As 2025 begins, NASCAR will make a triumphant return to the “Mecca of Madhouse” with Sunday night’s preseason Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. The Winston-Salem quarter-mile, which is renowned for its rough-and-tumble racing style and numerous bouts, will host its first Cup Series event since 1971 with the non-points exhibition race. “I think it’s great that the location is gradually changing, and I think it should change every year,” said Alex Bowman, a driver for Hendrick Motorsports. “We will be ab
le to achieve it. In essence, NASCAR is focused on advancing it and experimenting. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
As the warm-up act for the Daytona 500, Daytona International Speedway hosted the unofficial start of the new season from 1979 to 2021.
Moving the race across the country to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 2022—
a temporary short track that was transformed into a football stadium for three seasons—was a daring move by NASCAR. Due to last year’s rain-affected Clash, NASCAR made an unprecedented endeavor to pack all on-track action into a single day, which gave rise to a financial disaster for the sanctioning organization.
It was challenging for drivers to put together many green-flag laps, which amounted to cautious and boring collision fests. The Coliseum’s racing was far from good. In 2025, NASCAR decided to return to its more humble roots and stay closer to home. But racing enthusiasts love vintage Bowman Gray, and the Clash sold out its 17,000 seats two months ago.
Built in 1937 as a public works project to provide jobs during the Great Depression,
the facility is owned by the city and is home to Winston-Salem State University’s football team. In 1938, Wake Forest played its first football game at the new stadium against Duke. Bob Welborn won the first Cup race in 1958. With six wins, Rex White is the Cup Series record holder. The Hall of Famer Glen Wood’s sons remember how much fun it was to see their father race at one of NASCAR’s most unpredictable circuits.
Wood won four times and had a total of 29 victories across all categories. Wood Brothers Racing appropriately kicks off their 75th season of NASCAR competing against Bowman Gray with this weekend’s return.
Team co-owner Eddie Wood speech,
“They wouldn’t let you because of the (superstitious) peanut thing, but I wanted some.” A special place in my heart belongs to Bowman Gray. When I first found out that they had thought about racing the Clash in the stadium, I remember thinking, “Dude, that’s the coolest thing ever.” “People can be brought out to their best or worst side by Bowman Gray,” he continued.
“You can say what you want, but I think everyone is really driven to be successful there.”
Since NASCAR left the stadium, Bowman Gray has continued to host weekly local racing, and the lower divisions have made the track infamous for the fights that frequently follow on-track altercations. In a somewhat humorous response to a question this week concerning Bowman Gray’s fighting habit, a NASCAR official stated, “We just ask that (the drivers) do it on the frontstretch” – that is, in front of the crowd.
Who is in the race?
Of the 39 cars that were entered this weekend, eight had previously been Bowman Gray stock cars. They include Bowman, Daniel Suarez, Chase Elliott, Justin Haley, Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, the current Daytona 500 champion, Cole Custer, who is making his Cup Series comeback, and others. Ryan Preece and Cody Ware, who have previously participated in modified races at the track, joined Bowman Gray weekly regulars Tim Brown and Burt Myers, who each secured Cup rides for the occasion.
As a mechanic for Rick Ware Racing, Brown will work on the No. 15 Ford that he will drive and hold the record for Bowman Gray with 101 victories and 12 titles. It’s incredible now that it’s actually coming to pass. I’m rarely dumbfounded, as anyone who knows me knows, but this has kind of left me speechless,” Brown added. “I don’t even talk to those guys anymore because we want to go run as well as we can and not help those guys at all.” “Man, I was going to get you to be my driver coach or something,” said several of the Cup drivers I’m friends with.
In what format?
The track is too small to accommodate all 39 cars competing at once, so the cars will be split into three groups and practiced for two eight-minute periods on Saturday night. Following a final four-minute practice, the cars will be split into two groups, and the best lap will set the lineups for the heat races. Three heats with ten cars and one with nine cars that lasts 25 laps will take place on Saturday night.
The top five finishers in each heat advance to the main event on Sunday night; overtime will not be used; only green-flag laps will be counted. While the remaining 19 cars will compete in a 75-lap race on Sunday, the top two cars will move on to the main. The driver with the most points from the previous season will finish in 23rd place out of the remaining 17 cars. Only green-flag laps count in the main event, which will consist of 200 laps with a halfway break at 100 laps.
Enhancements for the event
To prepare for the Cup Series, NASCAR must build SAFER barriers and reinforce the catch fence. Additionally, NASCAR built new permanent LED lighting; nevertheless, additional temporary lighting will be required for the two race nights.