It's time to go local again

How do you restock NASCAR's talent pool and reignite the fan base? Go local. Stock car racing's grassroots are intertwined with moonshiners running from revenuers to protect their cargo. As it became more organized — and popular — speedways rose from the dirt. So where are they now? Many of those local short tracks are but a distant memory, abandoned and dilapidated remnants of metal where fans once gathered religiously at the altar of speed. Disappearing too are the proving grounds where wheelmen battled to build reputations that would attract opportunities on the regional tours and eventually the NASCAR ranks. Perhaps part of NASCAR's plateau and inevitable slide can be traced to when the sport was pulled from its deep southern roots and extended to areas where support was lukewarm at best. In today's economy, the average fan can't afford or isn't willing to spend vacation dollars to travel to racetracks. And even in NASCAR's top touring divisions, the travel costs have escalated to a degree where many teams simply can't compete on a full-time basis. Since 1949, North Carolina — known as the hub of NASCAR — has lost 27 racetracks that were once on the premier tour. Nine additional speedways have fallen off the radar across the border in South Carolina and seven more to the north in Virginia. As southern tracks have fallen from the NASCAR schedule, so too has the presence of fans and drivers from the Carolinas and Virginia. The last Carolina Cup champion to win a title was Dale Jarrett in 1999.

Tale of a track

One of the first tracks to host NASCAR events was North Wilkesboro Speedway. The 0.625-miler opened in 1949 and ran its last Cup event in 1996 after the track was purchased to transfer dates to Texas Motor Speedway and New Hampshire. The recent announcement that North Wilkesboro was reopening could not have come at a better time. After a well-deserved facelift, racing will return to North Wilkesboro with the USARacing Pro Cup Championship Series next October. Although North Wilkesboro won't be ready for prime-time NASCAR any time soon, the reclamation project was heralded by racing fans and the possibilities for use are obvious. With the current ban on testing for the top three series in NASCAR, North Wilkesboro also provides another close alternative for teams located within an hour's drive of the speedway. Andy Hillenburg, who purchased North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham two years ago, doesn't see Wilkesboro as competition for his track. In fact, he welcomes Wilkesboro and any track as an ally. "I see it as great for the Carolinas," Hillenburg said. "If there are additional races it raises the awareness of racing in the Carolinas." And awareness will hopefully equate to attracting new fans and potential participants. Rockingham and the adjoining "Little Rock" track have been popular with the NASCAR set since testing on sanctioned venues was prohibited. Hillenburg runs his Fast Track High Performance Driving School at the track and rents out the locale for movies and commercials. And then there is the racing that Hillenburg hosts at The Rock — Street Stock, Pro Stock and ARCA. If Hillenburg had not rescued Rockingham from the weeds in the Sandhills, the track would be nothing more than lore from race fans that made the pilgrimage to the 1.017-mile oval from 1965 to 2004. Hillenburg believes that the loss of tracks such as Wilkesboro and Rockingham has snowballed against Sprint Cup venues like Lowe's Motor Speedway and Darlington Raceway. When there's a buzz going at local tracks, it permeates to other venues in the region.

The driver and his tracks

Two-time Cup champ Tony Stewart pays it forward as both a track and race team owner. After purchasing Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, five years ago, Stewart worked diligently to make the venue more competitor and fan-friendly. On the team side, he continues to offer jobs in NASCAR, USAC and World of Outlaws. Since Stewart became both owner and promoter for Eldora and a co-owner in two other Midwestern tracks, he's discovered a whole new element to racing. "The biggest thing is just keeping people involved," Stewart said. "Especially a track with the history of a place like Wilkesboro, it's cool that it's going to open again. It's not competition for other area tracks, it enhances their value. "We work with the tracks in our area to make sure we're not conflicting with each other. We don't necessarily grow each other's tracks, but we try not to step on each other's toes and make it attractive so fans can support more than one local track. When you can do that, it increases the excitement level in the area."

