Joey Logano is in for an adventure. The Team Penske driver will be competing at the Bowman Gray Stadium in the preseason opener, a track that is also known as ‘The Madhouse’ because of its chaotic and high-intensity races. The Cup Series season has not even begun, but tempers will be flaring at the iconic venue as bumper-to-bumper action will lead to an angry exchange of words, and fans might even witness a scuffle or two on the pit road.

Despite recent modifications, the short track still gives old-school NASCAR vibes, transporting drivers, teams, and fans back to the sport’s roots. Logano shared his experience racing on “NASCAR’s longest-running weekly race track” and compared it to the Clash’s former home, the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Logano compares Bowman Gray to the Coliseum

It’s an experience unlike any other. Few tracks in NASCAR can match the high-energy atmosphere of Bowman Gray Stadium, with 17,000 fans making themselves heard amidst the roar of the V8 engines. The short track is known for its close-quarter racing, which results in bumper-to-bumper action and plenty of contact between cars. As a result, drivers are forced to resort to an aggressive style of racing to gain track positions, which can cause early retirements, spins, and even fights that regularly occur on the racetrack.

Bowman Gray couldn’t have been more different from the Cook Out Clash’s previous home in Los Angeles. Sharing his thoughts about the differences between the two tracks, Joey Logano said, “Honestly, it’s harder to pass, there’s no doubt about that. It’s pretty physical here. LA had more space on the racetrack, it had the apron, which gave the opportunity to turn on people and pass cars without contact. I don’t think we have seen a pass here tonight that didn’t have contact in it. That’s what the modified is doing right now so everyone gets mad at each other because it’s the only way you’re going to get around. Restarts will be the only opportunity so everyone’s getting after it really hard.”

Despite ‘The Madhouse’ having the same distance as the Los Angeles Coliseum, the way the track is designed makes it feel like it’s smaller. While all the drivers will want to begin their new year on a winning note, Joey Logano is feeling more confident than most, after lifting the Bill France Cup in 2024 and having a strategy in place for the upcoming pre-season opener. The No. 22 Ford Mustang driver said, “We’re towards the front which is a good sign, it’s a long race so if we can keep it in one piece and not be the one getting dumped and survive, we’ll be fine.”

The narrow track makes overtaking opportunities notoriously difficult, which means finishing high in qualifying will be key to remaining in contention for a race win. Bowman Gray Stadium is a spectacle-first, racing-second sort of track, which prioritizes entertaining fans while being unforgiving to race cars. For many, the event is not ‘racing’ in a conventional sense, but rather a demolition derby that has been neatly disguised with stock cars. It’s a ‘show’ that arguably prioritizes on-track drama over competition, which is why it is fittingly called ‘The Madhouse’ by the motorsports world.

Joey Logano enjoyed racing at the Los Angeles Coliseum

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The excitement is at an all-time high. Why would it not be? Bowman Gray Stadium will be hosting a Cup Series race for the first time in over half a century, signaling the sport returning to its very foundation that it has built on. While many are happy with the sanctioning body’s decision to return to its roots, Joey Logano is missing the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum. The temporary, quarter-mile oval was hosting the preseason opener in 2022 before NASCAR acquired the lease for ‘The Madhouse’ from the Hawkins family, which prompted the change in venue.

Sharing his experience of racing at the Coliseum, Logano candidly said, “I thought that was amazing, and that was going to a whole new market and racing downtown basically like we were really close to it, at least. I thought that was huge. I would love to see our sport continue to do things like that because it just feels big.” With NASCAR looking to expand its market, the Team Penske driver believes having races in big cities will help grow the sport to an unprecedented level.

The 34- year-old went on to say, “It’s really hard to do that, so if we have the opportunity to be like a baseball team or a basketball team, a hockey team, and an NFL team, where their stadiums are where the people are and where people can walk to it, you get a whole new demographic, so I think those type of things are really what I think is cool.”

As things stand, NASCAR has to play a balancing act between embracing modernity and being true to its roots. The sanctioning body’s return to Bowman Gray Stadium has led to the revival of an iconic venue, one which was forgotten by the younger demographic of the NASCAR community. As the sport continues to grow and expand into the international market, remaining in touch with its roots will ensure that the true essence of the sport is not lost in the long run.