Sunday, July 9, 2017

Remembering North Wilkesboro fondly

Winston-Salem Journal file photo/Monte Mitchell

I can't give any big reasons
why I used to love to go to North Wilkesboro Speedway. There were just a bunch of small reasons.


Wilkesboro gave the feel of a local track. You almost felt like you were going to Hickory Motor Speedway, Myrtle Beach Speedway or Summerville Speedway (no longer with us). Or Tri-County Motor Speedway.


You didn't have to drive through a tunnel and find a place to park inside the track. You just parked outside the souvenir trailers and walked the short distance to the pressbox; or you waited until practice was over and walked across the track to the tiny infield media center.


I enjoyed going to Charlotte, Darlington and Rockingham, among others, but Wilkesboro was special to me.


I remember eating at Shoney's with my friend Mike Harris (then the auto-racing writer for The Associated Press), and people all around us were obviously listening to our conversation about Winston Cup drivers we knew.


Another nice thing: The Williams Motel charged its normal rates, about $27 a night. Cool. No price gouging there.


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