Posted on 03/27/2024 1:34:30 PM PDT by Ciaphas Cain
NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — A possible moonshine cave has been discovered under the stands at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, according to a statement released by the NWS on Tuesday.
During cleaning and inspection last week, staff noticed cracks in concrete in section N. Crews began removing seats to evaluate damage and repair needs.
“When we began renovating and restoring North Wilkesboro Speedway in 2022, we’d often hear stories of how an old moonshine still was operated here on the property under the grandstands,” said Steve Swift, senior vice president of operations and development at Speedway Motorsports. “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 what we might find.”
(Excerpt) Read more at myfox8.com ...
Hail yes...
I worked for NASCAR driver Elmo Langley back in the early ‘70’s....That was when racing was racing!!!!
They did...its called a speedway...
cuz.... taxes on shine are as reprehensible as prohibition this is murica ! aint no revenuer gonna catch em ‘
Fascinating!
There was a Whiskey Rebellion somewhat north of there.
Moonshine liquor is still available in many places...
Prohibition wasn’t the reason for moonshining.
It was taxation.
Not just North Carolina. Back in the late 60’s while working for a paper company with 2 million acres across North Alabama and North Georgia, we were told that if we ever come across a still, to just keep on walking and be quite about it. The company was afraid of intentionally set fires if a shiner ever got turned in. One day while me and another fellow were checking on company lands in St Clair County, Alabama, we “accidentally” walked up on a working still with smoke coming up out of the stove pipe. We were about 30 feet from the still before we saw it. It was a frightening experience. We could have been shot and thrown in one of the many coal mining holes scattered across North Alabama, and no one would of ever found us. We immediately stopped talking, and kept on walking. Never told anyone about it.
Also, had a paper company friend who grew up in Baker County (North Florida) Florida, who had lots of stories to tell about the many North Florida moonshine stills that were still in operation in Baker County into the 70’s. He talked about seeing Greyhound busses with all the seats removed, traveling down deep woods graded roads, which would be filled with shine and driven down to Miami.
When I was a child in Nashville (50s) I always wondered why my cousins street Ford (he was a stock car racer) sat so high in the back but sometimes it didn’t.
What did Bruton Smith know...and when did he know it?
People still bootleg. Too much money and paperwork required to be a legal distiller. (so I’m told..)
There’s still a lot of shine available out in the county.
Bootlegging is a southern tradition and still going on today. People still don’t like to pay the man for their drink and they like to stick it to the revenuers.
I live about 15 minutes drive from this site. During my childhood my best friends ( Larry) grandfather lived in an old 2 story house that did not have any insulation in it. You could go into the house and find an old woodstove with a water reservoir with a fire in the kitchen on the hottest day of the year. I asked my friend Larry why his grandpa used a wood stove when it made the house so hot. He said “That is just how grandpa is”. My grandpa and Larrys grandpa were best friends. I found out years later that the two grandpas had a moonshine still under the house with the chimney ducted into the fireplace. You accessed the still by going into the separate garage through the grease pit that was linked by a tunnel. There was a row of bee hives in front of the garage. If you were “in the know” you could pop the top of one of the hives to get a quart jar of “product” and leave your money in the hive.There was only one work place accident I know of where a mildly lubricated customer pulled the top off the wrong hive and paid the consequences.. Many of the bees died after stinging that guy !!
North Wilkesboro and moonshine...history of NASCAR..
and no pix...
...and "dry" counties.
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