On November 3rd, 2001, NASCAR legend Kenny Wallace claimed his ninth and final Xfinity Series win at Rockingham Speedway. In his glorious 25-year career, he won nine checkered flags- all in the Xfinity series. However, the ninth one remained special, mostly because it was on the prestigious tracks of Rockingham Speedway. This unique D-shaped, 0.94-mile oval track, aka The Rock, hosted legendary NASCAR personalities like Geoff Bodine, Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt, and Richard Petty, giving them tastes of victories from 1965 to 2004. But as renovations stalled and attendance declined, NASCAR shifted its spotlight to bigger markets with better facilities, leaving Rockingham behind.

Yet, nearly four decades later, Rockingham Speedway returned with the presence of Ken Schrader and Kenny Wallace, fuelling fans’ thrill with an exciting Q&A session. And Wallace, being the guy who always speaks his mind, evoked the real question: why NASCAR truly severed ties with Rockingham.

After hosting the audience at ThunderFest in Rockingham Downtown last Thursday, Wallace had a candid discussion with her YouTube followers in Coffee With Kenny. He spilt the beans about an interesting fact about the racetrack that led to NASCAR abandoning the track.

Wallace said, “Back in the day, Brutin Smith and NASCAR, they didn’t own all the tracks. Rockingham was owned by the Dewitts; well, he died, and the girls were left, and there’s a little bit more to the story here. But anyway bottom line was that the Dweitt sold the racetrack, and the new owners basically got rid of the racetrack. So they moved the date to another racetrack. Nascar never moved the date, it’s just that the track was done, nope you know it’s like we own it but we’re not racing here anymore. So the new owners decided not to have a NASCAR race there, same thing with Wilkesboro.”

Interestingly, the parties who were battling for the ownership of then known as North Carolina Motor Speedway were Roger Penske and SMI founder Burton Smith. It has to be noted, NASCAR didn’t merge with ISC until 2019, so back in the mid-90s, they didn’t have direct influence over the track. The two Goliaths got into a bidding war, and Carrie DeWitt held her ground as a majority owner for some time. Roger Penske did acquire the ownership and then merged with NASCAR later, but the lawsuit by SMI and the emergence of new markets saw NASCAR pull the plug on the Rock in 2004.

Andy Hillenburg became the new owner in 2007 with a bid of $4.7 million in an auction. He tried to bring the track back to life with the installation of a new mini-oval and a safer barrier on the walls. And the Truck Series paid a visit back to the track after an eight-year absence in 2011. But this joy also didn’t last long, as after 2013, NASCAR announced its departure as the owners failed to meet financial obligations. By 2014, Finely Group took over the race track after a court order, and this takeover abandoned the track from NASCAR racing until this year.

He also seemed quite hopeful about Rockingham’s potential in NASCAR, now that it is back with advanced infrastructure. “Nascar is coming right back home and I really believe there’s room for three races a year to go right back to where we came from, cuz the Chicago street course race is working the only thing I could ever see is if politics got in the way,” said Wallace.

Not just hope, Kenny Wallace predicted something even bigger for the Rockingham Speedway’s future after its return.

Kenny Wallace thinks Cup Series racing is close to returning to the Rock

In an interview with The Charlotte Observer, Wallace confessed that he saw big manufacturers like Chevy, Ford, and Toyota collecting track-related data. Their presence felt to Wallace as an assurance that the Cup Series might make its much-anticipated return on the prestigious track soon.

“In my honest opinion, I saw enough examples today, touring the racetrack. I’ll tell you what it is, and I don’t feel bad about saying it: I saw all three automakers here. And I think they’re here to get data because they know Cup is going to come back here. The only thing that can stop it is something go wrong,” said the former NASCAR legend.

He also added, “But we’re sold out. There are campers out there already like it’s a Cup race. Now, next year, let’s see if it sustains that excitement. And then I predict— my prediction is that in 2027, the Cup Series will be here.” If NASCAR is going to add an oval to the schedule, it would only make sense that a road or street course race gets axed. We saw Richmond Raceway losing a date to accommodate the Mexico race, well, fans wouldn’t mind if the Charlotte Roval bears the brunt if Rockingham gets a Cup date back.

What are your thoughts on the Rockingham Speedway’s return to the premier series? Is it possible, or should NASCAR continue with Xfinity and Truck for a couple more years and then make a call?