Bowman-Gray: Best short track in the country

[Joe]

I went to Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Saturday. Best short track experience I've ever had, period. Here's some highlights:

- There were 8,000 people there for a regular night.
- Tickets were $10. Kids under 16 were $1. Children under 12 were free.
- No heats. Double 20-25 lap features for sportsman and modifieds.
- 4 divisions running overall.
- Fans there were very current with the rivalries on the track, wore a ton of local shirts and certainly gave damn.
- Lots of cops and EMTs around.
- Started racing at 8 p.m. Done at 10:45 p.m.
- Not a lot of passing. A flat 1/4 mile track around a football field will cause that.
- Pretty clean, tactful racing.
- 2 good on-track run-ins, including one guy who slammed another guy into some water barrels. Crowd was going nuts.
- They race just 20 weeks a year during the late spring and summer.

You could tell Saturdays in the summer at this place is a community event. It felt special to be there, and we -- including three people who don't care for racing -- left wanting to go back again and again.

I don't know if anything like this could ever be created in Florida, but I think every race promoter should take a trip to Winston-Salem. (By the way, the track is just outside the city that has a lot of entertainment to offer, so let's not try that angle.)

Wish I lived closer than 5 hours away. Still thinking about making another trip this year.

[Benny The Mule]

Dang Joe, you need to tell me your secret to getting from Ocala to Winston-Salem in 5 hrs.

I live just south of Hickory NC and get to Bowman-Grey at least once a year, and yes, it is everything you say it is.

[AJ14]

Now theres a track with a long , long history . Still used as a CUP test track by Childress among others . Just goes to show that a well run race track in the right area can be very successfull for decades .

[Joe]

Actually, I'm in Athens, GA, now. Got a new job at the newspaper up here, so I guess I call Lanier National Speedway my home. Can't wait to check that place out next week.

[AJ14]

Surprise surprise , didn't know you'd moved . Good luck in your new job .

[AB195]

track chasing--

Thanks for the track chasing report, Joe. If you happen to go to any other Raceways, and I'm sure you will, drop a post/report on your time there. It's good reading and informative.

[backrow]

Or, You can go to Toccoa, Tri- County, Lavonia, Greenville-Pickens, Anderson, North Georgia, Sugar Creek. Venture a little north into Tennessee and go to Bulls Gap and Tazewell too. Breathtaking speed up there.