NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — Stock car racing's historical ties to moonshine have been well documented for nearly a century, and now a new chapter has unfolded with a discovery at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
A tunnel was found below the grandstands of North Wilkesboro Speedway on Tuesday, according to Speedway Motorsports - which some believe could be a historic moonshine cave. Crews were inspecting damage caused by a sinkhole when the cave was found.
The tunnel is around 700 square feet. Track officials say rumors have circulated for decades about its existence.
“When we began renovating [the track], we’d often hear stories of how an old moonshine still was operated here on the property under the grandstands,” Steve Swift, senior vice president of operations and development at Speedway Motorsports, said. “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.”
Around 600 seats have been removed from the grandstands to renovate the facility. The NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will host races in North Wilkesboro in May for NASCAR All-Star Race Week.
The restoration team says they're prioritizing the nostalgic feel of the landmark, so if this is proven to be a moonshine cave - they would want to preserve the history as much as possible.
Fans, like Gracie Crocker, say the history would be cool to have on display.
“The fans would be all over it," Crocker said. "They have that little moonshine hut over there in turn 1. The fans go crazy here for everything."
North Wilkesboro Speedway opened in 1947 and became one of NASCAR's original tracks that decade. The track hosted a NASCAR Strictly Stock (now Cup) Series race in the inaugural season of 1949. NASCAR raced at North Wilkesboro until 1996 before a renovation project returned NASCAR to the track in 2023.
Northwestern North Carolina was no stranger to moonshine in the 20th century. The underground industry flourished in places like Wilkes County in the 1930s and 1940s with many of the era's bootleggers taking their talents to the race track. NASCAR legends Junior Johnson, Wendell Scott, and Tim Flock are some of the many moonshine runners turned NASCAR drivers of the mid-20th century.