NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. – Enoch Staley helped build the North Wilkesboro Speedway and the NASCAR empire.
What you need to know
- Enoch Staley helped build the North Wilkesboro Speedway before the formation of NASCAR.
- He was a founding member of NASCAR and president of the circuit for years.
- Enoch Staley’s son, Mike Staley, was also president of the track before its closure in 1996.
- NASCAR All-Star Race is scheduled for 8 p.m. Sunday
- Enoch Staley helped build the North Wilkesboro Speedway before the formation of NASCAR.
- He was a founding member of NASCAR and president of the circuit for years.
- Enoch Staley’s son, Mike Staley, was also president of the track before its closure in 1996.
- NASCAR All-Star Race is scheduled for 8 p.m. Sunday
His son, Mike Staley’s office in North Wilkesboro is a time capsule of careers and family history.
“That’s my mom. And she was a big Jeff Gordon fan,” Mike Staley said. “If you look at it, you’ll see she’s looking at Jeff Gordon right there. She called him the little one.”
With photographs of famous drivers lining the wall, one man’s image shines a little brighter than the rest: Enoch Staley.
Enoch Staley and Junior Johnson (Spectrum News 1/Sydney McCoy)
“He was a pioneer in the sport. He and his other investors who entered the track didn’t know it, they only paid for one race. “They didn’t know he would do all this,” Staley said. “They just said, well, we’ll have a race.” And they were expecting 3,000 people and 10,000 showed up, and they said, well, maybe we’re right.”
Enoch Staley was one of the founding members who helped build the North Wilkesboro Speedway in 1946, before the birth of NASCAR. He came up with the idea after watching a race in Greenville, South Carolina.
“A lot of bootleggers, a lot of hot rods around here, a lot of cars and people, they were running down these dirt roads. So why not get people to pay to watch them race? Staley said.
NASCAR’s first race was in 1948 in Daytona Beach, a year after the National Stock Car Racing Association was proposed, according to the organization’s website.
Enoch Staley was president of North Wilkesboro Speedway and was involved in short track for nearly 50 years, becoming a charter member of NASCAR.
“He was a pretty good businessman,” Mike Staley said. “So I think he had an idea, but I don’t think he thought he would boom like he did, that it would be historic and get as big. “It was really unreal.”
Growing up at the track, Staley had a front-row seat to all the action and followed in his father’s footsteps as president before the track’s closure in 1996.
Staley has preserved racing history: every cap, photograph, Winston Cup cigarette pack and Grand Marshall jacket. The collection brings back memories of burning tires and the noise of engines on the track.
Mike Staley purchased the last pace car he raced at North Wilkesboro Speedway before it closed. (Spectrum News 1/Sydney McCoy)
That includes the last pace car that ran at North Wilkesboro Speedway, which has about 12,000 miles.
“I knew this was the last race, the last car, so I talked to the people at Pontiac and General Motors and told them I’d like to buy the car,” Staley said.
With the memory museum, he says seeing the track abandoned for so many years was painful.
“It was difficult, every time I saw something fall it was like a band-aid was being taken off a sore, you know? It just hurt,” Staley said.
Although the track was falling apart, community support for the historic track was growing stronger. He says he never knew if he would get the funding back, but he is excited to see where he will go.
A Dale Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser light remains in Mike Staley’s garage. (Spectrum News 1/Sydney McCoy)
Through the enthusiasm of fans and the community, memories return as he reflects on how far the track has come.
“I’ve been missing dad a lot, I’m telling you. Let me think about him and how hard he worked to get things done,” Staley said.
From dirt tracks to asphalt and every moment in between, Staley says he feels fortunate to see his father’s legacy of American tradition continue.
“It’s still fun now because you guys are making it fun,” he said.
Enoch Staley died in 1995. A space in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Alabama, is named after him.
Mike Staley says he’s excited to see the new pavement on the track for the All-Star Race this weekend.
NASCAR announced Friday that next year’s All-Star Race will be held at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 18, 2025.
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