NASCAR strikes deal to manage race track at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem through 2050

The first weekly race track is back under NASCAR’s management.

NASCAR announced its acquisition of Winston-Salem Speedway Inc., the lessee of Bowman Gray Stadium, and will manage the venue’s racing operations through December 2050.

Bowman Gray Stadium, which has been hosting races since NASCAR’s earliest days, holds a special place in the sport’s history as its longest-running weekly race track. The quarter-mile track at Winston-Salem State University’s football field has been holding modified, sportsman and other forms of races every week.

“For the foreseeable future, we’re really gonna focus on weekly and modified racing, and then potentially will bring a national series race there in the future,” Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s senior vice president of racing development and strategy, said in an interview with The Charlotte Observer. “Obviously, that comes with its own territory as it relates to walls and fences and other safety enhancements for the size and weight of our vehicles. That’s something we’ve talked a lot about internally as well. As far as the timing of that goes — or if that happens — remains to be seen.”

Bowman Gray Stadium was built in 1937 and first hosted motorsports in 1949, after efforts from NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. — Kennedy’s great-grandfather — and the sport’s first flagman, Alvin Hawkins.

Kennedy was with Jim France, his great uncle, on Wednesday reminiscing on Winston-Salem’s track. His family has countless memories there, but perhaps none more profound than the beauty pageant held at Bowman Gray during the late 1950s.

A woman named Betty Jane Zachary was the winner of the 1957 pageant. Bill France Jr., Kennedy’s grandfather, met her and took her to Daytona Beach for an event. “The rest was history,” Kennedy said, as they married and Betty Jane France became known as NASCAR’s matriarch.

“It was such a special place in our family’s history, a special place in the sport’s history and probably one of the most unique tracks you can go to,” Kennedy said. “It’s an exciting time. We understand the gravity that comes with this responsibility and want to make sure that we do it right as we go through this transition.”

Also the home of Winston-Salem State University’s football, Kennedy said NASCAR’s involvement shouldn’t have any impact on them, as racing season runs weekly from April through late August — and is completely wrapped up before the Rams begin their season. The 2024 race season at Bowman Gray Stadium begins on April 20.

Austin Shuford, a Western Carolina graduate who has worked in racing since 2020, has been named general manager of Bowman Gray Stadium. He previously worked with Track Enterprises’ Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway and helped promote ARCA Menards Series, late model and even Truck Series races over the past few years.

“We’re thinking about our future trajectory of NASCAR,” Kennedy said. “We felt like it was a good opportunity to explore and see if there’s something here that makes sense or not. We started having a lot of those conversations, and through those conversations, one of the biggest points that we agree on is we need to find a way to make sure we keep the uniqueness, the excitement, the racing product and what people expect every week.

“That is what makes Bowman Gray so unique and special, and we’ve got to find a way to make sure that we continue to keep that.”