Has Denny Hamlin’s Scathing Warning Been Proven Right by NASCAR’s Shaky Buildup in North Wilkesboro?

Denny Hamlin can easily be hailed as the prophet of NASCAR. Recently, NASCAR introduced the in-season tournament to be held across five races. Where did they get the idea? Of course, none other than our ‘Actions Detrimental’ host and 54-time Cup winner. Similarly, the omen Hamlin forecasted for the North Wilkesboro Speedway is slowly turning true.

Early last month, Hamlin got into a bitter slugfest with NASCAR hotshot Marcus Smith, CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc. The reason was a patchy configuration of Sonoma Raceway. Hamlin predicted that NWS would face a similar fate at Smith’s hands, as a similar repave was done on the respected track.

Denny Hamlin’s prophecy turned true

The online scuffle between Denny Hamlin and Marcus Smith ended with apologies on either side. However, the relevance of the issue remained. SMI owns a horde of tracks like Charlotte, Texas, Bristol, Atlanta, Las Vegas, New Hampshire, Dover, and Nashville. If the Sonoma repaving bore unruly patches, then other tracks were also at risk. 

Indeed, so, as North Wilkesboro Speedway recently exposed its faults. Amidst heavy bouts of rain, the race track gave in, and Mother Nature devoured portions of the track. Jeff Gluck tweeted the update: “40% of parking lots at North Wilkesboro were unusable as of last night following torrential rain, so they’re adding gravel to help get people in and out.”

This turn of events reminded everybody of Denny Hamlin’s warnings last month. His bitter backlash against Smith’s reconfiguration exploits, “We’ve seen your reconfig record,” may probably be ringing in the track owner’s ears by now. 

Denny Hamlin’s rants may not have been taken seriously then, but now other veterans also agree. RFK Racing drivers and Kevin Harvick recently surveyed the NWS track, and a noticeable patch arrested their eyes. Scrutiny flooded from both the racers and fans who called out the track authorities for shortcomings in repaving, proving Denny Hamlin right once again.

But repaving and reviving the North Wilkesboro track proved to be quite an ordeal. The 78-year-old track had mysterious deformities that the track authorities had to fix.

A moonshine cave beneath the fan stands

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Being one of NASCAR’s oldest tracks, NWS harbored some unique stories. It is located deep in the heart of North Carolina moonshine country, and Wilkes County was once known as “The Moonshine Capital of the World.” Barely two months back, SMI’s construction crews discovered a cavern under the grandstands, suspected to be an abandoned moonshine cave.

SMI Senior VP Steve Swift underlined how they had to make sure the track donned the 1990s look. “We had to make sure we could get this repaired…A lot of concrete will go in there, approximately 42 yards each day. We want to restore the seats and concrete the way that it was in the original form, and that’s very important to Marcus, to keep that look and feel just like it was in the 1990s.”

It seems Marcus Smith has put in efforts in North Wilkesboro, even though they are a mere blip on Denny Hamlin’s radar.