All is right in the world. North Wilkesboro Speedway, which returned to the NASCAR National Series landscape as the host of the All-Star race this season, will return as the host of the 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race.
The 2024 edition of the event will be held on May 19, 2024, and the track will be repaved prior to the 2024 race weekend, which will also feature the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Speedway Motorsports made the announcement on Thursday morning in front of the North Carolina Legislative Building in Raliegh, North Carolina.
“We are very grateful that NASCAR and FOX Sports have supported our efforts to bring the NASCAR All-Star Race back to North Wilkesboro in 2024,” said Speedway Motorsports President and CEO Marcus Smith. “While NASCAR’s current 75th anniversary season still has some memorable moments to come, it’s hard to imagine a more magical moment than what we witnessed with NASCAR’s return to North Wilkesboro Speedway this past May.
"The success of the 2023 All-Star Race with fans coming from all 50 states and seven foreign countries would not have been possible without the support of the NASCAR industry, our state legislature, Gov. Roy Cooper and the Wilkes County community. We’re thankful to have the opportunity to bring back an international spotlight for the second consecutive year to North Wilkesboro and the great state of North Carolina.”
The track, which opened in 1947, and hosted NASCAR races from 1949 to 1996, went mostly dormant for nearly 30 years. That is until Marcus Smith joined Dale Earnhardt Jr., and many other volunteers to clean the North Wilkesboro Speedway up in an effort for iRacing to laser scan the track to put into the digital simulation.
There was energy, there was a buzz, and in November of 2021 the state of North Carolina also provided support for the efforts to bring North Wilkesboro Speedway back with an $18-million allocation from the federal American Rescue Plan funds.
By 2023, the iconic track was back on the NASCAR schedule, and after tremendous support of the race weekend by the NASCAR fanbase, it looks like North Wilkesboro Speedway is here to stay.
“As part of NASCAR’s 75th anniversary, the return to racing at North Wilkesboro Speedway was one of the indelible moments of the 2023 season,” said Ben Kennedy, Senior Vice President, Racing Development and Strategy. “We look forward to bringing the NASCAR All-Star Race with the NASCAR Cup Series, along with the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, back to North Wilkesboro next season to create new generational memories at this historic venue."
We live in an incredible timeline.
In all, the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race Weekend will be a five-day schedule.
In addition to the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race on May 19th, the race weekend will also feature the NASCAR Pit Crew Challenge, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, and the CARS Tour will also be on the schedule.
Tickets will go on sale to the general public at 10:00 AM ET on October 5th on the North Wilkesboro Speedway website.
Photo Credit: Jonathan McCoy, TobyChristie.com
