NASCAR
Bowman Gray Stadium’s Impact on NASCAR’s Past, Present, and Future
Nestled near downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina is a quarter-mile ribbon of asphalt with nearly 80 years of unparalleled history. Bowman Gray Stadium proved a crucial artery into NASCAR’s growth during its founding period. Racing has been hosted here almost uninterrupted ever since. Bowman Gray holds the distinction as America’s longest running weekly short track. Now having its racing operations bought by NASCAR, ‘The Madhouse’ seemingly has a new life ahead from the sport it helped birth.
The crown exhibit at the NASCAR Hall of Fame is Glory Road. An ever-changing collection of racecars are on a platform that mirrors various racetracks with increasing banking. The very first track featured on this vast display is the flat Bowman Gray Stadium.
Every generation of NASCAR stars have cut their teeth on the bullring. From Richard Petty and Bobby Allison to Ben Rhodes and Corey Lajoie. A who’s who of NASCAR’s pioneer era drivers traded paint on the combination racetrack and football field. Bowman Gray was the home of 29 NASCAR Cup Series races from 1958 through 1971. ‘The King’ Richard Petty won here four times, including his 100th Cup win in 1969. All Grand National drivers trailed the record put up by Rex White however. The 1960 National champion picked up six Bowman Gray wins in 12 starts.
Originally built amidst The Great Depression to help foster construction work, Bowman Gray Stadium opened as a football field. It has hosted local high schools, Wake Forest University, and its current day tenant–the Winston-Salem State Rams. Once the dirt track was paved in 1947, NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. and Alvin Hawkins began hosting stock car races around the field. The stadium’s first NASCAR race was held in 1949 and won by Fonty Flock.
“Going back many many many years there was National racing there,” said Winston-Salem native Richard Childress. “Bowman Gray Stadium has so much history in the France family, they needed it back.” Childress’ Hall of Fame career began at Bowman Gray, selling popcorn and peanuts in the grandstands before buying his first racecar.
“As NASCAR’s first weekly racetrack, Bowman Gray Stadium holds a special place in the history of our sport,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s Senior Vice President, Racing Development and Strategy. “We are grateful to the Hawkins family’s multi-generational legacy of leadership at this historic track and we’re thrilled to oversee racing at one of the crown jewels in NASCAR Regional. We look forward to leading the racing operations of the facility in partnership with the City of Winston-Salem to preserve the history and legacy of the racetrack for the next generation of fans and racers.”
A combination race controversy from 1971 lives on to this day, and affects Bobby Allison’s career win total. Allison still claims that his win, driving a Grand American division-approved Ford Mustang, should count as a NASCAR Cup Series victory. Now 86-years-old, this win should be retroactively awarded to Allison, but that’s another argument for another day. This marked the last competition held by NASCAR’s top division at Bowman Gray. This far from where the track’s story ends though.
From April to August every year, Bowman Gray hosts four classes of weekly racing that have become steeped in NASCAR lore. Stadium stocks, Street stocks, Sportsman late models, and Modifieds have defined Bowman Gray’s impact for multiple generations of fans. Racing’s top National division has not seen the flat oval in over 50 years. This time has however seen new heroes emerge as this track’s homegrown stars. Petty, Pearson, and Allison have evolved into Myers, Brown, and Miller.
As notable as the drivers on track over the years at Bowman Gray are the fans. The mayhem seen across the 17,000-seat grandstands are described as some of the most rowdy and vocal supporters of short track racing.
“It was an experience unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of,” Ryan Blaney said. “I’ve been to a few Modified races there back in the day. But when you have young kids shooting you the bird, and I was a young kid at that time, I was nine years old, and kids younger than me were shooting the bird while I was going. That just shows you the atmosphere there. It’s wild.”
“It’s always good going to see a fight and then a race breaks out,” Corey Lajoie said. “It’s a pretty special venue, I love going there for the fried Oreos.”
“Bowman Gray Racing has been a part of the fabric of Winston-Salem for many years. In fact, some attribute NASCAR’s beginning to the races held at Bowman Gray Stadium,” said Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines. “It is for that and other reasons that the City of Winston-Salem is delighted that NASCAR is acquiring Winston-Salem Speedway Inc. I am doubly happy that NASCAR has committed to the continuance of the weekly races at the stadium, that are so popular with our citizens and visitors.”
Bowman Gray was pivotal in the early days of NASCAR’s Next Gen era as well. October 26, 2021 saw a prototype Next Gen car make test laps around The Madhouse. Retired stars Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Clint Bowyer all took turns driving. Testing the car at this exact track was a precursor to the Busch Light Clash moving to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Coliseum’s temporary track almost perfectly mirrored Bowman Gray. Now in 2024, the three year deal with the L.A. Coliseum has run its course. Could the Clash potentially move venues to the original football field/racetrack combination venue? NASCAR taking over racing operations at Bowman Gray have collective imaginations running wild for possible future events at this track in a National Series.
“We’ll see what they do with it in the future,” Blaney said on NASCAR taking over the racing lease. “I think there’s opportunities there. To me that’s a possible Clash replacement for the Coliseum. It’s the same thing pretty much. We’ll see where they go with that, but why not snag it up and have it at your disposal?”
“I think it’d be great,” Austin Dillon said about a possible Bowman Gray NASCAR race. “Bowman Gray is a fun place. I wish we at the RCR group would have got it, but NASCAR getting it is great. I think it’ll definitely bring some more attention to it, but that place doesn’t need much. Don’t change it. That’s the biggest thing NASCAR can do, just have fun with it and promote it.”
“When I heard about it I said that’s where the Clash is going,” Bubba Wallace said. “That’s not confirmed, just my assumption, so I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“I don’t know if we need to go there,” Lajoie said. “It’s cool NASCAR took that lease over, but I don’t know if a National Series level needs to go there for a points race.” Lajoie is a past Bowman Gray winner in the K&N Pro Series (now ARCA East) from 2012. That night he beat out Bubba Wallace in second. Twelve years later, Wallace still claimed that Lajoie cheated in that race.
NASCAR stepping into Bowman Gray is a big win for all parties involved. Even if there are no changes at all or Cup cars brought back, The Madhouse has proper backing to ensure it remains a racing staple for decades to come. Whether for the on-track product or the pure people watching enjoyment, this Winston-Salem native urges everyone to experience at least one Saturday night show at The Madhouse.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Peter Stratta/TSJSports
