There was plenty of hype and buzz and excitement. No doubt about it, it was a great weekend to be in Wilkes County for the resurrection of North Wilkesboro.
The only downside to the whole weekend was: the All-Star race delivered pretty much what the All-Star race has been delivering lately. A less than riveting race.
Yes, Kyle Larson stunk up the show, but don’t blame him – that’s kind of his job. But, it’s also what tended to happen when North Wilkesboro was a regular part of the Cup schedule.
The last 10 times the Cup series ran at North Wilkesboro, they finished with an average of just over 6 cars on the lead lap. Six. In 1994, Geoffrey Bodine won by 21 seconds, on a lap by himself.
For all of you who think a longer race would have helped make things more interesting…are you so sure?
Is it worth another trip to North Wilkesboro for the All-Star race next year? Unless NASCAR has something else in mind that would create more excitement, why not?
It won’t be the same atmosphere the second time, but it likely will still generate more pop than anything else.