📍 Winston-Salem, North Carolina
🏁 Home of the Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series

A summer night in Carolina truly couldn’t be finer, with most evenings full of sights and sounds that overwhelm the senses. A blinding and fiery sunset fills the horizon. The chirping of a million cicadas drowns out the roar of the highway. Down at the hometown track, the smell of burning rubber is in the air. And it all comes together at one of the most legendary small tracks in America, the unparalleled Bowman Gray Stadium.

NASCAR‘s first and longest-running weekly race track, Bowman Gray opened in 1937 as a football-only facility. Horse racing was later introduced, and the first auto race would take place on the venue’s dirt track in 1939. In 1947, the track was paved and became the first asphalt circuit to host a NASCAR sanctioned race in 1949. Over 1,000 NASCAR races and counting have been run at Bowman Gray over the years, with weekly races held every summer. The current event, the Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series, is held every summer Saturday from April to August and features modified, sportsman, street stock and stadium stock divisions.

The Madhouse, as it’s called, has only been expanded once – 7,000 seats were added in 1953 to bring capacity up to 17,000 – but was recently renovated in the early 2020s. Modern restrooms and expanded concessions have helped bring the stadium into the 21st century. