Today in History: The final NASCAR sanctioned race was run at North Wilkesboro Speedway

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In: NASCAR Cup Series News

Any driver who raced at North Wilkesboro Speedway, in whatever series throughout the years, can consider himself and herself privileged, but these particular 37 drivers can consider themselves as some of the luckiest drivers in racing history. They were the last drivers to race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Yes, Jack Roush staged a competition in recent years, but September 29, 1996 was the final race at the track to date.

Any fan who attended a race at North Wilkesboro Speedway throughout the years will forever have memories to cherish and share with others (not to mention, make me envious), but for those who owned one of these, consider yourself as being one of the luckiest fans in the history of racing.

The starting lineup looked like this—
Ted Musgrave
Jeff Gordon
Bobby Hamilton
Mark Martin
Ernie Irvan
Johnny Benson, Jr.
Derrike Cope
Bobby Hillin, Jr.
Rusty Wallace
Michael Waltrip
Dale Earnhardt
Bill Elliott
Sterling Marlin
Jeff Burton
Jeremy Mayfield
Terry Labonte
Wally Dallenbach, Jr.
Bobby Labonte
Morgan Shepherd
Ricky Craven
Ricky Rudd
Dave Marcis
John Andretti
Ken Schrader
Kyle Petty
Hut Stricklin
Kenny Wallace
Rick Mast
Joe Nemechek
Dale Jarrett
Brett Bodine
Jimmy Spencer
Geoffrey Bodine
Lake Speed
Robert Pressley
Jeff Green
Darrell Waltrip

And the finishing order—
Jeff Gordon
Dale Earnhardt
Dale Jarrett
Jeff Burton
Terry Labonte
Rick Mast
Ricky Rudd
Bobby Hamilton
Mark Martin
Rusty Wallace
Sterling Marlin
Michael Waltrip
Bobby Labonte
Morgan Shepherd
Kenny Wallace
Hut Stricklin
Johnny Benson, Jr.
Ken Schrader
Ted Musgrave
Jimmy Spencer
Bill Elliott
Ricky Craven
Brett Bodine
John Andretti
Lake Speed
Joe Nemechek
Darrell Waltrip
Jeremy Mayfield
Dave Marcis
Geoffrey Bodine
Kyle Petty
Jeff Green
Robert Pressley
Wally Dallenbach, Jr.
Bobby Hillin, Jr.
Ernie Irvan
Derrike Cope

Every one of the 37 cars was running at the finish. Such an occurrence happened once before at North Wilkesboro. But in this race it’s easy to believe that no driver wanted to see his car loaded into the hauler early. They all wanted to see the checkered flag wave, whether they were the 1st to see it, or the 37th. Derrike Cope, finishing 37th, completed 369 of the 400 laps. Nobody was out to just “fill laps.”

Jeff Gordon led the most laps (207). Other lap leaders were Bobby Hamilton (48.), Rusty Wallace (43), Dale Earnhardt (35), Mark Martin (29), Ernie Irvan (19), Ricky Rudd (17) and Jeff Burton (2). These drivers exchanged the lead 18 different times. Four cautions took place and slowed the race for a total of 29 laps. Dale Jarrett was the biggest mover. He gained 27 spots over his 30th place starting position with a 3rd place finish. His 27 spots gained were third most in NWS history, just behind the 28 spots his father gained in a 1964 race. Jeff Gordon took the checkered flag 1.73 seconds ahead of Dale Earnhardt. Eleven cars finished on the lead lap.

The length of the race was 2 hours, 34 minutes, 54 seconds. The length of the memories from that race currently stands at 16 years and counting. In all, there are 50 years of memories and history that North Wilkesboro Speedway has provided. In May of 1947, the first sanctioned race took place at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The last race took place on September 29, 1996.

The Final Lineup

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