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Dale Earnhardt Jr. Weighs In on NASCAR’s Revival of Historic Tracks—But Warns It’s Not So Simple

Simon Monroy by Simon Monroy
February 10, 2025
in Motorsports
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Weighs In on NASCAR’s Revival of Historic Tracks—But Warns It’s Not So Simple

Nov 9, 2024; Avondale, Arizona, USA; NASCAR Xfinity Series team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr celebrates with driver Justin Allgaier after winning the 2024 Xfinity Series championship during the Championship race at Phoenix Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series has already made history by bringing Bowman Gray Stadium back to the big stage for the first time in over 50 years. Following North Wilkesboro’s return, fans and racing legends alike are now pushing NASCAR to continue reviving legendary short tracks like Hickory Motor Speedway and South Boston Speedway.

But according to Dale Earnhardt Jr., it’s not that simple. While the Hall of Famer and two-time Daytona 500 champion loves the idea, he believes logistical and infrastructure challenges could prevent these classic tracks from making a Cup Series comeback.

The Bowman Gray ‘Anomaly’—Why It Worked

Speaking about the electric atmosphere of The Clash at Bowman Gray, Earnhardt Jr. acknowledged the track’s uniqueness.

🗣️ “Well, I love that idea a lot, but I just don’t know if NASCAR would do it. Bowman Gray is an anomaly because they seat 10,000, 17,000 people, okay?”

While Bowman Gray is small compared to modern super speedways, it still holds enough fans to make the event financially viable. That’s the key problem with bringing NASCAR back to smaller venues—most of them don’t have the grandstands or infrastructure to support a Cup Series race.

Hickory Motor Speedway: A Pipe Dream?

Hickory Motor Speedway is often romanticized as NASCAR’s grassroots proving ground, but Earnhardt Jr. sees significant hurdles in making it a Cup-level venue.

🗣️ “How many does Hickory sit? You know, they’re not going to come in there and build grandstands at these places. They could maybe put in some temporary grandstands… but I don’t know that, while it would be amazing for them to go to like Hickory or some of these other short tracks to do what they did at Bowman Gray, I don’t know if NASCAR will look at it like that’s a realistic direction.”

The bottom line? Without major investment, Hickory is unlikely to be revived as a NASCAR Cup venue.

South Boston Speedway: A Better Option—But With a Catch

If there’s one historic short track that has a real shot at returning, Earnhardt Jr. believes it’s South Boston Speedway.

🗣️ “Now, you could say South Boston. South Boston’s got a really nice facility. And that might be one of the places you could probably consider taking the race.”

However, even South Boston has one major drawback—location.

🗣️ “The location of Bowman Gray, it’s kind of in this very dense area. You’d have to think about why that matters. If you take it to South Boston, that’s three and a half, two and a half hours up the road.”

Unlike Bowman Gray, which sits in a highly populated area, South Boston’s remote location makes it a logistical headache. Moving thousands of fans, teams, and equipment to a track far from major highways and cities presents challenges that NASCAR may not be willing to take on.

Will NASCAR Invest in Short Track Revival?

Earnhardt Jr.’s honest assessment highlights the major roadblocks that stand in the way of NASCAR returning to its iconic grassroots venues. But his comments also serve as a call to action—if NASCAR truly wants to revive these historic tracks, it needs to invest in their infrastructure.

Will NASCAR rise to the challenge? Or will Hickory and South Boston remain just a dream? The success of Bowman Gray proves that fans want short-track racing back on the big stage—now, it’s up to NASCAR to decide how far they’re willing to go.

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