NASCAR has roots in running moonshine when doing such a thing could be both risky and mean big bucks.
So, it might not surprise folks that there might just be a moonshine cave underneath North Wilkesboro Speedway. Apparently, there was always a tale told that such a thing existed at the facility, which was one of the sport’s original tracks, but no solid proof.
At least not any solid proof that anyone who might have known was going to talk about.
But the track reported last week that during grandstand cleaning and inspection, it discovered cracks in the concrete foundation that led them to discover a 700-foot opening underneath the grandstands.
“We’d often hear stories of how an old moonshine still was operated here on the property under the grandstands,” Steve Swift, the senior vice president of operations and development, said. “Well, we haven’t found a still (yet), but we’ve found a small cave and an interior wall that would have been the perfect location to not only make illegal liquor, but to hide from the law as well. We don’t know how people would have gotten in and out, but as we uncover more, there’s no telling that we might find.”
Similar anecdote.
There were a series of unused steam tunnels under a university. After decades of hemming and hawing they finally allocated funds and some engineers were sent down to inspect. They found an abandoned pot farm, with thousands of dollars worth of equipment just laying there. The general surmise was that someone had built the place with the goal of raising a certain amount and, once they’d made their fortune, ahd just walked away without being greedy. Or maybe they were killed by rivals and died without giving up the secret.
Cool story, but that site. Holy shit.
I’m not a NASCAR guy and I don’t read much, but I don’t know of another league or sport with an edgier birth.
“I bet I could outrun the cops better than you in my ford! Meet me on the beach any day and I’ll take you!”
