Fans and drivers alike are excited for NASCAR's return to "The Rock", Rockingham Speedway, as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is set to do battle on the former Sprint Cup track. Photo by Rainer Ehrhardt/Getty Images for NASCAR
Alan Potter and John Thomas have done this trip before.
They have the camping spot closest to the turn 2 grandstands at Rockingham Speedway this weekend. They’ve loaded their camper down with anything race fans could want for. They even have their own port-a-potty.
This isn’t their first rodeo. Potter has been coming to races at Rockingham since the early 1990s, and Thomas hasn’t missed one since 1978.
“We used to bring the camper down at the beginning of the week and stay here the entire week for the NASCAR races,” Potter said.
This weekend’s Good Sam Roadside Assistance 200 has been on the group’s calendar for months now, just as it has for thousands of race fans. After an eight-year hiatus, NASCAR is back at Rockingham Speedway, simply known as The Rock.
Granted, this is not a Sprint Cup race weekend. But for fans like Potter and Thompson and the City of Rockingham, the Camping World Truck Series is better than good enough.
“Everyone you talk to is excited for this race,” Thomas said.
No one may be more excited than Andy Hillenburg, who bought the venerable 1-mile speedway at auction almost five years ago. Few thought that Rockingham, the track that Harold Brasington built in 1965, would ever host a NASCAR race again after the Sprint Cup Series moved on from the Sandhills of North Carolina in 2004. The speedway’s fate seemed sealed when it was sold to Speedway Motorsports and effectively mothballed, its lone race date shipped out to Texas Motor Speedway.
“When NASCAR quit coming, we were all sad – pissed, really,” said Thomas, adjusting his Carl Edwards cap. “We didn’t want to see the track shut down, but there was nothing we could do.”
Thomas never thought he’d see NASCAR back at his home track again. But Hillenburg never lost his hope.
Hillenburg has raced in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and even qualified for theIndianapolis500. This weekend is another life moment for him, he said. It started when he began seeing all of the “Welcome Back NASCAR” signs sprinkled around Downtown Rockingham.
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“If I bumped into a pin, I’d probably pop,” he said Saturday. “Two weeks ago, I would’ve told you there was no chance we could sell out. We were doing well, but we’re doing even better now.
“A lot of people love The Rock and The Rock loves them.”
The drivers haven’t hidden their love for The Rock this weekend. Rookies and veterans alike have praised Hillenburg, his staff and his track. Rookie Paulie Harraka, who will start second on Sunday, even wrapped his truck in “Send a Soldier to the Rock” decals. Through the program, race fans from across the country have bought tickets to give to about 2,500 soldiers at nearbyFortBraggandCampLejeune.
“It’s exciting to bring so many soldiers to the Rock,” Harraka said. “Now we’ll give the soldiers something to root for while they’re here.”
Harraka is one of several drivers in the field who have never turned a competitive lap at Rockingham Speedway. The unfamiliarity extends to their crews as well.
“There are a lot of guys in the garage who’ve never been here before,” said Curtis Tincher, who works for Turner Motorsports. “Our crew chief hasn’t even been here.”
Tincher has. He and his wife,Sandy, spent Saturday afternoon sitting in the shade of their camper watching theFrank Kimmel streetstock race. A few thousand fans hung out in the stands to watch the under card and qualifying as well.
On Sunday, the crowd will be the largest at the Rock in eight years. Fans have come from across the Southeast and beyond to attend.
Potter and Thomas have their tickets.
“We’re ready for this,” Potter said. “We’ve waited a long time.”
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