NASCAR News: Legendary Track Makes Grand Return After 20 Years

Racing’s making a grand comeback to the legendary Ritchie County Speedway this year. As per last year’s August update, Pennsboro was set to host about five race weekends. They already jazzed up the place with a new quarter-mile track nestled inside the classic half-mile outer speedway. Not just that, they upped the game for fans too, sprucing up parking and camping spots to make sure everyone’s comfy.

Last October, XR Events shook hands on a deal to give the fairgrounds a facelift. They initially marked April 20th as the big day for the track’s return, after a 21-year hiatus from the racing scene. But now the story is something else. The latest scoop from XR Events is that they’re ditching the quarter-mile newbie and going full throttle on revamping the original half-mile track.

With less than a year to the grand reopening, the game plan for the track has taken a sharp turn

Thanks to a stroke of good luck, XR Events and the Ritchie County Fairboard decided to bring back the glory of the original Pennsboro Speedway. Once up and running, it’d be the biggest dirt racing track in West Virginia.

XR Events, the folks behind the track’s comeback, broke the news last year. They were pushing the opening date past April 20 and shaking up the restoration plan. However, Barry Braun, the CEO of XR Events, mentioned that although they were on track, something just didn’t sit right. He said, “It goes back to just doing the right thing, getting this project back to respecting what Ritchie County wanted to do, respecting the past, the racing of the past, the facility itself, and seeing what we can do with it.”

They’re still aiming to have a race by this spring, but it’s a community effort and will take some time. The crew cleared the original track for a fresh look, and that’s when they decided to trust their gut and go all-in on restoring the historic half-mile track. Like puzzle pieces, everything started to click into place. Braun shared that permit approval came through smoothly, and the folks in Ritchie County are fully on board.

Braun recalled a meeting in December 2023 where the room was filled with excitement and energy. “When that meeting was held in December 2023, magic took over the room and the energy was unbelievable. Our goals matched that of the fair board. I gave them my word we would consider how to make this work and officially, we have.”

Plans are also in motion to revamp the bridges on the original track while keeping the current Kart track. Despite the change in plans, XR Events is hopeful to flag off the Pennsboro Speedway with the Race of the Regions on Memorial Day Weekend.

With NASCAR recently bringing back North Wilkesboro and the Indy Roval, it’s going to be interesting to see which other tracks get a new lease on life. But since it’s NASCAR we are talking about, how can something happen without a twist?

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In 2023, NASCAR decided to shake things up on road and street courses by ditching the stage break cautions. They wanted the races to flow more smoothly, without interruptions. The stages were still there, but they axed the idea of waving the caution flag at the end of each. Instead, they just dished out points to the top 10 racers in the lineup.

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Many have welcomed this change, saying that the races have became more streamlined since. The last two Cup road course events — one at the Indy Road Course and the other at Watkins Glen in New York — saw only one caution each. These races were over in just over two hours, quick and snappy. But because for the 2024 season, NASCAR’s pulling a 180.

They’re bringing back those stage break cautions, returning to the old rhythm of the races.