Dale Earnhardt Jr. went to North Wilkesboro Speedway in December 2019 and cleared weeds off the cracked track with a string trimmer, in the rain, with friends and track crews. NASCAR's Cup Series had last raced there in 1996, and the clean-up let a racing simulator scan the surface. The interest that followed helped bring racing back, and in July 2026 Joey Logano won the track's first Cup points race in 30 years.
