North Wilkesboro Speedway. The CARS Tour. Two entities that have changed each other’s place in racing history are set to add another chapter this weekend in North Carolina.
For a quarter-century, North Wilkesboro sat dormant. The iconic facility, nestled along U.S. Hwy 421 in the North Carolina high country, grew weeds instead of welcoming race cars. A brief attempt at a revival in 2010 was the only sign of life the 0.625-mile short track saw during the stretch.
That all changed in 2022. Three years later, the CARS Tour not only calls the track part of its schedule, but home to some of the series’ biggest milestones. And another one is coming this week, with the series making its’ national television debut on Fox Sports 1.
To most drivers, seeing this come to reality was arguably unthinkable. For Dylon Wilson, it’s truly a dream come true.
Wilson calls North Wilkesboro home. It’s the place where he was born and raised, spending many years longing to see racing return to the track just a few hundred yards down the road.
When North Wilkesboro Speedway was originally built, Jack Combs – Wilson’s great-grandfather – was one of the builders and owners of the facility. Racing in Wilkes county runs deep in the Wilson family.
The debut of Late Model Stock car racing to a national audience is a full circle moment for Wilson, and something he’s grateful to be a part of.
“It means the world,” Wilson told Frontstretch. “It’s obviously a dream because I’ve always wanted to race here. But then doing it on TV and having that extra step really feels like a Cup race to me or something. It’s really neat, it makes those childhood dreams come true.
“But at the same time, MKM (Racing Development) prepared a super fast car that the driver has got to get in tune with. I’m a little rusty. This thing is a damn Cadillac for a lack of better words. It runs good, the driver is still knocking some rust off.”
The move to MKM has been an easy one for Wilson. The team will make its second start with the North Carolinian this Friday night (May 16) at Wilkesboro. Their first start together came at Wake County Speedway, where Wilson scored his first career top 10.
“It’s been awesome,” Wilson said of the pairing. “Michael Kline, he’s been so fun to work with. It’s been a friendship the whole time, but especially now. We’ve become good friends and we talk all the time. He checks in on what I’m doing to the car, what dad is doing.
“The transition hasn’t really been anything because it’s just like hanging out with buddies, it’s just me driving with a newer car, newer seat, newer everything and trying to get acclimated. … This is the best car we’ve ever brought here by a long shot and MKM has made every dream I’ve had, as far as bringing a badass car to a track, come true in a short amount of time.”
Along with his journey in motorsports, Wilson has another challenge he fights: type 1 diabetes. Wilson was diagnosed as a child and uses an Insulin pump to compete in the CARS Tour.
The subject was once a sore one for Wilson. But now at age 29 with a child, he’s begun working with different diabetic associations to give back to the next generation who may deal with his same battle.
“It’s a little bit of a different challenge,” Wilson said. “I haven’t necessarily been open about dealing with diabetes, I’ve kind of kept that as a personal fight, just kind of how I wanted to do things up until this point. I think after having a kid, watching his growth process and seeing other kids out there that do have type 1 diabetes, it just kind of connected all that for me.
“Like man, what if he has diabetes one day? I want to start getting involved more in this initiative. I was diagnosed when I was 12 and there’s a lot of kids that are struggling at that age that are diagnosed with it and they don’t know why. They did nothing to deserve it.
“(I’m) just trying to teach people that diabetes is manageable, both type 1 and type 2. but especially type 1. because I know a lot about it. Just trying to start an initiative to bring some kids and families that are newly diagnosed to the racetrack.
“Just teaching them that anything is possible.”
With everything tied together, Wilson is living out a dream on Friday night when the green flag drops on the Window World 100. But what would it mean for the hometown hero to ride the elevator to victory lane?
“My life would be complete,” Wilson said. “I’d ride off into the sunset and call it a career right there. I’d be done. … No, I’d be done for a couple months probably and then come right back. I’ve talked about all these dreams I have, but nothing is really a dream until something like that comes true.
“Not only is that a dream, that’s some kind of fairytale. I would love to make that fairytale come true, but we’ve got to work really hard for it.”
Chase began working with Frontstretch in the spring of 2023 as a news writer, while also helping fill in for other columns as needed. Chase is now the main writer and reporter for Frontstretch.com's CARS Tour coverage, a role which began late in 2023. Aside from racing, some of Chase's other hobbies include time in the outdoors hunting and fishing, and keeping up with all things Philadelphia sports related.