The return of racing?

Junior Johnson hopeful for N.W. Speedway

By JERRY LANKFORD

Record Editor

Racing will return to Wilkes County - if NASCAR legend Junior Johnson has his way. “I think there’s an excellent chance that in less than five years, there’ll be racing there again,” Johnson told The Record during a Monday interview. “It’d make a great place for Winston Cup and Busch to test, too.” Johnson, a former driver and Winston Cup team owner, said that he and a group of investors, whom he declined to name, are pondering the possibility of purchasing the track. “There’re several guys willing to go in and purchase it,” he said. “I still have no idea how much (the cost) would be.” And Johnson appears to be ready to participate in the purchase. “I’ll do what I can to help get the thing back in operation,” he said. “Whatever happens, it needs to be running. It don’t need to just be sitting there. It does no one any good that way.” If racing returns, it isn’t expected to be Winston Cup. Busch Grand National and Craftsman Truck Series racing are more likely candidates, Johnson said. The North Wilkesboro Speedway opened in 1947. The last race was held there on Sept. 29, 1996. Since then, the .625-mile asphalt oval has been silent and the 40,000 seats empty. The track’s long career came to an end after the May 1995 death of owner Enoch Staley.

The speedway was then sold to racing mogul Bruton Smith, who owns Texas Motor Speedway, and Bob Bahre, who owns New Hampshire International Speedway. The sale price was reportedly $14 million. The two bought the Wilkes track with closure in mind - they wanted the spring and fall race dates for their tracks. Bahre has said that he’d like to see the North Wilkesboro Speedway used, but says Smith isn’t interested. And there’s the snag. With Bahre and Smith reportedly not being on speaking terms regarding the track, little has been done. Johnson says several legal issues must be settled before any sale could be considered. “Bruton (Smith) won’t do anything with his part,” Johnson said. “Still, I think it’s a possibility that once they get that over with something can be worked out.” Neither Smith nor Bahre could be reached by phone this week. Johnson and Bahre, however, appear to agree that the North Wilkesboro Speedway would be suited for Busch and truck racing. There has also been talk of weekly modified and sportsman division races. Wilkes has proven that it can be a successful host to special events. Johnson used the Brushy Mountain Apple Festival and MerleFest as examples. If the track reopens, he said, it could also be used during such events.

There’s also been talk of establishing a NASCAR museum in Wilkes. A museum here would be appropriate, Johnson said, due to Wilkes County’s racing roots. “The old Smithey’s Hotel (in Wilkesboro) was the first place there was a meeting about NASCAR,” Johnson said. It’s more than a matter of tradition, however, Johnson says. When NASCAR left Wilkes, “It just absolutely destroyed the economics here,” he said. During the two race weeks held at the speedway each year while the track was operating, thousands of fans filled motels and hotels in Wilkes and surrounding counties. Those fans ate in area restaurants and shopped at local stores. In more recent years, the race dates had shared the limelight with the Apple Festival and MerleFest as the three major drawing cards to the area. But, Johnson said, “The race track was the biggest of them by far.” County Manager Gary Page, when told of Johnson’s hopes for the track, said, “As far as the NASCAR fans in the county, they’d be thrilled to have some kind of racing back here.” Page added, “As far as economic development, I’m sure that any kind of racing (at the speedway) would cause some spin off of benefits. We’ve always heard that if the track opens again, a lot of NASCAR teams would like to use it for testing.” For the past few years, speedway owners and Wilkes County tax officials have disputed the tax value of the property - which includes the track, stands, 43.2 acres of land and two houses. A $9.5 million tax value has been listed by the county. Smith and Bahre say it’s worth about $2 million. An independent appraiser valued the property at $7.2 million.

The dispute will head to the state Court of Appeals, possibly in the next few months, county officials say. In the meantime, Smith and Bahre pay their taxes despite the disagreement. “They’re good taxpayers,” said Wilkes Tax Administrator Alex Hamilton. “They’ve already paid their (2002) bill.” The annual bill is $72,000, Hamilton said. It is paid by North Wilkesboro Speedway Inc., in which Smith and Bahre each own 50 percent of the stock. County officials are hopeful once the tax dispute is settled, the track will be used again. About the possibility of a sale and reopening of the North Wilkesboro Speedway, Page said, “I don’t see any negatives. With the economy the way it is, I just think it would bring back a little normalcy and stability to Wilkes County.”

