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Speedway leased for racing
by Christopher Noble
(Photo caption) Christopher Noble/staff photo-Grass grows in cracks in the asphalt track at the North Wilkesboro Speedway. Other facilities there have deteriorated.
Plans for returning racing to the North Wilkesboro Speedway that have been in the works for nearly three years have been announced.
Larry Camp, owner of the USA Racing Pro Cup Championship Series (formerly the Hooter's Cup) on Saturday announced to drivers before the series' season finale at South Boston Speedway in South Boston, Va., that the circuit would include a race at the North Wilkesboro Speedway next fall. Late model sportsman cars are involved in the racing.
Camp said the race is set for Oct. 3, 2010, the day after the Brushy Mountain Apple Festival in downtown North Wilkesboro. The last NASCAR Cup race at the North Wilkesboro Speedway was Sept. 29, 1996.
Speedway Associates Inc., with Alton McBride Jr. of Lake Norman as president and acting manager, has a three-year exclusive lease with an option to purchase the 0.625-mile track from billionaire race track owner Bruton Smith.
Speedway Associates also includes Alton McBride Sr., Dave Ehret, John Burwell and Bosco Lowe. Most have been involved in short-track racing.
McBride told the Winston-Salem Journal that under a confidentiality agreement, he couldn't talk about terms of the deal.
Wilkes County government officials are involved in discussions about what it will take for the track to reopen. Zach Henderson, chairman of the county commissioners, said he couldn't comment on the matter. County officials and others said more details are forthcoming.
Camp, Alton McBride Jr. and Terri Parsons of Purlear have been sculpting plans to bring racing back to its roots at the North Wilkesboro Speedway for nearly three years. Mrs. Parsons is the widow of Wilkes County racing legend Benny Parsons.
"The only thing I have done is put the people together for this project," said Mrs. Parsons on Sunday afternoon.
"They came into my office about three years ago and gave a presentation about what they intended to do for the speedway. It was about a month or so after Benny passed away, and my head was spinning at the time."
She added, "I can't speak a great amount about the plans due to confidentiality agreements, but I can say that this is the real deal."
Mrs. Parsons said the original plan was to make the announcement at the beginning of next year, to in a way, separate this group's plans from the latest plans for the track by Charles Collins Jr., who remains in the Wilkes County Jail on multiple counts of obtaining property under false pretense in connection with a failed effort to return racing to the track. Collins had a short-term lease on the track.
"We had planned not to make the announcement until after the new year. We wanted the Charles Collins thing to go away," said Mrs. Parsons.
"Anyone who is from around here knows as well as I do that anytime anyone says a thing about the track, the reaction is going to be, 'yeah right' and 'I'll believe it when I see it,'; we really had no idea it would be here this quickly."
Camp made the announcement about the tracks for next year's season on the final race in this year's series to his drivers on Saturday. A press release with the announcement was on the USARacing Pro Cup Championship Series by Saturday night.
"We are extremely pleased to be the first national touring racing series to return to the true roots of stock car racing. We know the people of Wilkes County and the surrounding area of North Carolina have missed stock car racing on this storied track," stated Camp in the press release.
"All of us at the USARacing Pro Cup Series are proud to be a part of this rebirth. Personally, I know the Staley family, Junior Johnson and the many stock car racing purists will mark Oct. 3, 2010, as a red letter day in the sport. I know Benny Parsons would be extremely proud of (his wife) Terri for helping return stock car racing to the county that he and his family so dearly loved."
Mrs. Parsons said the road to the announcement has been long, but well thought out. She said she expected this latest effort to actually return racing to a track that was instrumental in the inception of NASCAR.
"Everything about it is correct and the right people are doing the right things," said Mrs. Parsons. "I have no money invested in this, but I believe in these people.
"Alton has given up four times, but he has kept coming back. They're all here for the same reasons. We all have a vested interest in Wilkes and I want to see the speedway be a success," she said.
With the addition of North Wilkesboro Speedway, the USAR Pro Cup Series schedule contains five tracks that played key roles in NASCAR's first 50 years.
The series goes to Hickory Motor Speedway on May 1, Rockingham Speedway on May 15, South Boston Speedway on June 12 and for the season finale on Nov. 6, North Wilkesboro Speedway on Oct. 3 and Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept. 11.
According to the USA Racing website, "The series allows drivers, sponsors and fans to experience the thrill of auto racing the way it was intended to be—up close and personal.
The USA Racing Pro Cup Series is a series for the everyman. And every man, and woman, can afford to attend."
The website continues, "In recent years, the USA Racing Pro Cup Series has proven to be a great place for youngsters to cut their teeth in full-bodied stock cars. With the successes of former drivers like Brian Vickers, John Wood, Danny O'Quinn, Kertus Davis, Shane Huffman, Chad Chaffin and Scott Wimmer, the fast-growing series has become a proving ground for the latest up-and-coming drivers."
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