Jeffrey Elmore and the North Wilkesboro Speedway

Life In the Carolina's Podcast

On this episode of the Life in the Carolinas podcast, Carl sits down with Jeffrey Elmore who has, since 2013, served in the North Carolina House of Representatives from the 94th district which is made up of the population centers of Wilkes County and Alexander County. Outside of serving in Raleigh, Jeffrey is a public school teacher who has had the opportunity to teach visual arts, with a focus on painting and sculpture, to every grade level since 2001.

Today, Jeffrey discusses his involvement in the revival of the North Wilkesboro Speedway, in which he played a key role in securing the funds. He talks about the process behind his being the go-ahead and his conversations with key people on their vision for the new speedway.

He explains his justification for the appropriation of these funds for this specific project and why, despite some concerns regarding the potential knock-on effects of the appropriation, he sees nothing but long-term economic growth in the local community from the revival of the speedway. In fact, Jeffrey makes the point that “the worst thing that happens with local appropriation is that they don’t use the money.”

With its new multipurpose event space, The revived North Wilkesboro Speedway aims to elevate its visitors’ appreciation for the local history as well as North Wilkesboro itself as a tourist destination. Aside from essentially serving as a museum for the community, the speedway will embrace its heritage with displays of living history via car shows, performances, and more.

“It’s a wonderful blend of the past moving into the future,” says Jeffrey. “You don’t see that a lot.”