You ever watched a highly anticipated show, a movie, a story, or simply known about something already set in motion before your friends or your family did, knowing how it’d turn out but being secretive about it because it’s fun? Yeah, perhaps NASCAR spotter Freddie Kraft also felt the same recently.
In an episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Kraft, who spots for 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace, spoke about the newly restored and now functional, North Wilkesboro Speedway.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
“The track is in really good shape. I heard, I don’t know holding up on the decision to tear it up,” he said speaking about the rumors of NWB Speedway hitting pause on their plans for the dirt race, for another potential race, something the spotter also touched upon.
“I hear some crazy rumors about that place,” Kraft had suggested to which the moderator of the show, Casey Boat, asked him, “Can you share? I was about to ask, is it back for good or…?”
“Yeah, I think so,” the spotter replied.
North Wilkesboro expected to host 2023 NASCAR All-Star Race – @Motorsport https://t.co/uya1Sk4njY
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) September 7, 2022
And as it has been reported by Sports Business Journal, an official announcement on North Wilkesboro Speedway being back on the NASCAR calendar is a certainty now with a press conference scheduled for Thursday.
According to the report, the iconic racetrack would host the All-Star race from next year on, replacing the controversial Texas Motor Speedway.
WATCH STORY: NASCAR Journalist Clears the Air on the Controversial Denny Hamlin-Kyle Busch Disqualification
Dale Earnhardt Jr – The key figure behind NWB Speedway’s NASCAR return
While it’s true that it wasn’t done, achieved or executed by one person, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. perhaps deserves the biggest credit in the revival of the North Wilkesboro Speedway.
The NASCAR Hall of Famer has been quite an advocate for racetracks that have been long forgotten and have turned into graveyards. And for many years, Dale Jr. spoke about reviving the one in North Wilkesboro, which he eventually did.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
It all began with Earnhardt Jr. volunteering to actually clean up the racetrack for it to be scanned for iRacing. From that point on, he and Marcus Smith, the Speedway Motorsports Inc. President, never looked back.
What followed next was a long restoration process that finally culminated in a race hosted on the racetrack after many, many years.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
It goes without saying that the race was pretty successful, something NASCAR too will hope for next year when it brings the All-Star aura to the iconic North Wilkesboro.
Also Read: WATCH: Bubba Wallace’s Spotter Freddie Kraft’s Selection of Kyle Larson Makes Tyler Reddick Chuckle