NASCAR drivers facing unfamiliar venue with All-Star race at North Wilkesboro Speedway

By STEVE REED
AP Sports Writer

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. (AP) — William Byron has driven past North Wilkesboro Speedway on his way to the Blue Ridge Mountains. So has Brad Keselowski and many other North Carolina-based NASCAR drivers. But not many had been inside the track before this week. None have run a Cup Series event here. That should make Sunday night’s All-Star race at the restored .625-mile track all the more interesting and unpredictable when 24 drivers vie for the $1 million first prize at the refurbished track. Kevin Harvick said he wouldn’t even speculate on the type of a race, saying it’s impossible to predict since it hasn’t been done before in the NextGen cars. The last time the track hosted a Cup race was in the fall of 1996.