 

Murder charged

In shotgun slaying

By JERRY LANKFORD

Record Editor

Wilkes Coroner Howard Laney is used to facing rough situations - Tuesday, however, was somewhat different. Laney, who is also pastor at Boiling Springs Baptist Church, received a call from law enforcement officials informing him that a man, who had been shot around midnight, had died. The dead man, Laney learned, was the son of a member of his congregation. Robert Lee Bauguess, Jr., 27, of Airport Road, Hays, died on the operating table at N.C. Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, according to a spokesman at the Wilkes Sheriff’s Department. Bauguess had apparently been hit by a blast from a 20-gauge shotgun. The pellets scattered from his lower abdomen to the top of his legs, severing an artery, Laney said. “They said they gave him a lot of blood, but it was running out faster than they could put it in,” Laney said.

Wilkes Sheriff’s deputies apparently already had a suspect in custody at the time of Bauguess death. Bobby Lawrence Foster, Jr., 30, also of Airport Road, was charged with murder later in the day, according to the spokesman. He had been arrested without incident around 12:30 a.m. He is being held in the Wilkes Detention Center with no bond allowed, the spokesman said. A 20-gauge shotgun has also been seized, the spokesman said, adding that he wasn’t sure who owned the gun. The two men apparently lived less than a mile from each other, the spokesman said. It’s unclear what prompted the shooting. “I really don’t know what set it off or really what happened,” Laney said. “It’s still under investigation. There’s several loose ends to run down.” Laney said that Bauguess had come to his church a few times in the past. His mother, Sheila Walsh, and stepfather, E.L. “Junior” Walsh, are members of Boiling Springs. “I just didn’t know him (Bauguess) that well,” Laney said. “They (family members) called to let me know he had died and to pray for him.” Laney will be preaching at Bauguess’ funeral later this week, he said. Dealing with death from two fronts is hard, Laney said. “It’s not the easiest thing in the world,” he said. “I’m trying to help the family make the arrangements. I just consider this coroner business to be an extension of the ministry. It’s an opportunity to talk to folks and try to help them.”

H.P. says church barrier ‘not illegal’

By JERRY LANKFORD

Record Editor

There is nothing illegal about the steel post barrier in front of Harmony Baptist Church on Old U.S. 421 in Millers Creek. The barrier was the site of a fatal accident last month. Sgt. B.L. Penley of the Wilkes N.C. Highway Patrol office, said after consulting with state Department of Transportation officials, it was determined the row of steel posts are not on the state’s right of way. Penley investigated the legality of the 24, four-inch diameter, concrete-filled posts in front of the church after a fatal traffic accident occurred there on Dec. 17 . Sherry Ann Roberts, 27, of North Wilkesboro, was killed when her car ran off the road, then hit three of the posts. The posts were bent and the car bounced off them, Penley said. Harmony Baptist Church Pastor Dennis Chapman said on Tuesday that he and his congregation “grieve for the family and hate that the young lady was killed.”

When asked if there were any plans to move the posts, Chapman said, “Since the investigation is ongoing, I feel like I should not respond.” The barrier has been in front of the church for about 20 years, Chapman said. He declined, however, to say why it was put there, again citing the ongoing investigation into the accident. The night of the accident, Roberts had been traveling west on Old U.S. 421 at about 65 mph, according to Highway Patrol reports. Reports also state that Roberts was not wearing a seatbelt, was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene. Roberts’ sister, Tammi, a passenger in the car, suffered several broken bones in the accident, Penley said, adding that she was admitted over night at Wilkes Regional Medical Center. According to measurements taken by The Record last week, the posts are 24 feet from the centerline of the road. Typically, state maintained roads have 30-feet rights-of-way from the centerline, Penley said. But that’s apparently not true for most sections of Old U.S. 421.

DOT Division Right-of-Way Agent Jimmy Caudle said most sections of the roadway has “only a maintained right-of-way.” That means the state only has a say about the portion of roadside property it maintains. The reason for this is because, “It’s a real old road, a lot of things haven’t been signed or recorded,” Caudle said. The maintained right-of-way differs along the road, Caudle added. “Some sections may just go to the ditch line,” he said. If someone wanted to put something up (on their property) it would be best to check with the (DOT) district engineer to make sure it’s not a hazard to the traveling public. But, if it’s outside the maintained limits, there wouldn’t be anything DOT could do legally.” Some sections of N.C. 18 also fall into the “no right-of-way” category. Most new sections of the road - on the north side of North Wilkesboro - have a 40-feet right-of-way from either side of the centerline, Caudle said.

