, Buick, Ford and Chevy. And you raced for yourself not for a team of drivers
Excellent, but it's breaking my heart. I hope those responsible for this rot in hell!
local racing wasnt even worth it to keep it going? maybe the owners couldnt afford the upkeep? what kills me is someone still takes care of the grass on the inside and everything, yet they just let the track fall apart...sad indeed
The track has pretty much been shuttered since 1996, other than a few test sessions, and a P.A.S.S. Latemodel event a few years ago. S.M.I. (Bruton Smith) still owns the track but there have been many attempts to buy it, but Bruton won't sell it to anybody that really wants to do anything really racing related. Junior Johnson, Tommy Houston and Teresa Earnhardt, Morgan Shepherd, Harry Gant, and many more have attempted to buy North Wilkes to reopen as a local short track, being the closest paved tracks are in Hickory and Winston-Salem (Tri-County in Valdese shutdown...), but Bruton would pretty much rather have it developed into a housing development than lower the price for a good racing oriented group to buy it....
Historic track NASCAR was dumb for leaving it
#Bringback
depressing
Yea this is such a shame. it is what is wrong with Bruton and nascar. to many cookie cutter mile and a half tracks if they shut down darlington I will never watch nascar ever again. I think a event here in stead of 2 time to bristol and 3 times to lowes would be cool.
Blame Bruton who won't sell the track
Bristol will always have 2 dates
What a shame
Too bad this track is sitting here rotting but the reality is that North Wilkesboro is in the middle of nowhere and too far away from any population center. The best thing to do is to tear it down because right now its becoming an environmental hazard. Can you imagine a lighting strike hitting that place and starting a fire? If the folks at Rockingham went bankrupt this place does not stand a chance in hell....
Where it's located is a problem, but not because it's in the middle of nowhere. It's because North Wilkesboro is in the most saturated race market in the world.
And in the middle of nowhere. No infrastructure to support a modern NASCAR race. Few hotels, no other attractions like malls or shopping. Just the track itself. It's a cool track but it's far out there. I live in VA and we have two NASCAR tracks. If I had to pick between Richmond and Martinsville I would say Martinsville is in trouble because it's in the middle of nowhere and may be the next track to go or at least lose one of its races.
Lorenzo Haskins Dude, Martinsville is not going anywhere. Martinsville is so iconic, popular, and well liked from NASCAR that it is staying on the schedule. The beating and banging in the tight turns, the tracks famous hot dogs, and paper clip design is what makes Martinsville famous. I don't know what makes you think that Martinsville is in trouble. If you ever say that to Darrell Waltrip and Richard Petty, the two who did well driving there besides Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, they would think that you are out of your fucking mind.
I too love Martinsville Tyler, I'm from VA, but with Brian France at the helm of NASCAR and that idiot Mike Helton as president there is no telling what they may do next. Remember they got rid of the Southern 500, one of the most iconic races on the schedule. NASCAR doesn't care about history but just making money. I'm willing to bet when the 2024 season comes around Martinsville will not be on the schedule.
Lorenzo Haskins They had no choice. They were forced to get rid of the Southern 500 because of legal reasons.