Roots in the dirt

Local tracks also draw more fans — and potential racers — to the track. As a child, NASCAR vice president Robin Pemberton was drawn to the action at nearby Malta (Albany-Saratoga) Speedway in New York. Pemberton, the oldest of four brothers involved in the sport, remembers working at his father's restaurant a mile from the track where racers such as Buzzie Reutimann would hang out. "I knew Jerry Cook when I was eight," Pemberton said. "Pete Hamilton has been a friend for a long time. As good as the racing was in the Southeast, it was every bit as good in the Northeast. A lot of crew chiefs and mechanics have come out of that region." Still, Pemberton believes that expansion to the West Coast has helped grow the sport. "Everyone deserves to have a home track whether you're a fan or a competitor, but we're at a different time and place with the economy," he said. "You move away from a lot of these things. But moving to Las Vegas and California has brought us more talent — the Busch brothers, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson."

Go west, young driver

Three-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson's formidable racing years were spent on dirt bikes at Barona Oaks Motocross Park in Lakeside, Calif., and later in off-road trucks. Johnson didn't drive a stock car until he was 22 and had already moved to N.C.

When Johnson wasn't racing, he remembers his dad working on Late Models with friends at Cajon Speedway — a 3/8-mile paved oval that first debuted in 1961. "For me, the local short track scene that I experienced was watching my dad," Johnson said. "I would sit in the grandstands with a clipboard, some stopwatches, eating corn dogs, cotton candy, and watch from time to time. But we weren't there all the time because we had our own racing stuff to do. "Then some of my friends that I went to high school with also raced. Their dads raced. They grew up racing at the speedway. So I'd watch them on off weekends for ourselves. But never drove a lap at El Cajon Speedway or any tracks in the area." North Carolina isn't the only state where tracks are fading fast. Cajon Speedway, which sat on the East San Diego County Fairgrounds, met its demise in 2005 after its lease ended.

Beasts in the East

About an hour from Kevin "Bono" Manion's hometown was Riverside Park Speedway in Agawam, Mass. That's where the crew chief of the No. 1 Chevrolet and current owner of GP Racing experienced his first taste of Modifieds — on a quarter-mile oval which dated back to 1949. "That was our Saturday night track," Manion said. "But they tore it down (in 1999) to make way for a Six Flags. Luckily, they still race Fridays at Stafford (Motor Speedway, Conn.) and Thursday and Sundays at Thompson (International Speedway, Conn.). The car counts are still pretty good up there. Racing at that level is still relatively inexpensive. "Riverside was perfect. Back in the day, it was a huge amusement park. You could ride the rides in between heat races and watch the features at night. We did that a lot growing up. It's still good, cheap family fun. Mother makes the ham sandwiches, sister does the scoring, aunt, uncles, everybody helps out. Through GP Racing we still support grassroots racing."

The drive ahead

But as the tracks continue to disappear, where will the drivers and crew chiefs of the future come from? Brett Bodine, who reviews incoming applications for prospective racing candidates, is encouraged by the renovations and reopening of North Wilkesboro Speedway.

"That's what we need right now are places like North Wilkesboro and Rockingham where drivers can get experience. I'm tickled to death that they're going to race at Wilkesboro again."

— Brett Bodine

Bodine appreciates the undertaking since his family owned the Chemung Speedrome in upstate New York. As NASCAR's director of cost research and former driver/owner, he also understands the necessary investment it takes to climb through the ranks. "North Wilkesboro is a tough little racetrack. It's a driver's track," said Bodine, who won the spring race there in 1990. "At five-eighths of a mile in length, it gives more opportunities for a driver to get experience. "I think the key for tracks like that to survive is to use them for regional tours and to showcase premier events like ORP (O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis). That's what we need right now are places like North Wilkesboro and Rockingham where drivers can get experience. I'm tickled to death that they're going to race at Wilkesboro again." For NASCAR, a back-to-basics approach at smaller venues in close proximity to the sport's core is a good place to start. Returning to stock car racing's roots does not have to be an admission of failure. Sometimes you can go home again.