 

Tiffany’s Place on schedule for Jan. 11 opening

By JERRY LANKFORD

Record Editor

Pete Kulynych’s dream of filling the youth center he built with area teens is about to come true Wilkes’ youth will get a chance to begin using Tiffany’s Place - a state-of-the-art teen center funded by Kulynych - later this month. A “slow opening” will start on Jan. 11 at the center located in the lower level of Benton Hall on D Street in North Wilkesboro. A schedule has been set for each of the county’s four school districts. Those dates include: Jan. 11 West Wilkes High School from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Jan. 12 West Wilkes Middle from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Jan. 18 East Wilkes High School from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Jan. 19 East Middle School from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Jan. 25 North High from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Jan. 26 North Middle from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Feb. 1 Wilkes Central High School from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Feb. 2 Central Middle from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

A grand opening will be held for all high schools on Feb. 8 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. and on Feb 9 for all middle schools from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Slow Andy, a local teen rock band, will perform on both dates. Although fun and fellowship will be the drawing card, safety and security will be a top priority at the center. Tiffany’s Place coordinators Ellen Cline and Rebekah Ingle will visit each of the schools to distribute copies of the covenant. Students wishing to visit the center, and their parents, must sign the list of rules before a youth can attend. “We want to make sure the kids and parents understand the covenant,” Cline said. Youths will have photo identification cards made when they return the signed covenants. The ID machines will also be used to keep track of youths visiting the center, Ingle said. A bar code will be swiped through the device and will enter the time the youth arrived. It will be swiped again as they exit to show what time they leave.

Other safety and security measures will be taken, Ingle added. One door - which enters from the patio on the D Street-side of the building - will be used for coming and going. An alarm will sound if any other door is opened. “That way we’ll know if somebody is trying to leave without us knowing,” Cline said. The rules listed in the covenant cover behavior, attire and ID use. An off-duty North Wilkesboro police officer will also be on the premises while the center is opened to teens. Cline and Ingle worked in the center’s computer room on Friday. They wrote final revisions to the “Tiffany’s Place Covenant” and printed out color flyers to distribute at schools. The two have been busy since they were hired by Wilkes Playmakers Executive Director Karen Reynolds.

Part of the work has included renting out the facility for birthday parties and other events. The center, with the exception of the music room, reading room and computer room, may be rented for $75 per hour (with a two-hour minimum). A security deposit of $75 is also required. The kitchen can be rented for an additional $50, with $25 of that being returned after satisfactory inspection. Several previews have been held for Tiffany’s Place - one that was on Dec. 16. Then, students selected by principals from each school visited the center. “The middle school kids seemed to go for the computer room and the video games,” Cline said. “The high school kids went for the kareokee stage.” From this and the upcoming dates, Cline and Ingle will get input from students about what they would like to see and do at the center. And, they’ll use this information to formulate a schedule where the center will be open for teens.

“If we need to be open more, we’ll do it,” Ingle said. The youth center is the brainchild of Kulynych, retired Lowe’s executive. He funded the renovations to the lower level of Benton Hall including furnishings and salaries for Cline, Ingle and two part-time employees. The renovations include converting the basement, once used as a storage area, into a brightly colored center featuring video games, a snack bar, pool tables, a big screen TV movie theater, a computer lab, reading room, music room and dance area. Kulynych says he got the idea for the center from Tiffany Bare, the high-school-age daughter of his employee, Martha Bare. For more information about Tiffany’s Place, call the center at 838-1332.

 

COMMUNITY HAPPENINGS

 

Blue Ridge Opportunity Commission, Inc. (BROC) will hold its executive committee meeting on Thursday, January 9, 2003 at 6:30 p.m. at the BROC Wilkes Office in Wilkesboro, 1203 A School Street, Wilkesboro.

Lutheran Church of the Atonement invites the community to "An Appalachian Christmas" celebrating Old Christmas on Sunday, January 5, 2003 at 4:30 p.m. Featuring the Wilkes Acoustic Folk Society. The church is located at 243 Oakwoods Road, Wilkesboro, N. C. No offering will be taken.

Free clothing for anyone who needs them. Babies up to toddlers and boys and girls jeans and shirts size 10-18. Also lots of men's and ladies' in a variety of sizes. Please call 336-973-5472. Courtesy of Oak Grove Fellowship Church

The Wilkes County Public Library Chess Club continues to meet Saturdays from Noon to 3 p.m. in the Friends of the Library Meeting Room. Chessboards will be provided, and the club is free and open to all levels of players.

TOPS - Take off pounds sensibly. Join us every Monday at 5 p.m. at St. John’s Church Education Building located on C.C. Wright School Road. For more information, call Margaret at 696-2442.

A child passenger safety seat check by Certified child safety technicians takes place the third Wednesday of each month between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. at the Wilkes County Health Department. No appointment is necessary. You must check in with the front desk receptionist. For more information, call 651-7478.