North Wilkesboro Speedway. (HHP/Harold Hinson)
NORTH WILKESBORO, NC — With the 2022 NASCAR season in the rearview mirror and race teams slowing down a bit for the holidays, construction workers at North Wilkesboro Speedway are hard at work preparing the historic venue for NASCAR All-Star Race Week in May 2023
As part of NASCAR’s 75th Anniversary season, the famed 0.625-mile short course will host NASCAR’s Premier Series for the first time since 1996.
As the track prepares for a packed race week from May 16-21, media representatives were invited to the speedway on Tuesday afternoon for a look at the upgrades currently underway, including renovations to the speedway’s suite boxes, infield grading and preparations the track to install a safer barrier. North Wilkesboro Speedway will host CRA Super Late Models, CARS Pro and Late Model Stocks, NASCAR Craftsman Trucks and NASCAR Cup Series Stock Cars for racing events in May.
“Typically on a construction project we either start, completely demolish and rebuild, or we start at a new location and build from scratch,” said Steve Swift, Speedway Motorsports senior vice president of operations and development. “So this was, how do we hold on to preserve the story? How do we preserve the facilities that are here and then how do we recreate them in a new way that’s safe and modern for the fans.”
“The biggest thing we’ve started with is the infield to get ready for the competitive play for NASCAR racing,” added Swift. “We added concrete walls. We have started preparing these concrete walls for the SAFER barrier. We removed the old wheel fence and began fabricating for the installation of the new wheel fence.
“On the infield itself, probably the biggest piece that is currently visible is the drainage that we put in. We added tons of rainwater to solve any existing water issues and prepare for the future.”
Additional improvements planned ahead of next year’s All-Star race weekend include renovation of the scoring tower, reinstallation of a manual lap counting and top five scoreboard, installation of Musco track lights and paving of garage areas in the inner field.
The 2023 NASCAR All-Star race week features six days or nights of entertainment, including:
Tuesday, May 16: CRA Super Late Model Series
Wednesday, May 17: CARS Pro and Late Model Stocks
Friday, May 19: NASCAR Craftsman Truck and Cup Series Practice; Concert (Artist TBA)
Saturday, May 20: NASCAR Cup Series qualifiers and Craftsman Truck Series races
Sunday, May 21: NASCAR Open and NASCAR All-Star Race
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