Daytona International Speedway

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

In the mid-1940s, local Carolinian Enoch Staley built a track near the Brushy Mountains with help from Lawson Curry, John Mastin, and the Combs family. NWS was propped up with NASCAR Cup Series races soon after with help from NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. Until the 1990s, the track was owned by the Staley and Combs families with each controlling half-interest, in the process becoming ubiquitous for its connection to NASCAR's roots relating to moonshine runners. After Enoch died in 1995, and with popularity for NASCAR exploding in the 1990s, Speedway Motorsports (SMI) owner Bruton Smith and businessman Bob Bahre each bought out half interest from the families. Due to a strained relationship between the two along with the facility's reputation of lacking amenities, NWS was left desolated by 1997 to extreme local opposition. SMI later bought full control of the track in 2007. After two decades of failed attempts to revive the track by various groups, Bruton's successor, Marcus Smith, led a successful campaign to resume major racing at the facility after increasing pressure from drivers and North Wilkesboro locals in the early 2020s.

In Their Own Story

The speedway in its current form is measured at 0.625 mi (1.006 km), with 13 degrees of banking in the turns and 3 degrees of banking on the track's straightaways. The frontstretch is graded at a downhill slope and the backstretch is graded uphill, which is attributed to founder Enoch Staley running out of funds when constructing the facility. NWS is asymmetrical. Before 1957, North Wilkesboro Speedway utilized a dirt surface. In late August of that year, developers opted to pave the track; it was completed by mid-September. As of 2023, the track has a reported capacity of 25,000 according to The Sporting News. At its peak, NWS had a capacity of 55,000 according to a 1996 report from The Herald-Sun. As of 2024, a currently ongoing effort by track developers to both modernize the facility and retain the vintage aesthetic of NWS is being made. As a result of it, most of the original structures built before 1996, including suites and a tower featuring a Winston Cigarettes-sponsored mural have been preserved. Modern amenities, such as new SAFER barriers, lighting systems, and sewer systems have or are planned to be added to modernize the facility as part of renovations.

Reader's Guide

In 1945, Enoch Staley, who at the time was working numerous jobs at a variety of industries, went to watch a stock car race in Spartanburg, South Carolina, with his friend, John Mastin. According to Staley in an interview with the Winston-Salem Journal, after watching the race, 'I fell in love with racing... I was hooked.' Soon after World War II, Staley was offered to purchase a plot of land from Lawson Curry, which Staley accepted. Staley later partnered with Curry, Mastin, Jack Combs, Charlie Combs, and Bill France Sr. to build the facility, with Enoch and France Sr. investing $1,500 (adjusted for inflation, $26,825) each. Funding quickly ran out due to the cost of grading, causing the track to be shorter in distance than planned and uneven in elevation. Originally, North Wilkesboro Speedway utilized a dirt surface, with developers adding a 14 ton mixture of calcium chloride and salt into the track to prevent dust. In interviews given by Staley, he did not expect the facility to last more than a year, stating, 'back then, promoters built tracks like they might not run but one race. We were like the rest of them... We didn't know where we were going, and we didn't have any long-range plans.' Initially, Enoch, John Mastin, and John's brother Oscar each owned some interest the facility. According to NASCAR personality Junior Johnson, unofficial races organized by local moonshiners christened the facility. Official races promoted by Bill France Sr. were later scheduled to run soon after on May 18, 1947, with officials expecting the largest crowd at a sporting event within Wilkes County, North Carolina, at the time. In its first official race, a crowd of approximately than 10,000 saw Fonty Flock win a modified feature race. Two years later, the France Sr.-founded NASCAR Strictly Stock Series (now known as the NASCAR Cup Series) ran their first races at the facility. In 1953, both Mastin brothers sold their interest of NWS to Jack Combs.

Did You Know?

• The track was originally built with a dirt surface; developers added a 14 ton mixture of calcium chloride and salt to prevent dust.
• Founder Enoch Staley did not expect the facility to last more than a year, saying, 'back then, promoters built tracks like they might not run but one race.'
• In its first official race on May 18, 1947, a crowd of approximately 10,000 saw Fonty Flock win a modified feature race.
• The track's frontstretch is graded downhill and the backstretch uphill because Staley ran out of funds during construction.
• By 1963, the facility had 8,500 permanent seats with a total capacity of 15,000 according to the Winston-Salem Journal.