Cup Series drivers report North Wilkesboro repave left ‘some character’ after tire test

This week, both Truck Series and Cup Series drivers took to the newly repaved North Wilkesboro Speedway to conduct testing. Goodyear is trying to get the tires figured out for the historic NASCAR track.

Videos emerged early in the week of Truck Series drivers zipping around the new pavement. North Wilkesboro Speedway has gone through a lot of changes. From deserted and left to crumble to hosting the NASCAR All-Star Race and a points-paying Truck Series event.

Of course, with the condition of the pavement which at one point had grass and weeds sprouting up in the cracks, a decision had to be made about a repave. Following the first day of Goodyear’s Cup Series testing at the track, drivers liked what they saw and felt out there.

Joey Logano, William Byron, and Ty Gibbs were all selected as part of the Cup Series test.

“They did a good job. There’s still some character,” Joey Logano said, via NASCAR.com. “It’s still a unique-shaped racetrack, which is all good. There’s a pretty big bump down into Turn 1, I think, where the wall was out too long, and they cut it, and that’s kind of an interesting area, and there’s a huge bump leaving [Turn 4], which really kind of upsets the cars. I don’t think that’s bad. I’m OK with it.”

William Byron believes North Wilkesboro Speedway will provide more wrecks this year with the repave, making the racing more exciting.

“But yeah, it won’t have the style of like comers and goers, I don’t think,” Byron said. “I think it’ll be the guys who are up toward the front will be racing hard, and there’s probably just going to be more wrecks”

Ty Gibbs likes what he sees from North Wilkesboro Speedway

With his Ford and Chevy counterparts remarking on the repave, Ty Gibbs had his own takes. Gibbs is young but has been around NASCAR his entire life. The last time NASCAR raced at North Wilkesboro before 2023, Gibbs wasn’t even born yet. He wouldn’t be for a handful of years after the final 1996 race.

So, what does he know about this track and the repave? Well, being around the sport, he’s seen repaves. He has seen tracks go over their old pavement with fresh, black asphalt and at times, ruin the track itself.

As far as Gibbs can tell, North Wilkesboro Speedway was repaved the right way. There are no patchwork spots and messy lines.

“You just look at the track, and you can just look at it. It’s not different. It doesn’t look like a puzzle,” Gibbs said, via TobyChristie.com. “Like there are some tracks on the schedule that they did repaves at that just looks like a mess out there. They did such a great job, so, kudos to them.”

For what it’s worth, there are no officially reported times since this is a Goodyear test internally. However, there have been reports of drivers making times about two seconds quicker than they made last year. Should be one heck of a show for the All-Star Race.