Dale Earnhardt Jr. supports Denny Hamlin's driver-designed North Wilkesboro track idea

NASCAR Cup Series star Denny Hamlin made a bold statement Tuesday when he suggested the track at the revived North Wilkesboro Speedway undergo a full makeover designed by drivers.

“Thinking about this more,” Hamlin tweeted. “This should be the first drivers designed racing surface created. Everything from the banking, to the type of asphalt in each lane. Wanna get the drivers behind it? Let em design it. @MarcusSMI.”

Turns out, Hamlin has a supporter in NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. The 26-time Cup Series winner took to Twitter and was short, sweet and to the point.

I like this idea @MarcusSMI @dennyhamlin https://t.co/sNoBDnE8yl

— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) May 24, 2023

“I like this idea,” Earnhardt Jr. wrote.

Speaking on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast Monday, Hamlin went in-depth on why he believes the track needs to be repaved. Hamlin called North Wilkesboro a “one-lane track,” crediting that as to why it was tough for cars to pass over the course of the 200-lap event.

“The top three were the ones that pitted for tires,” Hamlin said. “They drove to the front because they had new tires on Lap 16 and they never looked back. It was that difficult to pass because of the tires, and it was difficult to pass because that track, you know, unfortunately is a one-lane track. I mean, I heard Chase Briscoe talk about it — that the second lane was non-existent. You couldn’t even try to battle someone on the outside.

“That’s why I think it needs to get repaved because our cars don’t race as well on single file tracks. That’s just a fact, they don’t. And especially if it’s a short track. So, I encourage the staff, Marcus Smith to repave it, but get the drivers feedback on the repaving. I think that they could do some things with the asphalt.”

NASCAR wraps up return to North Wilkesboro

While NASCAR’s return to North Wilkesboro for this past Sunday’s All-Star race was a momentous occasion, the race itself left fans divided. Kyle Larson dominated the action, leading 145-of-200 laps en route to pocketing the $1 million purse. Passing was seldom, and Larson, who pitted on Lap 16 for fresh tires, proved to be unbeatable throughout the night.

Ahead of race weekend, Earnhardt Jr. said that the track would likely need to be repaved if NASCAR wanted to run an official points race at North Wilkesboro in the future.

“Maybe they need to repave it after the end of this week,” Earnhardt said, via Yahoo! Sports. “If the pavement makes it through Sunday without real issues, they could consider taking that risk, but it would be such a risk. It would be a big risk to get that surface to last that much longer. Our cars, our program and our style of race can deal with a lot of imperfection, but the Cup crowd, it will not put up with problems and problematic surfaces. One little problem, one car has any kind of an issue from a rock going through their radiator or whatever, you can’t have that going on.

“It’s a big risk that they’re taking now with this surface for this Sunday. I think they won’t want to take that risk again. I’ll be surprised if they do.”

North Wilkesboro last underwent a repaving in 1981.