North Wilkesboro is a hit again. Should it host a NASCAR Cup points race next?
A little over three years ago, North Wilkesboro Speedway wasn’t much more than an eyesore — a distant memory in a sport that had moved on, a place with a rich past but no future.
Sunday, that all felt far away.
A new possibility — and a question — felt closer:
Is North Wilkesboro Speedway ready to take the next step?
The question was so close, in fact, that race winner Christopher Bell, fresh off a dominant weekend punctuated by a Polish victory lap and burnout, called North Wilkesboro the “best short track on the schedule.” He then was asked if he was saying he wanted a points race there — and smiled and screamed two words that spoke volumes: “Let’s go!”
There’s a reason why such a question was on everyone’s mind postrace. That’s because the NASCAR All-Star Race at the North Carolina short-track was a hit again by pretty much any metric.
Consider:
It was a sellout for a third-consecutive year, welcoming fans from 43 states and nine foreign countries, including Australia, the Netherlands and New Zealand, according to speedway officials.
The racing didn’t yield any punches but was aggressive nonetheless, with 18 lead changes, breaking the mark of 13 set in 2016 for the most in this race’s 41-year history.
And the energy was palpable. You could feel it in the rooftop Victory Lane celebration after the race, with Bell at the center of the delirium, waving his $1 million check above his head. You could feel it during the race, as fireworks flared when the caution flag flew with 32 laps to go. You could feel it before the race, even — during the starting lineup show: Fans jockeyed for selfies with Chase Elliott; they booed the brakes off Denny Hamlin; they begged for a fist-bump from Daniel Suárez and his pit crew, all donning Luchador masks.
North Wilkesboro Speedway had the excitement of a NASCAR Cup Series event, as it always has. There was something special about 2025, drivers agreed, too.
But, with no definitive plans yet in 2026, should it become a points race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule? Should it become a short-track where the entire 35-plus car field competes instead of the truncated 23-car field? Should there be more at stake than a heavy payday for the victor and a modest payday for the second-place finisher?
Drivers mostly agreed about this line of questioning, too.
“Hopefully this place gets a points race,” Bell said on Saturday, before his win. “I think it’s deserving of it.”
After Sunday’s win, it’s safe to say that opinion didn’t change.
“We go out there for driver intros, and the place is packed, it’s bumping,” the 30-year-old driver said. “It’s amazing, and we need more events like this, more races like this. I love that we’ve revived this racetrack, and now Rockingham getting revived with an amazing Xfinity race — just continuing to go to different racetracks, that’s the key for success.
“You just can’t beat the same racetracks up over and over, and go to them twice a year. Continuing to diversify the schedule — get to where we’re going to every venue one time a year — you’re going to see crowds engage and have awesome electricity throughout the races.”
2025 NASCAR All-Star Race was ‘exceptional’
Bell wasn’t the only one to feel this way. Many others did.
First, his crew chief Adam Stevens.
“As we’ve come back and come back and come back it’s just gotten better and better and better,” the victorious crew chief told reporters postrace. “Every race we’ve had here has actually been halfway decent, and this one was exceptional.
“I did not see the bottom groove being as competitive as it was this time around. It seemed like it migrated middle top last year and you kind of had to be good there. But this time around, it almost seemed like middle top of 1 and 2 and lower in 3 and 4 could have been preferred, and then out of nowhere, (Kyle) Larson starts running the Homestead line almost and making time.”
He added: “This place is aging quickly and aging well and it’s got a lot of character, obviously, in more ways than one.”
Alex Bowman agreed with both Bell and Stevens. He said that while he knows he’s not the one who makes the decisions — and is thankful for that — he also thinks the racetrack “deserves” a points race, adding that “I’m sure it has its challenges to pull it off, but it’s a very great track.”
“I don’t think this place is stale by any means,” he told The Observer. “I think there is a lot of what we do that gets very stale, with repeating the same thing for so long, and keeping a basic schedule. So I think always changing up the schedule, which we’ve done way more of lately, is a good thing. I think this place is great, the crowd was great. It’s a good atmosphere.”
Still, at least one driver wasn’t ready to make the leap to a points race yet — acknowledging that the All-Star Race’s success here is a big reason why.
“I don’t know that we really need to do that yet,” Kyle Busch told The Observer on pit road postrace. “I don’t think we’ve wore the luster off the All-Star Race. I think everything’s working really well right now.
“I think it’s a great race, you know, whether we come back here and run 300 laps, 400 laps, 350 laps, whatever — it might get just kind of dull and strung out. So I wouldn’t change what’s going on right now with it.”
‘It’s just a tough, challenging racetrack’
One thing no one tried to deny was that the racing was fun. And that was a pleasant surprise.
One point of consternation heading into the weekend, after all, regarded the racetrack’s ability to put on an entertaining race. And understandably so. The Gen-7 car’s short-track package has drawn the ire of drivers who discuss how difficult it is to pass. Tack that onto a racetrack that hasn’t put on close races in its two chances — the first year Kyle Larson won after leading the field by 13 seconds at one point; the second year Joey Logano led 199 laps out of 200.
The racing made huge strides in 2025. Ross Chastain, who finished third, didn’t hesitate when asked about the racing quality. “SMI (Speedway Motorsports Inc.) has a good handle on that.” He then smiled. “Maybe they go tear up some of their other tracks and redo it with this.”
Take Noah Gragson’s word for it, too. The driver of the No. 4 Cup car, who squeezed his way into the All-Star Race by winning the fan vote, praised the track Sunday, even if he didn’t have a great showing. He finished the All-Star Open in 17th and the main-event race in 13th.
“It is actually pretty racey compared to last year,” Gragson said. “I feel like the groove is pretty wide. It rubbers up in Turns 3 and 4. When we run our right sides, if you run the bottom, it’s like rubbering up and the rubber is stacking. ...
“The best place to pass somebody is by trying to get to their right rear and getting the momentum off the corner, but it’s just a tough, challenging racetrack. This is a really, really hard racetrack, even with the new asphalt.”
He added: “You’re kind of on the razor’s edge. With the soft tires it’s a handful, that’s for sure.”
The “handful” that North Wilkesboro Speedway provides is exactly what drivers want.
Seems like it provides what everyone else wants, too.
This story was originally published May 19, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "North Wilkesboro is a hit again. Should it host a NASCAR Cup points race next?."
