North Wilkesboro today

AndyMarquisLive

AndyMarquisLive

I love short track racing (Taylor's Version)
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This picture was taken by Mike Herman, Jr. today and posted on the Lost Speedways Facebook page.

545224_10200499618439168_610769408_n.jpg


F Bruton Smith.
 
I bet more people would show up and watch on tv a race there than say atlanta. Wonder if bruton is ever tempted to move a race back there since he owns the place.
 
hidesert cowboy said:
I bet more people would show up and watch on tv a race there than say atlanta. Wonder if bruton is ever tempted to move a race back there since he owns the place.
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I'd like to see it, but there are not enough seats and no SAFER. It would cost more to bring it up to today's standards than Bruton would spend. Besides, he's been drooling after that second Vegas date for years. If he moves a weekend to any of his tracks, it will be there.

On a related note: thank you, Andy Hillenberg.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
This is from the last race ever held at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

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How long ago was that? I feel like I've seen recent pictures(couple years maybe?) where the track looked more run-down than now. Also I thought they haven't hosted a race there in over 10 years but that looks like a pretty recent race.
 
DUN24 said:
How long ago was that? I feel like I've seen recent pictures(couple years maybe?) where the track looked more run-down than now. Also I thought they haven't hosted a race there in over 10 years but that looks like a pretty recent race.
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The last ever race was in 2011 which is the video posted. Last Cup race was 1996, won by Jeff of coarse:)

I'd love to see it back in any capacity, it's still my all time favorite track. Wish NASCAR would let the fans dictate where we raced and not assho!es like Bruton Smith. Texas and Las Vegas may have glitz and glamour, but they don't have racing.
 
Thegroundpounder99 said:
The last ever race was in 2011 which is the video posted. Last Cup race was 1996, won by Jeff of coarse:)

I'd love to see it back in any capacity, it's still my all time favorite track. Wish NASCAR would let the fans dictate where we raced and not assho!es like Bruton Smith. Texas and Las Vegas may have glitz and glamour, but they don't have racing.
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So weekly racing never took a hiatus there between 96 and 2011? Or was it refurbished at one point? Could have sworn I saw pictures of plants growing out of the asphalt there..
 
I hate to see it sit there and rot away. Like with other dead tracks, if they can't be revived I'd rather them destroyed than sit there and rot.
 
That's really sad. Not as bad as Nazareth, but tough to look at.

Bruton Smith is an ass.
 
from an iowa boy: if you build it, they will come.

not from the area. maybe a tough sell. but my marketing experience says if you put on a show that people want to see, that grass growing on the track wouldn't last long.
 
apparently bruton smith for some reason for YEARS resisted letting anyone do anything with the track. maybe it was somehow viewed as a threat to his other operations. it wasn't until the last few years anyone was allowed to do anything there. I think there was interest but bruton didn't want to do anything with the track. There was supposed to be new operators but that fizzeled really fast, so only a couple races were held. I never watched a race there on TV even but to me the place had to be a cool place to have a race. I think nascar needs to put on better shows geared toward TV broadcast and move away from if the track and its surroundings are the best place to have a race. meaning cater to the TV fans and way less to the people who come and actually watch the race. That is where the pressure is right now, race tracks can't fill the stands. I say fine lets not fill them and move the races to places that put on better racing.
 
Ummm maybe . But I can't help thinking that racing will be finished when the fans stop attending . No fans = no tracks . No tracks = no racing . Yep the TV revenue is huge , but the fans , especially the ones who love it enough to attend races , are what it's all based on.
 
hidesert cowboy said:
apparently bruton smith for some reason for YEARS resisted letting anyone do anything with the track. maybe it was somehow viewed as a threat to his other operations. it wasn't until the last few years anyone was allowed to do anything there. I think there was interest but bruton didn't want to do anything with the track. There was supposed to be new operators but that fizzeled really fast, so only a couple races were held. I never watched a race there on TV even but to me the place had to be a cool place to have a race. I think nascar needs to put on better shows geared toward TV broadcast and move away from if the track and its surroundings are the best place to have a race. meaning cater to the TV fans and way less to the people who come and actually watch the race. That is where the pressure is right now, race tracks can't fill the stands. I say fine lets not fill them and move the races to places that put on better racing.
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There are a myriad of problems with the track facilities. The septic system is inadequate and other facilities need serious upgrading. The story goes, Smith was negotiating with Jack Combs to buy his half and with Enoch Staley (before his death) for his half share in the speedway. Combs sold to Smith but the Staley Family was holding out and Mike Staley, Enoch's son, was negotiating with Bob Bahre. Rumor has it there was serious bad blood between Smith and considered him untrustworthy. The end result, the Staley Family sold their half-share to Bob Bahre and as a result, it is again, a rumor, Bruton Smith vowed there would never be another NASCAR race at North Wilkesboro Speedway and attempts to run races there have fallen short and been discontinued for whatever reason.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I'd like to see it, but there are not enough seats and no SAFER. It would cost more to bring it up to today's standards than Bruton would spend. Besides, he's been drooling after that second Vegas date for years. If he moves a weekend to any of his tracks, it will be there.

On a related note: thank you, Andy Hillenberg.
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Vegas wants the last race of the Chase, makes sense because the banquet is their and all. It will happen I think in the next 3-4 years, maybe sooner.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I don't understand your post. Are you saying that NBC and FOX are the ones making the decisions on where we're going to be racing at?
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They might have a small say , but I think that the majority say in it comes from France, he still pulls the strings. The networks pay the bills, but he has the final word, of course this is my opinion and yours may differ!:D
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I don't understand your post. Are you saying that NBC and FOX are the ones making the decisions on where we're going to be racing at?
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Fox hated having to go to Rockingham. The suits thought it was too backwoods.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I don't understand your post. Are you saying that NBC and FOX are the ones making the decisions on where we're going to be racing at?
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that is essentially what I am saying. although not directly. if the racing is better the fans will come. look what happened to bristol when they changed the racing there, people quit coming. same thing for TV. we need more short tracks. the 1.5 mile tracks were all done when indy cars were big, so the tracks could host both races.
 
hidesert cowboy said:
that is essentially what I am saying. although not directly. if the racing is better the fans will come. look what happened to bristol when they changed the racing there, people quit coming. same thing for TV. we need more short tracks. the 1.5 mile tracks were all done when indy cars were big, so the tracks could host both races.
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Don't see how you can say this now with the new car. There has been some great racing on the 1.5s this year, this is only the beginning, only the first year of the new car, so I would expect it will be even better next year. Short tracks are fine, maybe one more on the schedule, but in reality these Cup cars are designed for fast speeds on bigger tracks, I'd like to see them run IRP instead of the Brickyard. Add that short track to the middle of the schedule and that would be pretty cool. I 'd also like to see another road track for Cup, especially in the Chase.
 
I really miss this track, I remember watching the last cup race held there on TV and seeing people sitting in the stands crying afterwards.

Was watching Top Gear on netflix last week and they visited the track as part of an episode where they were driving the blueridge parkway. They ran super cars around it for a little bit. If you're interested it is from series (season) 16 episode 1, would link to a youtube video but there aren't any of it that I can find.
 
NC HillBilly said:
I really miss this track, I remember watching the last cup race held there on TV and seeing people sitting in the stands crying afterwards.

Was watching Top Gear on netflix last week and they visited the track as part of an episode where they were driving the blueridge parkway. They ran super cars around it for a little bit. If you're interested it is from series (season) 16 episode 1, would link to a youtube video but there aren't any of it that I can find.
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It's a shame this track was closed out of pure greed. No other reason. All to get dates at two tracks that have two dates too many. And Rockingham Speedway was closed down to get one of those tracks its second date. I wouldn't shed a single tear if an EF5 tornado tore Texas Motor Speedway to the ground (as long as nobody was killed in said tornado).
 
Put the all star race on Wednesday night and give Sunday to Rockingham or North Wilkesboro.
 
Matthew2470 said:
The NC market was way over saturated which caused them to cannibalize eachother's crowds. Business basics 101.
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I understand that argument but don't see how it applies to places like Charlotte , It has two races back to back and a number of tracks within a couple of hours driving distance . I also wonder about the TV audience , who have no concerns about proximity of the tracks but do have concerns about seeing racing at historic venues like Darlington , North Wilkesboro , and Rockingham . I understand they were down in attendence figures , but I think that it turned out to be much more than an individual track problem . Some older racefans might be lured back by a little more emphasis on track history . I guess this is just a twist on my "why change " argument , but some of the new stuff isn't working any better than the old stuff. IMO
 
NASCAR should be more concerned about television audience. NASCAR's going to be collecting roughly about $820 million in television revenue annually. That's probably three times as much as what all parties (NASCAR, ISC, SMI, etc) makes in ticket/admission revenue - combined.

It doesn't matter if a brobdingnagian can seat 140,000 people if half those seats are empty and people aren't watching on television because the racing at that brobdingnagian sucks.

NASCAR answers to FOX and NBC now.
 
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