Friday 5: Dale Jr. excited for Cup’s return to North Wilkesboro

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — For as special as it was to race at North Wilkesboro Speedway last August, Dale Earnhardt Jr. knows Sunday’s All-Star Race there will be emotional.

This weekend marks the return of the NASCAR Cup Series to the historic track for the first time since 1996.

“I can’t wait for this weekend,” said Earnhardt, who finished 16th in Wednesday night’s Cars Tour Late Model Stock Car race at North Wilkesboro and was instrumental in the track’s revival. “I think that’s probably going to trigger some more emotions when you see Cup cars racing around here.”

Anticipation has built since last September’s announcement that Cup would race at North Wilkesboro this year. A capacity crowd of about 30,000 is expected for the All-Star Race.

Earnhardt admits he didn’t expect Cup to race there until Marcus Smith, chief executive officer of Speedway Motorsports, which owns the track, told Earnhardt of the plans.

“I thought he was going to tell me that we were going to have a Truck race. … I never thought Cup would ever go back,” Earnhardt said in April. “That was never the idea.”

Earnhardt kept telling Smith last year that Smith “probably could only run a Truck race there.” Earnhardt questioned if there was enough infrastructure for a Cup-size crowd. Speedway Motorsports has since made significant upgrades throughout the facility.

“He just called me one day,” Earnhardt said of Smith, “and was like, ‘Guess what?’ I was like, ‘Are you kidding me? This is crazy.’”

“But it’s perfect. (The All-Star Race) needs a reboot. It’s great for the track. It’s great for the All-Star Race. This talk about ‘Do we need the All-Star Race?’ Come on. We need the All-Star Race.”

But does it need to be at North Wilkesboro every year?

“I think