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Next season, NASCAR returns to Bowman Gray Stadium for the first time since 1971. The 2025 Clash teams up with the historic venue on February 2. But what is so important about this event?
Bowman Gray Stadium is a quarter-mile oval in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It is known for its close bumper-to-bumper racing and the football field in the center of the track.
Currently the home of Winston Salem State football, the facility has walked the delicate line of hosting both football and racing for over 70 years. Bowman Gray earned its nickname, the “Madhouse,” for the flaring tempers that a quarter-mile short track brings.
The NASCAR Cup Series has not raced at the track in any form since 1971. However, no driver is credited with the win.
In that final race, Bobby Allison drove a 1970 Mustang, which would drive the track better because it had a shorter wheelbase than the larger cars in the field. Other racers and NASCAR objected to this car, resulting in Allison’s being stripped of the win.
Since that last race, NASCAR’s regional series race at Bowman Gray. Most notably, from 2011 to 2015, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East consistently raced at Bowman Gray. These races are now traditional watching for NASCAR fans as a host of modern-day Cup Series talent partook in the events.
Now, 54 years later, NASCAR returns to the track for the Clash. The Clash has traditionally been held at Daytona. However, declining TV ratings and attendance led to many changes to the race and its move to Los Angeles in 2022.
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum hosted The LA Clash. For one exhibition race a year, the home of USC Football became a quarter-mile racetrack. NASCAR gave fans a preview of what this track would look like when Dale Earnhardt Jr. turned laps at Bowman Gray in a Next-Gen car in late 2021.
Unlike other tracks, NASCAR had no official operational history with Bowman Gray until this year. In early 2024, the sport took on the operational lease. This contract spread fast word that the track could play a role in the upcoming schedule.
Some pointed to the similarities between the Coliseum and the Coliseum as the reason it would be the new host of the Clash. While similar to the LA Coliseum, Bowman Gray has a few differences.
Bowman Gray, unlike LA, has a large infield. However, cars will not park there as it is the football field. Instead, a parking lot is connected to the track where cars can be worked on before and during the race.
One notable difference that many are worried about is the weather at Bowman Gray. While the final LA Clash was technically rained out, the weather in Winston-Salem is cold during February, rather than the warm California or Florida air.
Fans also have concerns about the racing. With the Next-Gen car, short-track racing has yet to be what it once was. Despite not winning at the LA Clash, for example, Ty Gibbs led 84 mostly uncontested laps of the scheduled 150 laps this year.
However, this move is more about exploring markets, not what the product is but where it is. With swirling rumors that other places, even countries, want to host the clash, moving back East might be NASCAR bringing the race home while they assess their options.
As NASCAR Executive Vice President and Bowman Gray race winner, Ben Kennedy said to NASCAR.com:
“So we’ve talked about this for a while. You know, to your point, we had a few years at the Coliseum a huge opportunity for us to go into a major Metro Market. A ton of new fans that came out to that event, and this is a next evolution of the Clash for us.” — Ben Kennedy
The facility itself is far from what the LA Coliseum is. However, as NASCAR has previously done, it plans to change it as needed, whether for fans or driver safety.
This decision, while exciting, is part of a continuous movement in NASCAR’s front office to go back to the places that built the sport. Much like North Wilkesboro, it may feel like old times once that green flag drops.
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