North Wilkesboro Speedway held its final race on September 29, 1996. The track was purchased by track owners Bruton Smith and Bob Bahre a few months earlier. Smith took one of the track's race dates to bring Winston Cup racing to Texas Motor Speedway while Bahre took the other date to secure a second race at New Hampshire International Speedway. Since September 1996 the track has been silent. Though Texas opened a new market for Winston Cup, it was yet another 1.5-mile D-shaped oval. And the September 2000 race at New Hampshire took the award for most boring race in years as Jeff Burton led all 300 laps.

North Wilkesboro was NASCAR racing. The day the series left the track in the North Carolina hills was the day a piece of NASCAR's heart was ripped out. The downhill-uphill design of the straightaways was truly unique. While some point to the closing of North Wilkesboro as "progress," I don't view it as such. It is an example of two individuals who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.