The complete 2012 NASCAR schedules have not yet been released, but sources close to the sanctioning body say April 15 will be an otherwise open date on the NASCAR National Series calendar. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will compete the night before, under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway, allowing Sprint Cup Series drivers to take part in the Rockingham race.
Rockingham Speedway President Andy Hillenburg declined to confirm the date to Sirius-Speedway.com today, saying only that a press conference will be held Wednesday “to discuss our future plans here at the speedway.” Multiple sources close to the sanctioning body say the necessary documents have been signed and returned to NASCAR, guaranteeing Rockingham its place on the 2012 Truck Series schedule. Hillenburg is also expected to announce a major sponsor for the race at Wednesday’s press conference.
Hillenburg said last month that he has secured financing to begin installation of SAFER barriers at the historic North Carolina oval; a NASCAR requirement to host a National Series event. Now, the deal is complete to bring NASCAR racing back to “The Rock” for the first time since February 22, 2004, when Matt Kenseth drove his DeWalt Ford to Victory Lane in the “Subway 400.” Since then, the track has hosted events on the ARCA, USAR Pro Cup, CRA Late Model and Frank Kimmel Street Stock Series, in addition to Hillenburg’s Fast Track High Performance Driving School.
A return to Rockingham will be popular with Truck Series drivers. Two-time and defending NCWTS champion Todd Bodine, who has two career Nationwide Series wins at The Rock, said, “If you’re a NASCAR brat like me, you grew up watching races at Rockingham. They’ve had so many great races there, and when it got taken off the schedule, a lot of people were disheartened by it. It’s a tough track, but once you run there, you fall in love with. I’d be excited to see the Truck Series go back there.”
It will be nice to see an old, pretty much forgotten track back on the circuit. Great job by Andy bringing it back. I know it has taken lots of hard work and dedicaton by he and his staff.
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