Going on three years ago, NASCAR showed a measure of good faith in resurrecting North Wilkesboro Speedway after a closure that spanned nearly 30 years. They decided to run the All Star Race and the Truck Series at the historic track that had undergone significant renovations while simultaneously keeping its old-school Darlington-like charm. Both events sold out nearly as soon as tickets went on sale and made for a weekend where the crowd brought the energy both nights despite some weather and the typical mid May heat and humidity.
Since then, NASCAR has seemingly made a commitment to returning to grassroots fan-favorite tracks it had seemingly forgotten such as Bowman Gray Stadium, which hosted the Clash back in February to the tune of an enthusiastic sold out crowd despite the frigid weather.
The trend continued this weekend with the Craftsman Truck Series, ARCA Menard’s East Series, and the Xfinity Series running a two-day triple header at Rockingham Speedway – more affectionately called “The Rock”. NASCAR had not hosted an event at the .94-mile asphalt oval in the North Carolina Sand Hills in 21 years. Ever since the return of North Wilkesboro, fans had clamored for Rockingham to get back on the NASCAR schedule, falling on deaf ears until last August when they announced the triple-dip, which was met with a level of excitement equal to if not greater than North Wilkesboro from fans and drivers alike.
The move was made possible when Track Enterprises – a renowned motorsports/race track promoter, partnered with the ownership group that purchased the speedway back in 2018 to work towards bringing NASCAR events back. The state of North Carolina also played a part by issuing a 9 million dollar grant to go towards upgrades to the facility such as repaving the racing surface that had grown over with weeds, sprucing up the garage areas, new HVAC systems, SAFER barriers, new concrete for the frontstretch grandstands, etc.
It all culminated on Saturday afternoon with an event that was as much a grand slam for the sport as the 2023 All Star Weekend. The stands were filled to standing room only capacity with an atmosphere that truly felt like stepping into a time machine back to the sport’s peak days back in the 2000s.
All 35,000 + of the fans in attendance were certainly given a special reward for their faithfulness towards the speedway over the years in the form of one of the wildest Xfinity Series races in the speedway’s history.
The opening stage of the race was won by Nick Sanchez, who led 52 laps in two times in the top spot on the day. There were 2 incidents in the first 60-lap segment – one where Vicente Salas, who was making his first xfinity start, got loose and backed into the wall off turn two, and another where Katherine Legge got turned around by William Sawalich, who frankly just drove through her and sent her into innocent bystander Kasey Kahne. During this yellow, strategy, which would become a key part of how the race played out in the end, became a prevalent factor during the 2nd yellow when six drivers, including Jeremy Clements, stayed out to try and nab some critical stage points (paying off for the 51 as he came in 9th).
Stage two was relatively clean with only one caution that wasn’t for the stage break. Late in the segment at lap 110, Sheldon Creed crashed out of the race, which once again led to a strategy call for six drivers that were mired in the middle of the pack – once again including Clements – to stay out to try for some stage points. Dean Thompson went on to take his first ever green and white checker while Jeremy ended up third.
With the first two tame stages out of the way, it was time for the track to get extra ‘racey’ with the final 130 laps. There were nine cautions, one of which involved the 51 car. On lap 182, Jeremy was rear-ended by Ryan Ellis trying to avoid the crashing Kyle Sieg, doing a ton of damage to his right rear fender and quarter panel.
“There was a wreck on the backstretch and I was slowing down”, said Clements. “I had plenty of time to miss it and he {Ellis} wasn’t even close to me. He was way behind, but didn’t slow down and ran all into the back of me and messed up the rear quarter panel, which sucks because it takes away your side force, and that is not good.”
As the race went on, despite the damage, Jeremy was able to make up ground gradually thanks to a combination of aggressive racing and high-rolling fuel mileage gambles not paying off.
In the last 10 laps (spoiler alert..) of regulation, there were three cautions and 2 red flags thrown. The cautions were largely due to messes where a gambler ran out of aces (or in this case, gas..) and caused a stack up where multiple cars were basically destroyed. The first of those incidents took away a shot at the win for Ryan Sieg, who led 77 laps only to end up finishing 19th. Jeremy did not make it through totally unscathed, but by the time the green dropped for the overtime restart, Clements was sitting in 10th position, looking for his first top 10 finish since the season opener at Daytona.
In the end, Jesse Love went on to capture his first win on a short/non-drafting track and his third career victory in the Xfinity series. Jeremy just missed the mark, ending up in 11th. Following post race inspection Love was disqualified and Sammy Smith was credited with the win and Jeremy is now credited with a p10 finish.
“It is a shame that the race turned into a mess at the end. There were so many crashes that walking back to the hauler looked like walking through a post-race at Talladega. It could have played out so well for us had it gone green the rest of the way because we had pitted when so many others around us didn’t. I wish it could have gone better for us because I am greedy and always want more”, said Clements.
Jeremy expressed some positive enthusiasm about the track and how it ran, especially as one of the few veterans in the field that had raced here in the past.
“I raced here back in 2008 in ARCA. But the track is totally different now after the repave. So, I did not know what to expect coming in or how the grooves would widen out. It was hard to pass at first, but once we got running, it got much better. This track only got better as the race went along, and based on that, I would say it will keep getting better as the surface ages if we keep coming back”, Clements said, reflecting hopefulness that this won’t be the last visit to this track for another 21 or more years.
With the success of this weekend, it will be interesting to see if NASCAR will decide to give Rockingham another crack at this next year or consider moving a Cup Series race here. For sure, it is something that fans will lobby for just as hard as they do the possibility of North Wilkesboro getting a points race. Regardless of what becomes of “The Rock” going forward, the season rolls on next week as the Xfinity Series rejoins their Cup brethren at Talladega Superspeedway for the Ag-Pro 300. Green flag is set to drop at 4:00 PM on the CW.
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