All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Pre-Race Thread

Race Format

1684180246972.png
 
This clip is really good. I learned a lot of the history of the track watching this. Mike Joy with pearls of wisdom


Mid 30s inimum I'm 32 and was 5 the last time they ran Cup there.
 
NW is just one more government deal away from being viable. The next government deal needs to be for a subway system to bring in em and cancel out the parking issues.
 
I agree with the folks saying its a terrible business idea to remove the LA Coliseum for a points race at Wilkesboro. I found the race a bit gimmicky myself with that many cars on that short of a track but hell they raced at Soldier Field before so there's precedence and its a harmless exhibition race, I've actually found it to be a fun way to start the season.

When NASCAR raced at Soldier Field in Chicago back in the '50's it was before the place was reconfigured into the football stadium it is today.

Not sure of the distance but it was surely more than a quarter mile.

soldier field racing.jpg
 
When NASCAR raced at Soldier Field in Chicago back in the '50's it was before the place was reconfigured into the football stadium it is today.

Not sure of the distance but it was surely more than a quarter mile.

View attachment 70627

It was still used as a football stadium then, it was just more open back then. They hosted an AAFC team in the 40s, college football, and even the Bears on occasion before they moved in full time in the 70s.

No more or less of a gimmick than the LA Coliseum.
 
When NASCAR raced at Soldier Field in Chicago back in the '50's it was before the place was reconfigured into the football stadium it is today.

Not sure of the distance but it was surely more than a quarter mile.

View attachment 70627
You are correct racing reference has it as a half mile...though I don't think that is a half mile either somewhere in between
 
NW seats less than 25,000, and that includes the temporary seats. LA seats over three times that. The place could be half full and still have more butts in teh seats than a NW sell-out.

The season-opening race is an exhibition race. Move it wherever you want, it's going to remain an exhibition race. NASCAR isn't going to add more points races or convert an exhibition to a points race. The season is too long for the competitors already. As @aunty dive pointed out, if NW is going to get a points race, it's going to be because a points race was moved from another track. LA doesn't have a points race, so it has no role in getting one for NW.

NASCAR isn't going to take a points race away from one of the tracks it owns. NW is an SMI track. If the Smiths want NW to have a points race, it's their call which one of their tracks will lose one, not NASCAR's.
Dang, I thought NWB held like 40k
 
I want to go see the super late models tonight so bad, but I just can't justify it given I have to be in office at 7:00 the next day. Tickets are $40 as well, which surprised me but didn't actually. May have to try flo racing tonight.
 
A points paying race at the renovated track would require the loss of a points paying race date from somewhere other than the LA Coliseum, would it not?

It would probably come at the expense of Bristol.

COTA's future on the NASCAR schedule isn't 100% certain either.

Los Angeles isn't a points race, though it could become one next year. Personally, I'd rather see the Los Angeles Coliseum replace Auto Club Speedway. It's 50/50 right now if Auto Club Speedway even hosts another race.
 
LA coliseum is too small of a track for a points race. Cup should never run on any track smaller than 1/2 mile.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pat
LA coliseum is too small of a track for a points race. Cup should never run on any track smaller than 1/2 mile.

Tweak the format.

Start 24 cars, have the rest run a B-Main and reward points accordingly. Not that complicated actually.

NASCAR needs to race in that market, and Next Gen California isn't a certainty.
 
I would complain about $55.50 to buy parking across 421 from track, but since the tickets were free I'll shut up. So excited. Any of you vets of the sport got any advice for me? I've only driven by the track once despite living 40 minutes from it. @Spotter22 (I'm assuming you spotted here a bit)
 
I've only been to Bristol (when it was still asphalt) for night race once, Martinsville for everything but Cup, and Charlotte in all it's configurations (many times), but this one has me stoked. All the nostalgia feels!
 
Standing in-field room is all that is left.

Camping has pretty much sold out.

It's going to be a great week, for sure. I love looking out into the Blue Ridge Mountains, very picture esque area for sure.
 
Tweak the format.

Start 24 cars, have the rest run a B-Main and reward points accordingly. Not that complicated actually.

NASCAR needs to race in that market, and Next Gen California isn't a certainty.

Good luck selling that to the sponsors of the cars that won't make it to the main.
 
Standing in-field room is all that is left.

Camping has pretty much sold out.

It's going to be a great week, for sure. I love looking out into the Blue Ridge Mountains, very picture esque area for sure.
You going to be at a RE tent/trailer? I have have to swing by to say hello and program my scanner. :punkrocke
 
If sponsors have that much power over the sport then it is broken.

Every car will race and be seen on the main broadcast.
Of course the sponsors have the power, the money comes from the sponsors and this is a business. This is a professional sports league, not amateurs. If the sponsors leave them the league folds.
 
I wish I could see that Late Model race. I don't think it's televised anywhere.
 
I am super excited for the return NW, I had been watching NASCAR for a few years before the last race but never watched a NW race for whatever reasons( I think mostly the lack of cable most of the time)
 
Yeah, he was one of them with a weed eater, Marcus and others were doing it also. I think others have done some patching and sealing, but it's the old surface. It should be a crazy fun watch, really looking forward to it.
The ride will probably be like that of the buses on Philadelphia, buses which are apparently fitted with swuare tires running on pock marked streets.
 
I’ll preface my remarks by telling those who don’t know that I’m in the road-building / infrastructure business. We’re up to date on all aspects of current asphalt mix technology, paving practices and procedures and crack repair methodology.

Every one of the hundreds if not thousands of black repair lines that appear in photos of the North Wilkesboro racing surface represents a crack in the asphalt ... virtually all of which go right down to the gravel sub-base. They’re black because the “binder” used in the hot patch material is bitumen (oil) based. Over time, the filler material hardens, loses its ability to move and repaired cracks re-appear.

Most of them have been there for quite some time. In the present, asphalt crack repairs are effected using a mix bound together by polymers / epoxy, giving the repairs the ability to “stretch” under load and changes in temperature and extending the life of the repair(s). The track is about to be subjected to the highest wheel loads in its history. It’s hard to be optimistic about the outcome of that.

And ... the surface itself is completely worn out. The aggregates (small rocks) in the asphalt are exposed ... the bitumen binder is worn away. There’s very little grip left. Nextgen tire testers were unable to get to a fully open throttle position on corner exit. “Loose” will be the word of the day.

The budget was in place. The paving contractor had this job on his schedule. Apparently Junior Earnhardt’s influence swayed the decision and the job got cancelled.

Nostalgia run amok ... just my opinion, of course.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed. Please do the same. We might get lucky.
 
Back
Top Bottom