MOORESVILLE, N.C. (July 16, 2026) – Retro racing is on tap this weekend at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway, where for the first time in 30 years, the venerable .625-mile oval will host a points-paying NASCAR Cup Series race.
Back on Sept. 29, 1996, when Jeff Gordon beat Dale Earnhardt by 1.73 seconds in North Wilkesboro’s last points-paying Cup Series race, Los Del Rio’s Macarena topped the music charts, MTV still played music videos, and neither of these anecdotes could be Googled because the search engine didn’t yet exist. Cody Ware, driver of the No. 51 Rocket Doctor Chevrolet for Rick Ware Racing, wasn’t even a year old.
What’s old is indeed new again at North Wilkesboro, as Ware and his Cup Series counterparts tackle the track in Sunday night’s Window World 450, the longest race in the track’s 79-year history.
“From a mental and physical standpoint, North Wilkesboro is probably going to be one of the toughest races of the year,” Ware said. “Throw in the heat and humidity on top of it, and it’s going to be a punishing race. You’ll be doing a lot of footwork inside the car with the gas and the brake, and plenty of shifting. It’ll be physically demanding and you need to be on, because mistakes will get amplified – you’ll lose too much lap time, too quickly.”
North Wilkesboro rose from the ashes three years ago when, after a lengthy rehabilitation, it hosted the special, non-points NASCAR All-Star Race. Ware competed in last year’s event, and that is his only tangible experience at the track.
“I hadn’t really been to North Wilkesboro before I raced there in the All-Star Open last year, but I’d drive by it all the time heading to the mountains or on my way to Bristol,” Ware said. “But I know the history there, and it’s really cool to be a part of it again. I think it’s going to put on a good show.”
Located in the hills of Wilkes County, North Carolina, North Wilkesboro has a quirky layout, with a frontstretch that runs downhill and a backstretch that goes uphill.
“That’s definitely an interesting component of North Wilkesboro. There’s nothing like that anywhere else on the Cup schedule,” Ware said.
Drivers end up carrying slightly more momentum into turn one while their car has to pull more coming off turn two and up the backstraight into turn three.
“It’s definitely a driver’s track,” Ware said. “You have to manage the car with your right foot and not burn off the rear tires. Consistency is key, making sure you’re hitting the same marks every time, because it’s easy to overdrive.”
The resto-mod of racetracks is ready for NASCAR’s points-paying return. It begins Saturday with practice at 5 p.m. EDT followed by qualifying at 6:10 p.m. TruTV and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide live coverage of both. Sunday’s Window World 450 goes green at 7 p.m. with live coverage on TNT and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
About Rick Ware Racing:
Rick Ware has been a motorsports mainstay for more than 40 years. It began at age 6 when the third-generation racer began his driving career and has since spanned four wheels and two wheels on both asphalt and dirt. Competing in the SCCA Trans Am Series and other road-racing divisions led Ware to NASCAR in the early 1980s, where he finished third in his NASCAR debut – the 1983 Warner W. Hodgdon 300 NASCAR Grand American race at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. In 1995, Rick Ware Racing was formed, and with wife Lisa by his side, Ware transitioned out of the driver’s seat and into fulltime team ownership. He has since built his eponymous organization into an entity that competes full-time in the elite NASCAR Cup Series while simultaneously campaigning winning teams in the Top Fuel class of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, Progressive American Flat Track (AFT), FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX) and zMAX CARS Tour.
