NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — NASCAR's second trip in as many years to North Wilkesboro will come with a big investment from the North Carolina General Assembly.
The NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race will take place at North Wilkesboro Speedway (NWS) on May 19, 2024, with a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Race and the All-Star Race Open taking place in the preceding two days. NASCAR announced the news on Thursday.
North Wilkesboro hosted its first NASCAR race since 1996 in May for the All-Star Race, which was won by Kyle Larson. Speculation surmounted on whether NWS would once again host the All-Star Race, get a points-paying race, or be left off the 2024 schedule entirely.
The recently passed North Carolina state budget allocates $4 million to be granted to Speedway Motorsports, which owns North Wilkesboro and Charlotte Motor Speedway, among other tracks. The funding comes from interest earned from the State Fiscal Recovery Reserve, according to the budget.
In the budget's full report, the funding is allowed to be used for "repairs, renovations, and other capital improvements at the speedway." The budget requires NWS to host at least one more race after the 2023 event in order to receive the funds.
NWS opened in 1947 as a dirt track and hosted its first NASCAR race in 1949, the inaugural season of the NASCAR Cup Series - then-NASCAR Strickly Stock Division. The track more or less hosted two races a year until 1996, when it was taken off the schedule and left mostly dormant for over two decades.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., a NASCAR Hall of Famer, increased attention on the track after he helped create an iRacing event for the abandoned facility. Earnhardt's expressed interest in the track found backing from North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, who allocated state and federal funding to be put forward into renovating the track for NASCAR events.
An $18 million grant was used from American Rescue Plan Act funding to support renovations at the track.
It remains uncertain if NWS will get a points-paying race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. NASCAR has yet to announce the full 2024 schedule, leaving many questions unanswered at this time.
North Carolina's other major former Cup Series attraction, Rockingham Speedway, has not been announced to have NASCAR return but is getting some funding toward a possible comeback. The North Carolina budget calls for $2 million in State Fiscal Recovery Reserve funds to be used for the construction of a pedestrian bridge at the track.