Today’s Coke 600 is important for the future of NASCAR, motorsports in North Carolina
Before there was the Coca-Cola 600, there was the World 600. And no, the early race title didn’t derive from any naming rights deal between NASCAR and God.
Instead, the origin of the 600-mile crown jewel event was rooted in the desire of Charlotte Motor Speedway owner Bruton Smith and late co-owner Curtis Turner to host a race that outpaced the Indianapolis 500. The world is bigger than Indianapolis and 600 miles is longer than 500.
Sixty years after the races were completed days apart for the first time, the Memorial Day weekend events will run hours apart this Sunday, with fans back at both racetracks after the premier events ran fanless last year due to the pandemic. Indianapolis Motor Speedway is expecting a sold-out crowd of 135,000 spectators (around 40% of the track’s capacity), while Charlotte Motor Speedway is planning to welcome a more modest, maskless crowd of 50,000.
“It feels like the grand opening,” No. 22 driver Joey Logano said earlier this week. “I feel like we’re back. I feel like America’s back this week.”
Leadership of the facility in Concord, N.C., also sees the projected attendance number as a positive sign since only two weeks ago it had nearly maxed out selling tickets when limited to a 30% capacity cap. This weekend, Charlotte Motor Speedway is able to operate at full capacity given the state’s relaxed gathering limits and social distancing requirements. The fanfare will also be in full force as the speedway attempts to demonstrate that it’s deserving of $10 million in proposed state funding for benefiting local tourism.
“It’s always great to be able to show off and show people what we do,” Charlotte Motor Speedway president Greg Walter said. “There are some people who may or may not be fans of motorsports, but they understand the economic impact of having all these people come here for this great event and what that means for the state.”
State government earmarks funds
Gov. Roy Cooper last week outlined his recommendations for spending $5.7 billion that North Carolina will receive as part of the federal government’s American Rescue Plan to bolster COVID-19 relief. Cooper’s proposed budget for the funds includes investing $45 million in motorsports venues and events, including $10 million each going to Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Wilkesboro Speedway and The Rock Speedway (formerly Rockingham). Of the remaining $15 million, $10 million would be used to develop smaller racing venues through a partnership between the Department of Commerce and the North Carolina Motorsports Association, and $5 million would go toward building a new “Motorsports and Moonshine Heritage Trail.”
“We know that motorsports is a $5 billion industry in North Carolina and we’re the proud home of NASCAR,” state budget director Charlie Perusse said during a presentation of the recommendations.
The expected impact of the cash infusion, per the proposal, would be that the three venues would host at least five new outdoor events in the next three years to help grow tourism and benefit surrounding hotel and hospitality industries. But it could be months before the tracks see the money. The budget needs approval by the state’s General Assembly and buy-in from the respective counties and facilities, since the proposal stipulates that “a non-state match of at least $1 for every $4 from the state is required to receive funding.”
Significant upgrades needed
Additionally, while the three-year timeline could work for an operational track like Charlotte, long-shuttered North Wilkesboro will need significantly more than $10 million to make it race-ready.
The 0.635-mile track in Wilkes County hosted NASCAR races from 1949 to 1996, and held a one-off event in 2010, but has otherwise fallen into disrepair. Support for repairing the track has emerged more recently among those with deeper pockets. SMI president Marcus Smith, Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis and former Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. have all expressed interest in revamping the area. Lemonis wrote on Twitter in early May that he was willing to invest up to $1 million in the track and put a Camping World store on the property.
“Only need another $80-$100 (million),” Earnhardt Jr. wrote in response.
Necessary repairs at North Wilkesboro include installing SAFER barriers, connecting sewer and water utilities and resurfacing the track, according to the co-founder of Save the Speedway, Steven Wilson. Wilson said he’s been a member of the grassroots organization since it was formed in 2005 to bring awareness to reopening the track, and that the conversations on social media have given members hope that there is growing interest in the project. But, Wilson said, it will take tens of millions of dollars to make the facility operational for events.
“There is still going to be a need for additional capital to get it going,” Wilson said. “Especially if you want to bring the Cup Series here, or even the Xfinity or Truck Series.”
An influx of fans, money
The timing of this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 means it will keep motorsports in the public eye as key players — including parent company Speedway Motorsports, NASCAR, respective counties of Richmond County, Wilkes County, and Cabarrus County and their communities — deliberate how to allocate state funds.
“The proposed allocations from the American Rescue Plan can have a significant impact on renovating parts of Charlotte Motor Speedway as well as starting restoration efforts at North Wilkesboro,” Smith said in a statement. “Our team at Speedway Motorsports will get to work on the best ways these funds could be utilized and we’ll watch closely as the proposals continue through the legislative session.”
Cabarrus County Convention and Visitors Bureau communications manager Julie Hinson said she expects the hospitality industry around Charlotte Motor Speedway, located in Cabarrus County, to benefit from any additional funding by improving the visitor experience, and that her department received reports from adjacent sectors about the impact of this year’s Coca-Cola 600 on the local economy. Walter said that Charlotte Motor Speedway sold tickets to visitors from all 50 states.
“Hotels in Cabarrus County are doing better than expected this weekend,” Hinson told The Observer. “That’s certainly a contrast and a welcome change from 2020. We’re thrilled to have folks back in the county and to re-engage with them.”
Enhancing the visitor experience
According to data provided by Visit North Carolina, domestic visitors spent a record $478.16 million in Cabarrus County in 2019, but between the onset of the pandemic and last September (for which the latest data is available), more than $24 million in hotel revenue was lost in the county, which equated to more than $540,000 in local taxes. Hinson said she sees any amount of funds invested into the area, such as those proposed for Charlotte Motor Speedway, as benefiting the visitor experience.
The $10 million could fund a number of uses at Charlotte, with suggestions from the state’s proposal including but not limited to water and wastewater extensions, pedestrian walkway enhancements, speedway repaving, facility and dragway upgrades, bathroom maintenance, grandstand repair or erosion control. Charlotte Motor Speedway was last repaved in 2006 and drivers didn’t indicate that the track’s surface has been particularly problematic.
Veteran Cup driver Denny Hamlin suggested a general “facelift” to enhance the fan experience.
“They put the roval in, they put some money in, a few million bucks here and there, but some of these tracks really need, truly, a facelift,” Hamlin said. “And we’ve seen ISC (International Speedway Corporation) spend a lot of money at Richmond, Phoenix, Daytona, Talladega. I just wish everyone was held to that super high standard.”
William Byron, a native of Charlotte, said that he thought the greatest benefit of the state’s package could come in the form of building up short, local tracks.
“I grew up racing at Hickory and would love to race at North Wilkesboro and Rockingham and some of those places,” Byron said. “It’s such a racing state and it’d be such a big deal if we had some more tracks to go to, for fans to support.”
In essence, a race fan is typically a race fan. So whether it’s Indy or Charlotte, North Wilkesboro or Rockingham, the interest is there to see the tracks flourish, particularly in North Carolina.
And perhaps sooner than later — after the state’s biggest weekend in racing — the money will be, too.
This story was originally published May 30, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
