CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In less than a month, the NASCAR Cup Series will return to North Wilkesboro Speedway for the first time in nearly three decades.

Excitement for the race is growing with folks around NASCAR, including Winston Kelley, the executive director of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte.

“Going back in time a little bit at North Wilkesboro. Excited for this whole season schedule, and especially North Wilkesboro and what it’s going to do for North Carolina and our region,” Kelley said.

Kelley has his own special connection to the old track, calling races there for more than 10 years.

“I became the public address announcer in 1983 and did that until the track closed in 1996,” Kelley recalled.

Now, Kelley is like a walking museum himself, able to recall facts and figures about North Wilkesboro’s sprawling history with NASCAR’s top competitors.

“It’s very unique at five-eighths of a mile. The front straightaway goes downhill, then you go through turns 1 and 2. Then, the back straightaway goes uphill. So, it made it very unique from a racing standpoint,” Kelley said.

All these years later, Kelley can still remember old races and results.

“Junior Johnson, one of our inaugural NASCAR Hall of Famers, is from Wilkes County, and it’s his final win trophy as a driver. He won his last race, his 50th race, at North Wilkesboro in 1965,” Kelley pointed out, while walking the Hall of Fame’s top floor trophy cases. 

Serving as the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s executive director, he says he is hopeful the 2023 Cup Series All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro will bring new, or returning, fans to the hall in Charlotte.

“About a 10 to 12 days worth of racing at North Wilkesboro and then down here for the Coca-Cola 600. So, we think it’s going to be a very busy 10, 12, 14 days, and we’re very excited about that,” Kelley said, linking North Carolina’s two racing weekends at the end of May.

North Wilkesboro’s history is sprinkled among the hall’s artifacts with old checkered flags, trophies and even a replica flag stand. The speedway will have new life as it hosts the 2023 all-star event, 27 years after its last cup race in 1996. Jeff Gordon won the track’s last Cup Series race.

“It always felt like home,” Kelley said about North Wilkesboro. 

The potential for growth for the sport will be present too. Kelley said the average fan travels about 564 miles to visit the Hall of Fame, and spends about $800 locally in connection to their trip. Additionally, Kelley said a return to Cup racing at North Wilkesboro will likely be good for the state’s racing economy and fans, as NASCAR itself celebrates 75 years.

The All-Star Race will be May 21 with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway the following Sunday.