NASCAR’s All-Star Race Goes Big By Going Small

Stock car racing’s parent organization turns 75 this year, and the sport’s governing body developed an interesting way of celebrating. NASCAR decided to go big by going small and returning the sport to its short-track roots.

On Sunday, the sport will hold its All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in the mountains of western North Carolina. It will serve as a reminder of the sport’s heritage, at a track that has not seen a NASCAR race in more than a quarter-century.

A Historic Track’s Decline

In many respects, North Wilkesboro’s history echoes that of NASCAR itself. Located in an area known as the moonshine capital of America, the track — which hosted a race in NASCAR’s first season of 1949 — reflected the sport’s hardscrabble

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