Denny Hamlin was elated with the way North Wilkesboro raced during the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race, and the No. 11 wheelman believes an even bigger event could come the track’s way moving forward.
During the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin explained why North Wilkesboro is capable of hosting an actual points-paying race for the Cup Series, and how it could become one of NASCAR’s top short-tracks if it were to come to fruition.
“It’s just got everything going for it, as far as like a short-track feel. You’re driving along, on this like, back road, and then all of a sudden a f—ing race-track pops up. You’re just like, ‘Damn.’ It’s just in the middle of nowhere. So it’s certainly a race-track that’s grounded in our roots, and I would love to see it be a points-race. I would,” Hamlin stated. “But that’s selfish thinking. But a lot of it is because I think it’s got the support from the fans, and it certainly has the capability of putting on good racing, if we get it all figured out.”
Evidently, Hamlin was a big fan of the track’s repave and the way it’s been racing, as he added that he believes North Wilkesboro could be on par with the likes of Bristol and Martinsville in the future.
“I thought it was really, really good,” Hamlin added, regarding the racing. “It had consistency, from top to bottom, certainly we were able to move up, move to the middle, to the bottom. It had options, for sure. I thought it raced as good as any repave we’ve ever seen, truly. It just seems like it has some variable banking, especially through one and two, that it’s — the very bottom lane is, let’s just pretend it’s flat. You’ve got the next lane in the middle, which has got a little more camber to it. And then the top lane, that’s got even more. So the higher up you run, the more momentum you’re going to have on the exit, but you can run lower, cut distance and get beside the person. So I thought it created great racing.
“The truck racing, I thought it was phenomenal. But the Cup teams are all just so close. So I think it was a really, really good repave. You’ve got to give credit where it’s due. Certainly feel like it’s got the potential, if we can get all this right, to be one of the best short-tracks that we have.”
Alas, it remains to be seen whether North Wilkesboro gets a points-paying event, but the All-Star Race at the track is certainly a sight to behold, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility moving forward.
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