CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ryan Blaney raced at Bowman Gray Stadium when he was 10 years old.

Seeing yard markers on the turf in the infield, along with packed grandstands filling roughly three-quarters of the way around the track, created a vivid memory for the recent NASCAR Cup Series champion who spent much of his upbringing in High Point.

“It was surreal, especially for a 10-year-old just getting thrown into something that is that intense,” Blaney recalled. “The fans there will let you know if they like you or not, even if you’re 10 years old. And I like that passion about fans in general, around all sports — they love their drivers, and they love the track that is their home track.

“It was pretty eye-opening. As a kid, I didn’t really think I got the full scale of it until I got a little older. It’s hard to put that into perspective at a young age.”

NASCAR opens another year of racing with the exhibition Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium at 8 p.m. Sunday. It’ll be the first NASCAR race at the legendary quarter-mile race track on the campus of Winston-Salem State University since 1971.

NASCAR expects the Clash to leave a legacy

Winston-Salem State, along with the city, worked with NASCAR to prepare the nearly 90-year-old venue for Cup racing.

A SAFER barrier was installed along the outside walls, and the stadium got a new lighting system. These new lights will help prevent glare, while having the ability to provide LED light shows in different colors.

The permanent changes to Bowman Gray Stadium are intended to strengthen fan experiences at Winston-Salem State football games, school events and local modified races, leaving a lasting legacy from NASCAR’s latest return to its roots.

“It’s a football field with a running track around it,” longtime driver and broadcaster Clint Bowyer said. “They’ve just put modifieds and others race cars on (the track) for many years. And now, the Cup Series is finally gonna be back. It’s hard to believe all that can happen in one venue, but it’s true.”

‘There are tracks like this for a reason’

Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart made laps at Bowman Gray in the Next Gen car in October 2021.

It was a new experience for Bowyer and the NASCAR legends to pilot the seventh-generation car itself, but being on the track at Bowman Gray is iconic every time. It’s one of the first places Bowyer wanted to visit when he moved to North Carolina, especially as he lived in Winston-Salem when driving for Welcome-based Richard Childress Racing.

Expect there to be “absolutely no real estate” for drivers to pass each other, Bowyer said. These cars are wider, have lower center gravity and more grip — meaning the cars will be running even faster, and likely in more of a single-file line.

“The historical side of this track, you can’t oversell it,” Bowyer said. “We’ve all seen the clips and highlight reels of Bowman Gray, the ‘Madhouse,’ and what has happened here over the years — crashes, fights, I’ve seen people fighting on the track, grandstands and the pits — literally, I’ve seen it.

“Show me another track that’s had a reality TV show about it. There’s not one in existence. We’ve bought Netflix shows with NASCAR and everything else, but this was one that they bought and took to this because of the story, the significance and entertainment value of the ‘Madhouse.’ There are tracks like this for a reason.”

Another return to its roots before NASCAR goes international

Racing inside a stadium is not unprecedented.

Soldier Field in Chicago had a short track back in the 20th century when Bowman Gray was in action, and the NFL stadium even hosted a Cup Series race on July 21, 1956. There had been plenty of other speedways inside stadiums, including Freeport Stadium, a multi-purpose venue on Long Island, N.Y., that hosted modifieds.

The Clash is sold out, roughly 19,000 are expected, including standing-room only tickets, while it will be nationally televised on Fox. Bowyer and Kevin Harvick will be back in the booth alongside Mike Joy, as the network begins its 25th year broadcasting Cup races. This is the first season under NASCAR’s new media rights agreement; The Coca-Cola 600 in Concord on May 25 begins the slate of races on Prime Video.

NASCAR is headed to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City on June 15, which will be the Cup Series’ first points-paying race in Mexico.

At the track where the 2025 season starts, the Winston-Salem State Rams’ red-and-white logo may not have fully faded from the turf.

“It’s kind of like a mini-Bristol,” Blaney said. “It’s just a staple of Winston-Salem, and it’s cool that we get to go to a historic place like that. NASCAR hadn’t been there in over 50 years on the Cup side, so it’s nice to go back. The legend. The lore. It’ll be cool to get back to where I’ve spent a lot of my time.”

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