A moonshine still under North Wilkesboro Speedway? What workers uncovered at NC racetrack

In late winter of 1947, Enoch Staley, John Masden and Charlie Combs stood and watched a bulldozer operator push dirt in a circle to form North Wilkesboro Speedway on a vacant tract of land not too many miles from town. What started as a circle on the ground drawn with a stick became a dirt track after hundreds of dollars from their wallets dictated the exact distance the bulldozer driver pushed his heavy steel blade.

After weeks of adding wooden bleachers and wood fencing, North Wilkesboro Speedway opened on May 18, 1947, as a rather crude half-mile dirt track, some 10 months before NASCAR came to fruition.

Staley, Madsen and Combs had their star drivers to help make the tracks successful. Georgia native Bob Flock won the first race there against fellow moonshiners in several heat races and a 30-lap feature event in front of 10,000 fans. NASCAR races began there in October of 1949 at the eighth and final “Strictly Stock” race of the season. Red Byron was crowned series champion that year.

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By the time Leon Sales of nearby Winston-Salem won there on Sept. 24, 1950, Staley had increased the track size from a half-mile to .625 of a mile in length.

From 1947 until September 29, 1996. 38 drivers won there in 93 Strictly Stock, Grand National and Winston Cup races over a period of 47 years.

In the very early years of the track’s existence, most competitors were known moonshiners who had been outrunning state and local law enforcement leading up to each race. Some stayed home for fear they may be jailed for past offenses. Many couldn’t resist the allure of showing their driving talents to fans and becoming local heroes.

Is there a moonshine still under North Wilkesboro Speedway?

Residents of Wilkes County have always felt a moonshine still existed at the track but could never prove it. That is until a possible moonshine still location was found under the forestretch last week that was very well hidden during a routine maintenance check.

A release from Speedway Motorsports, INC., stated in part: “During grandstand cleaning and inspection last week, operations staff discovered cracks in the original concrete in section N toward Turn 1. Crews began removing seats to inspect the extent of the damage and evaluate needs for repair. During the process, an open area of approximately 700-square-feet was discovered underneath the aging concrete.

“When we began renovating and restoring North Wilkesboro Speedway in 2022, we’d often hear stories of how an old moonshine still was operated here on the property under the grandstands,” said Steve Swift, senior vice president of operations and development at Speedway Motorsports. “Well, we haven’t found a still (yet), but we’ve found a small cave and an interior wall that would have been the perfect location to not only make illegal liquor, but to hide from the law as well. We don’t know how people would have gotten in and out, but as we uncover more, there’s no telling what we might find.”

So far, approximately 600 seats have been removed from sections N and O, and Speedway Motorsports staff are evaluating the next steps for foundation repair and concrete replacement in advance of the upcoming May 14-19 NASCAR All-Star Race Week.

“Now we have a race before the race,” Swift commented. “The area that’s been affected by the sinkhole is a frontstretch grandstand area with some of the best views of the track. We’ll have a lot of work to get done before NASCAR All-Star Race Week.”

North Wilkesboro Speedway history of winners

No one is sure when the underground structure was built at the track but it is certainly an interesting find. NASCAR came to North Wilkesboro Speedway beginning in April and October of 1951 when Fonty Flock won both NASCAR Grand National races in those days. Speedy Thompson, Buck Baker and Lee Petty dominated the win column at North Wilkesboro Speedway during the 1950s. Californian Dick Rathmann and Oregonian Hershel McGriff also collected victories there in 1954.

Three-time NASCAR championship Lee Petty enjoyed victories there in 1959 and twice in 1960. His son, Richard Petty, an eventual seven-time Cup Series champion, won 15 races at North Wilkesboro from 1962 to 1981.

“Anytime we went to North Wilkesboro (Speedway), we expected to win,” Petty said. “That’s the way it was with everywhere we went, whether it was Martinsville (Speedway) or Richmond (VA.) Raceway or wherever we were next. We went there and raced and won, then another and then another and so on. We took them one race at a time.”

Wilkes County native Junior Johnson enjoyed four visits to victory lane at North Wilkesboro in 1965 for a total of four wins as a driver. After retiring the following year with 50 career wins, he turned his attention to team management and team ownership. Johnson spent time in an Ohio prison in 1953 for his moonshining exploits. He was pardoned by President Ronald Reagan in 1986.

Cale Yarborough, a driver from 1973 through 1980, won Cup Series championships in 1976, ’77 and ’78 in Johnson’s Chevrolets. Yarborough collected five of his 83-career victories at North Wilkesboro coming in 1974, twice in 1976, 1977 and 1978 in Johnson’s Chevrolets.

Darrell Waltrip won all three of his Cup Series championships with Junior Johnson and Associates in 1981, 1982 and 1985. His 10 victories at North Wilkesboro include five consecutively from October of 1981 through October of 1983.

Terry Labonte won four times at North Wilkesboro, twice for Johnson and twice for Hendrick Motorsports and team owner Rick Hendrick. Labonte is credited with Johnson’s final win there as a team owner on April 17, 1988.

Other winners at the track include five-time winner Dale Earnhardt, three-time winners Rex White and Herb Thomas, two-time winner David Pearson as well as Neil Bonnett, Bobby Isaac, Darel Dieringer, Benny Parsons, Tiny Lund, Mark Martin and Harry Gant, to name only a few.

Four-time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon won the final points-paying Cup race there for Hendrick Motorsports in October of 1996. Thankfully, Gordon isn’t the last winner there, as another will be crowned at the 2024 All-Star race on May 19th. Kyle Larson won the All-Star race there in May of 2023.

NASCAR All-Star Race schedule for North Wilkesboro Speedway

• Tuesday, May 14 — zMAX CARS Tour (time TBD)

• Wednesday, May 15 — zMAX CARS Tour (time TBD)

• Friday, May 17 — All-Star Friday: NASCAR Cup, Truck Series practice sessions

• Saturday, May 19 — Truck Series Wright Brand 250 (1:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1)

• Sunday, May 19 — NASCAR All-Star Race (8 p.m., Fox)

From northwilkesborospeedway.com: Additional events are still being scheduled throughout the week leading into the NASCAR All-Star race, including a Warren Zeiders pre-race concert on May 19 and a Neal McCoy concert on May 17. Both are free for ticket holders.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: North Wilkesboro Speedway moonshine still All-Star Race