Bowman Gray Stadium

Well I must say if you wanna see some action come here. This is by far fun even if you know nothing about racing. Small coolers are welcome but no alcohol! And when you are there you know why. Not only is there action on the tracks, there’s action in the stands. Free parking if you don’t mind walking a little. $ 5 dollar parking for up close. They also have a ladies night one race $ 2 dollars for ladies to get in. Oh and if you like the regular junk food they have it too. Yes I had a hotdog and nachos. My army buddy had pizza. Didn’t make it to the funnel cake though, too busy watching the races. We had a blast.

Really great fun! If you haven’t been yet, you need to add this to your list of inexpensive entertainment PRONTO! Even if you don’t like racing, this is by far the best ticket in Winston Salem for people watching. Bowman Gray is a Winston Salem tradition since 1949 and a NASCAR one too — it’s the longest running weekly track in all of NASCAR. Get there early to get a seat, bring your picnic with you, and enjoy the ride!

Bowman Gray is basically a ¼ mile track and field track that goes around the football field for Winston Salem State University. The pit area is behind the football field house at turn 3^rd and 4^th turn which can be visited after racing to get autographs and pictures. Racing starts in the Spring and ends in time for the Winston Salem State Rams football team to start playing which starts some time in August every year. The seating area goes around most of the track and is mostly aluminum bleachers built over concrete. I’ve been to quite a few tracks to see local racing and televised racing over the years. None have come close to offering the entertainment value of Bowman Gray Stadium for the usual $ 10 entry ticket for adults and $ 2 for kids. The car counts and action at the stadium are exclusive to this place, you won’t watch a race that starts with six cars which quickly dwindles down to two cars after the other four stop running or blow up after the first lap. You will be able to see special events like demolition derby, monster trucks, skid races or my favorite the ‘chain race’! The drivers and teams are not Nationally known but some are affiliated with some NASCAR teams and are often mentioned on racing news programs. The down side of the track for me is the size of the track, bumping/​spinning someone out is almost mandatory to get a spot or win as some of the races are 20 laps or less and the schedule which ends in August to allow football to be played at the stadium. A slightly larger track with a bit of banking would be more preferable as long as it was not far away from this location. There has been some speculation as to what would happen to racing since Winston/​Salem has sold the facility to Winston Salem State.

This is seriously a cultural experience that you rarely get to see. Saturday night races in the summer are really fun. Tons of people show up and the place has its own built-​in fan-​base that makes for a fun atmosphere, as well as some incredible people-​watching. The racing ranges from weekend warriors in beat-​up junkers they put together to professional races trying to make it big. Lots of good wrecks and occasionally some good fights between drivers. You can bring a cooler in with food and stuff, but no alcohol I believe. I don’t care if you’re not a fan of NASCAR, you should really see this if you get a chance.