History
North Wilkesboro Speedway opened its doors on May 18, 1947, to a crowd in excess of 10,000 people who showed up to see one of the famous Flock brothers win the race.
On October 16, 1949, North Wilkesboro Speedway held the eighth and final race of the 1949 NASCAR Strictly Stock Division. At the end of the day Robert "Red" Byron walked away as the first NASCAR champion.
The speedway held races for 50 years until September 29, 1996, when Jeff Gordon won the last race to be held at the speedway. The speedway reopened in 2010 with 3 races on the schedule. The most notable investor was Terri Parsons, widow of 1973 NASCAR champion Benny Parsons.
On Monday night May 9, 2011, a press release from Speedway Associates Inc. announced that "the business climate and a lack of working capital has now brought everything at the historic facility to a screeching halt" and as a result the track would be silent once again.
Read more about this topic: North Wilkesboro Speedway
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