Dale Earnhardt Jr. heaps praise on North Wilkesboro Speedway during All-Star Race

North Wilkesboro’s rebirth started when Dale Jr. wanted to scan the track for iRacing. He went out with a weed-eater and cut down the grass growing up through the cracks. That scan led to people racing online on the virtual track and eventually, to the Cup Series racing for three years on it.

This is a track that has a deep history. It has delivered on good racing in the past. With the characteristics unchanged, the uphill and downhill straightaways, bumps in the track, and those small details, it puts on a show!

Dale Earnhardt Jr. loves NASCAR racing. He loves these old racetracks. When North Wilkesboro puts on a show like tonight, Rockingham put on a show earlier this year with the Xfinity and Truck races… how do we get more old tracks back on the schedule?

Dale Earnhardt Jr. saved North Wilkesboro, NASCAR wins

Tonight, Christopher Bell had a great performance on his way to the win. He was there in the mix for the entire night. Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano led more laps than Bell, but the 20 team was on it. It all came down to that last caution and the fact that Logano didn’t pit to take tires.

Today, in the Open and the All-Star Race, tires mattered. Teams saw this happen and knew it. Still, with the final green flag run coming up, Logano and Ryan Blaney didn’t take tires. That cost them on the ensuing restart and green flag run to the finish.

This race had three-wide racing at times, even four-wide briefly, that ended up working out somehow. Early on in the race, it was difficult to pass for the lead. But there were 18 lead changes total, the most ever in an All-Star Race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. loved this race. I think a lot of fans are going to come away from this wanting a points race for the Cup Series. North Wilkesboro deserves it.