North Wilkesboro to host 2023 NASCAR All-Star Race

In a reversal of fortunes that would have been unimaginable only a few years ago, North Wilkesboro Speedway has been named the site of the 2023 NASCAR All-Star Race.

The race is scheduled May 21, 2023 as part of a planned three-day race weekend at North Wilkesboro.

The announcement was made Thursday morning at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh in a press conference attended by N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper, NASCAR Chief Operating Officer Steve O’Donnell, Speedway Motorsports chairman Marcus Smith and former Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has been at the center of the track’s revival.

Details of the All-Star format and more information about the race weekend schedule will be released later.

“It wasn’t that long ago that people said we’d never race again at North Wilkesboro Speedway,” Smith said. “This has been a team effort, a group effort. This has been a rocketship with that speedway, the community, the state. Obviously, this will take a lot of work. There are lots of details we won’t have today, but we’re working on it.”

Cooper said the return of the track will be an economic boost to many.

“We are the birthplace of NASCAR,” Cooper said. “You’re going to see this moonshine-to-motorsports heritage trail that’s going to bring people from all over the world to see the history of racing and NASCAR, and what better place to concentrate it than North Wilkesboro Speedway.”

Cooper called the fact that the All-Star Race could be scheduled at North Wilkesboro, considering its past, “almost beyond comprehension.”

Steve O’Donnell said having a street race in Chicago and the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro next year will make the schedule unique. “As you look at evolving your schedule, you can’t forget about the past,”