Followers of NASCAR tend to be blue collar family men who like a cold beer and a hot meal.
Of course, they like watching drivers risk their lives while racing at speeds once thought unreachable.
But now NASCAR fans are celebrating after the perfect thing was discovered hidden under this track.
NASCAR’s origin story
Stock car racing started during prohibition because moonshiners needed fast cars to evade police when distributing their illegal products.
The hooch runners took pride in their souped-up automobiles and would race to see who was the fastest.
These races started attracting onlookers.
One thing led to another – and NASCAR was born.
Today, NASCAR has 1,866 employees and brought in about $100 million in revenue last year.
But one sinkhole just took NASCAR back to its origin story.
NASCAR finds its way back to its roots
Bounding into Sports reported that the sinkhole was discovered during renovations to the North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina.
It’s a historic short track along U.S. Route 421.
The track was built in 1947 and held its first NASCAR race two years later.
The sinkhole was found under the front stretch of the grandstands.
But the real discovery was what the sinkhole revealed.
BREAKING NEWS | Sinkhole unearths rumored moonshine cave underneath front stretch grandstands. 🌖🥃
FULL STORY 📰: https://t.co/Iri8nwI9Nt pic.twitter.com/V1IXPnANdc
— North Wilkesboro Speedway (@NWBSpeedway) March 26, 2024
“When we began renovating and restoring North Wilkesboro Speedway in 2022, we’d often hear stories of how an old moonshine still was operated here on the property under the grandstands,” a statement from officials read. “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. We don’t know how people would have gotten in and out, but as we uncover more, there’s no telling what we might find.”
As the statement noted, it has long been rumored that a moonshine cave existed under the North Wilkesboro Speedway.
However, most thought it was nothing more than a fun story.
But the storied rumors have now been confirmed.
The moonshine capital of the world
What makes the hidden moonshine cave under a NASCAR track even more fitting is the location.
The Tar Heel State was widely considered to be the “moonshine capital of the world.”
And Wilkes County, North Carolina, is considered to be the birthplace of NASCAR.
The track was closed in 1996.
However, the state reserved some funding to reopen it in 2021 and the renovations led to the discovery of the moonshine cave beneath the track.
North Wilkesboro Speedway hosted the NASCAR All-Star Race last year and will also host it this May.
Perhaps spectators will have an extra attraction to check out at this year’s All-Star Race.
Patriot Political will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
