Ghosts of North Wilkesboro

dpkimmel2001

dpkimmel2001

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Long but interesting read for those that have the time.....

15351860089_5828231a95_k.0.jpg


One place gave us NASCAR, moonshine and Junior Johnson. So what happened after they all left?


http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2015/3/4/8126311/north-wilkesboro-speedway-after-nascar
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Long but interesting read for those that have the time.....

15351860089_5828231a95_k.0.jpg


One place gave us NASCAR, moonshine and Junior Johnson. So what happened after they all left?


http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2015/3/4/8126311/north-wilkesboro-speedway-after-nascar
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Thanks for the link as it was an interesting read.

Wilkesboro was a mighty fine little track that the competitors and fans enjoyed. It is a shame that a total of 4 races had to be taken away from Wilkesboro and the Rock and another one from Darlington. Of course Riverside was another good one too.

I almost hesitate to praise those tracks as it seems to induce apoplexy in some of the younger fans and some of the older fans with no sense of discernment.
 
That's a great article. Shame what has happened to that track. Love hearing the stories from Junior.
 
Its a long story but good stories are long. It talks about how moonshine declined, how the track declined, how the track was sold, and how Jr Johnson is just the most well know of a group local personalities.
 
dirtmod15 said:
That's a great article. Shame what has happened to that track. Love hearing the stories from Junior.
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Jr. was ......... and has always been my hero....... a down to earth racer. Just making a living guy. He done what had to be done.... and was smart enough to run a top level Nascar operation. We will probably never see another see another Jr. Johnson or Smokey Yunick......
 
kymartin6 said:
I can't argue......... I just give Bruton more credit because of the way he pulled himself up by the bootstraps after filing bankruptcy building Charlotte. I have more respect in that aspect than I do for Brian stepping into a goldmine and turning it into a clusterf@@k.
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Bruton has contributed to some of the problems with his cookie cutters. He even had to turn Atlanta into a another unneeded 1.5 mile quad oval.

He is brilliant at taking care of his owning interest. Which includes a univeral big box generic one size does it all approach.
 
Greg said:
Bruton has contributed to some of the problems with his cookie cutters. He even had to turn Atlanta into a another unneeded 1.5 mile quad oval.

He is brilliant at taking care of his owning interest. Which includes a univeral big box generic one size does it all approach.
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I really can't argue with you Greg.......... You are right....... I just still have respect for him because of the way he built his empire.......
 
kymartin6 said:
I can't argue......... I just give Bruton more credit because of the way he pulled himself up by the bootstraps after filing bankruptcy building Charlotte. I have more respect in that aspect than I do for Brian stepping into a goldmine and turning it into a clusterf@@k.
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Brian always wanted to own a circus. So he turned Nascar into one.
 
it is strange nothing has happened to the track. I can't believe they can't make money doing testing, or movie shoots, concerts or SOMETHING with the track.
 
Such a great track its a huge shame to see it like that. Glad I got to see some races on TV from there back in what was it TNN that showed many of the races.......Hope someone can buy it and fix it up theres so much Nascar History there.....
 
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Greg said:
Bruton has contributed to some of the problems with his cookie cutters. He even had to turn Atlanta into a another unneeded 1.5 mile quad oval.

He is brilliant at taking care of his owning interest. Which includes a univeral big box generic one size does it all approach.
Click to expand...
I've never liked Bruton, but the Kentucky parking fiasco a few years ago sealed it for me. The smugness with which he handled that situation was disgusting. Unfortunately he owns most of the tracks that are driving distance from me, so if I wanna go see a race I have no choice but to put money in his pocket.
 
I think that the mile and a halfs became the norm because they fit a template . They had a large enough seating capacity , lots of room for suites and offices , a large enough infield for haulers and fans , good bang for the buck. Superspeedways and road courses take up too much land and short tracks have a ton of problems .
 
ted@economy said:
I think that the mile and a halfs became the norm because they fit a template . They had a large enough seating capacity , lots of room for suites and offices , a large enough infield for haulers and fans , good bang for the buck. Superspeedways and road courses take up too much land and short tracks have a ton of problems .
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Bruton also showed that 160,000 permanent seats can be placed around a .5 mile track. I thought the idea behind the 1.5 tri-oval was that it is a design that appeal to multiple racing organizations where the smaller tracks don't. Curious, what are those short track problems?
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Bruton also showed that 160,000 permanent seats can be placed around a .5 mile track. I thought the idea behind the 1.5 tri-oval was that it is a design that appeal to multiple racing organizations where the smaller tracks don't. Curious, what are those short track problems?
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Putting all those seats and suites in such a small area had to be awfully expensive , plus the infield is too small , and (not necessary now) no more room for growth.
 
I thought it interesting that the track characteristic of having the front and back stretch going up hill and down hill because they ran out of money during the grading process.
 
ted@economy said:
Putting all those seats and suites in such a small area had to be awfully expensive , plus the infield is too small , and (not necessary now) no more room for growth.
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Yeah, I don't know what the cost difference would be but I know I prefer the small size of a short track. Better racing and you're right on top of the action. No place like taking in a race at Martinsville and I'll be sitting right here in a few more weeks.....

uploadfromtaptalk1425566937891.jpg
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Bruton also showed that 160,000 permanent seats can be placed around a .5 mile track. I thought the idea behind the 1.5 tri-oval was that it is a design that appeal to multiple racing organizations where the smaller tracks don't. Curious, what are those short track problems?
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Don't plan on changing anybodies mind, short track lovers have their reasons, but you asked

1. you are competing with many other short tracks for the same dollar
2. The pits are a joke, when running multiple series it is a real cluster to completely remove and completely set up your pit.
3. the merry go round pit stalls during a race. really?
4. little tracks work better for a reduced field.
5. Prize money is less, Martinsville is down at the bottom of the pay scale..but you get a clock.
 
StandOnIt said:
Don't plan on changing anybodies mind, short track lovers have their reasons, but you asked

1. you are competing with many other short tracks for the same dollar
2. The pits are a joke, when running multiple series it is a real cluster to completely remove and completely set up your pit.
3. the merry go round pit stalls during a race. really?
4. little tracks work better for a reduced field.
5. Prize money is less, Martinsville is down at the bottom of the pay scale..but you get a clock.
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What are merry go round pit stalls?
 
The Nature Boy said:
I understand why North Wilkesboro lost their races, that's whatever.

But why in the hell didn't they just rebuild North Wilkesboro and Rockingham in these new markets? Rebuilding Charlotte everywhere was a really stupid idea.
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For former Bristol winner Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bristol is a "unique" track that provides great action and fun for the fans.

"There's really nothing like it, which surprises me that as many tracks as we've built in the last 15 years, that nobody's tried to build another one of these," Earnhardt Jr. said during Sunday's rain delay. "Somebody needs to get on that, man, because this is where it's at."

http://www.foxsports.com/nascar/sha...ther-track-like-bristol-motor-speedway-031814
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
What are merry go round pit stalls?
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2nd. The pit stalls are the smallest on the circuit. The boxes are 28 feet long by only 14 feet wide. If your driver is coming around another car and you work on the rear of the car, you can expect to be a few feet out on pit road. Most pit crew guys don’t think about other cars but at Martinsville its more about avoiding them.

3rd. Martinsville is the only place that the cirucit goes where teams pit in two different corners of pit road. The track is so small that a few teams will be pitting in the middle of 3-4 and other in the middle of 1-2. Seeing the cars come into the pits can be a problem for Crewmen who arent used to pitting at Martinsville.
 
FLRacingFan said:
For former Bristol winner Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bristol is a "unique" track that provides great action and fun for the fans.

"There's really nothing like it, which surprises me that as many tracks as we've built in the last 15 years, that nobody's tried to build another one of these," Earnhardt Jr. said during Sunday's rain delay. "Somebody needs to get on that, man, because this is where it's at."

http://www.foxsports.com/nascar/sha...ther-track-like-bristol-motor-speedway-031814
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If golden boy thinks they are so great, why doesn't he buy/build one. Not like he doesn't have the money to do it. More PR bull speak
 
StandOnIt said:
2nd. The pit stalls are the smallest on the circuit. The boxes are 28 feet long by only 14 feet wide. If your driver is coming around another car and you work on the rear of the car, you can expect to be a few feet out on pit road. Most pit crew guys don’t think about other cars but at Martinsville its more about avoiding them.

3rd. Martinsville is the only place that the cirucit goes where teams pit in two different corners of pit road. The track is so small that a few teams will be pitting in the middle of 3-4 and other in the middle of 1-2. Seeing the cars come into the pits can be a problem for Crewmen who arent used to pitting at Martinsville.
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The race on pit road @ Martinsville is awesome! It's one of the reason that I sit where I do @ that track. I'm aware of the configuration but I don't have a problem with it. It's all good. Just not for all of us though. I'll put you down for a NO then.
 
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