“Rip Bowman Gray”- Fans Express Utter Distrust in NASCAR’s Abilities After Acquisition of Historic Track

NASCAR was formed in 1947, and the first sanctioned race was held at the Bowman Gray Stadium in 1949. NASCAR also repaved the 0.250-mile dirt oval and thus became the first racetrack to hold weekly races for the series. It was the City of Winston-Salem that has owned the track ever since it was first built, and since then they have leased it out to its partners.

However, with the change of stewardship, NASCAR will now take control of the racetrack from the Hawkins family, who have managed the races at the facility over the years. The move is seen as a potential venue for the Clash next year, as Dale Jr also speculated, but there is widespread discontent among the community. Some even stated that NASCAR would ruin the venue with its vague experiments and ambitious projects.

Is Bowman Gray the next venue for the Busch Light Clash?

Ever since NASCAR dropped the news about their acquisition of the Bowman Gray, there have been rumors and suggestions about the iconic race track hosting the 2025 Busch Light Clash. Even Dale Earnhardt Jr was vocal about it as he wrote on X, “Is NASCAR about to give us the Clash at BG in 2025? 🤯”.

Given that LA Colosseum and NASCAR had a running contract until 2024, the move away from the City of Los Angeles is very much on the table. Now that NASCAR has the operational command of a venue that fits the criteria of hosting an event like Clash, such a move won’t come as a surprise. Ben Kennedy did hint about the potential of races being run on Bowman Gray in the near future. And the Clash remains one of the possible options.

“Potentially. I certainly wouldn’t rule anything out, and I’d be lying to say if we haven’t talked about it before. We’ve talked about hundreds of tracks… So obviously nothing to report today. Our focus is really getting up and running on April 20 this year with the weekly Modified racing.” Kennedy said on NASCAR’s website.

Although NASCAR is hoping to continue its long-running tradition of running weekly races on the racetrack, fans have serious doubts about their intentions of revamping the track.

Fans react to NASCAR’s takeover of the Bowman Gray

We have seen NASCAR make some drastic changes to its racetracks and venues. With Atlanta Motor Speedway converted into a superspeedway and Bristol turned into dirt and back again to concrete. While the takeover at Bowman Gray is good news in general, fans feel like the sanctioning body will ruin the iconic race track. And all they have is a genuine ‘RIP’ to offer.

Taking the example of the Bristol Motor Speedway, one fan expressed his concerns, stating, “Don’t worry you’ll destroy it just like Bristol”.

Predicting the inevitable, another concerned fan shared, “If y’all destroy bowman gray I will never forgive you…..and we all know you are going to ruin it”.

Taking a sarcastic jibe at NASCAR, a user wrote, “Per sources, NASCAR will convert this track into a Super Speedway short track with 50° banking”.

Whereas there was one who jumped on the debate about Bowman Gray as the next venue for the Clash, he added, “Clash at Bowman Gray. If it is too cold, maybe the all-star race there?”

It is too early to make any predictions regarding the revamp or the potential of running a national series race at Bowman Gray. Moreover, given that NASCAR wants to reach new audiences through events like Clash, Bowman Gray for the time being is not the best option.

Read More: Dale Jr & Racing World Left Speculating After Possible 2025 Busch Clash Venue Acquisition by NASCAR