RICHMOND COUNTY, N.C. — NASCAR is officially back in Richmond County after years of waiting. Fans flocked back to Rockingham Speedway as NASCAR Truck and Xfinity Series drivers took to the track Friday afternoon. “I think it is about time, I hope it keeps going and a cup race comes in,” Dave Lougee said.

They said it in 2018, when a man nearly no one in Richmond County had heard of bought the dilapidated Rockingham Speedway and promised a resurrection. They said it three years later, when North Carolina government officials set aside $50 million to do much-needed work on the Tar Heel State's big three racetracks.