Bowman Gray Stadium, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is a historic multi-purpose sports facility best known for its quarter-mile paved oval racetrack and its role as a NASCAR staple. The stadium also serves as the home football field for Winston-Salem State University, combining high-energy motorsports action with collegiate football traditions. Renowned for its short-track racing, Bowman Gray Stadium embodies grassroots motorsports culture and has earned a reputation as “NASCAR’s longest-running weekly race track.”
History
Constructed in 1937 during the Great Depression as part of a Works Progress Administration project, Bowman Gray Stadium initially served as a football stadium. The facility opened in 1938, hosting its first football game between Wake Forest and Duke that October. The following year, 1939, marked the venue’s first auto races on its dirt oval surrounding the football field.
In 1947, promoter Lou Franco paved the track, marking the start of continuous auto racing operations. Visionary NASCAR founders Bill France Sr. and Alvin Hawkins recognized its potential and began sanctioning races there in 1949, making it the first weekly NASCAR-sanctioned track, and the first paved track under NASCAR’s governance.
Between 1958 and 1971, Bowman Gray Stadium hosted NASCAR Grand National (now Cup Series) events, witnessing legendary moments such as Richard Petty’s 100th career victory in the 1969 Myers Brothers 250 and his streak of 10 consecutive wins from 1967 onward. The stadium’s gritty atmosphere, close-quarter racing, and passionate fanbase have made it a cultural icon in American motorsports.
Over the ensuing decades, the stadium underwent multiple renovations, especially through the 1990s and 2000s, improving seating, facilities, and safety features. In 2024, NASCAR itself assumed the lease to oversee racing operations, marking a new era aimed at preserving the historic character of the track while modernizing its infrastructure. Notably, the NASCAR Cup Series returned to Bowman Gray in 2025, running the prestigious season-opening Cook Out Clash for the first time at the quarter-mile oval since 1971.
Most Famous Races Held
Bowman Gray Stadium is best known for weekly NASCAR-sanctioned short-track races and has hosted 29 NASCAR Grand National events during its historical Grand National run from 1958–1971. It remains a proving ground for future stars and a fan-favorite for close-contact, high-intensity racing. The annual Cook Out Clash special NASCAR race in 2025 reignited the stadium’s national prominence.
Track Information
The stadium features a densely packed 0.25-mile paved oval with flat banking, resulting in close racing and demanding precision driving in exhilarating wheel-to-wheel competition. Situated on approximately 42 acres, the complex integrates a football field inside the oval track, named Bill Hayes Field after a revered coach. With a seating capacity of about 17,000, Bowman Gray offers a uniquely intimate racing environment steeped in tradition.
Recent upgrades include modern lighting systems, SAFER barriers around the track, catch fences, and plans for a $1 million scoreboard, ensuring enhanced safety and fan experience as NASCAR modernizes the venue for contemporary racing.