ROCKINGHAM — Several streets will be closing a little early next week in preparation for the return of ThunderFest to Harrington Square.
The city of Rockingham announced Friday that the following areas will be blocked off at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 16:
City officials say one lane of Washington Street will be open for bank traffic.
ThunderFest is the official kick-off party for NASCAR’s return to Rockingham Speedway, with the Black’s Tire Craftsman Truck Series race scheduled to start at 5 p.m. Friday, April 18, followed by the Rockingham ARCA 150 (ARCA Menards Series East) slated for 1 p.m. and the N.C. Education Lottery 250 Xfinity Series race on Saturday, April 19.
Several drivers have been locked in for a meet-and-greet with fans: Rajah Caruth, Matt Mills, Bayley Currey, Andres Perez de Lara, Kaden Honeycutt and Connor Mosack from the Craftsman Truck Series; Dean Thompson from the Xfinity Series; Zachary Tinkle and Austin Vaughn from the ARCA Menards Series East; and former racers Ken Schrader and Kenny Wallace, hosts of the Herm & Schrader podcast.
The Marshall Tucker Band will be playing at Rockingham's ThunderFest on April 17 as part of the "All Our Friends" tour.
Mariah Gray
The Marshall Tucker Band will perform from 7-9 p.m. on a stage set up between the two banks.
In addition to more than a dozen food trucks, the square will be lined with racing-related vendors.
Black’s Tire, sponsor of the truck race and co-sponsor of the Xfinity race, will be bringing its race truck and hauler, and Warriors in Motion — an organization that has been heavily involved with the speedway — will have several vehicles on display as well as a race simulator.
Other race cars and trucks will be on display from Old School Racing, Tadlock Racing, Dieffenbach GM Superstore, Tedder Trash Solutions, and the J.D. McDuffie Fan Club.
McDuffie, who was from Sanford, holds the record of most Cup race starts without a win at 653. He had 106 top 10 finishes, with third being the closest he ever came at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in 1971. McDuffie drove for 27 seasons until his death from a wreck in 1991 at Watkins Glen.
Adding to Richmond County’s motorsports heritage will be a few booths representing Rockingham Dragway including track co-owner Dan VanHorn, who will have his Dodge Challenger on display. VanHorn won the King of the Street class last week during Mopars at the Rock.
Other drag racing booths include Carolina N/T Productions — with upcoming events May 8-10, June 20-21, July 25-26 and Sept. 12-13 — and Street Car Braggin Rights slated for May 15-17, and Rock Racing Batteries.
The Dragway will also be operating the beer garden as a fundraiser for the Rankin Museum of American Heritage.
The Kids Zone, sponsored by FirstHealth of the Carolinas, will include face painting and a booth from the Richmond County Partnership for Children.
ThunderFest runs from 4-9 p.m. and is free to the public.
NOTE: This story was updated to add photo of the band. 6:48 p.m. 4-11-25.
