NASCAR will start 2025 season at historic Winston-Salem stadium

NASCAR will drop the green flag on its 2025 season in a historic stadium in North Carolina, the organization announced over the weekend.

The opening exhibition event, The Clash, is set to take place at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem on Feb. 2, 2025.  This will mark the first NASCAR Cup Series event at the racetrack in 54 years.

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Built in 1937, the quarter-mile short track holds a special place in NASCAR history as the longest-running weekly racetrack. In 1949, two of the sport’s founding fathers, Bill France Sr. and Alvin Hawkins, brought motorsports to the facility as the first weekly racetrack and first paved track that NASCAR competed on. Earlier this year, NASCAR took over the long-term management of racing operations at Bowman Gray Stadium in partnership with the city of Winston-Salem.

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“The city of Winston-Salem is very excited and grateful to NASCAR for selecting Bowman Gray Stadium as the site for The Clash in 2025,” said Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines in a news release. “This further solidifies our city’s relationship with NASCAR and the many fans in the region as we welcome the NASCAR Cup Series back to Bowman Gray Stadium.”

From 1958 to 1971 the track hosted 29 NASCAR Grand National races, now the NASCAR Cup Series. Many NASCAR legends including Richard Petty, Junior Johnson, Glen Wood, David Pearson, Ned Jarrett, and Richie Evans have raced at Bowman Gray.

The Clash had been held the last three seasons at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in California.

For more information and to get on the list to purchase tickets for The Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, visit NASCARClash.com.

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