Dale Earnhardt Jr. gearing up to race at North Wilkesboro

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was among the thousands of excited fans who gathered at North Wilkesboro Speedway in the Brushy Mountains of North Carolina Aug. 2 as one of stock car racing’s oldest tracks returned to life.

Like so many others, Earnhardt had to see it to believe it.

Mostly idle since the NASCAR Cup Series departed in 1996 and presenting the appearance of a roadside slum during many of the years that followed, North Wilkesboro Speedway was being born again, against all odds.

The .625-mile track with the odd one-goes-uphill, one-goes-downhill straightaways is that rare animal – a speedway revived after being left to rot. Dreamers near other defunct racetracks across the land have sought this sort of revival; at North Wilkesboro, it actually happened.

And it was no surprise that Dale Earnhardt Jr. was at its center, both on opening night Aug. 2 and in the months and years that preceded it.

“It was fascinating,” Earnhardt told NBC Sports. “I thought for sure it was gone forever. And here we are.”

The next step for Earnhardt, after putting time, encouragement and leadership into the revival movement at North Wilkesboro, is to race there. He’s scheduled to compete in the CARS Tour Late Model Stock race Wednesday.

“I’m nervous about going there and knowing whether we can compete, but it really doesn’t matter in the end,” Earnhardt said. “I just want to cross the finish line and drink a cold beer.”

The evening is likely to be drenched in emotion for Earnhardt. His No. 3 Chevrolet will be sponsored by Sun Drop soft drink, a beverage with long ties to the Earnhardt family. Sun Drop initially was a sponsor for Dale Earnhardt Sr.

A teenage Earnhardt Jr. was driving late models for car owner Gary Hargett, one of the men most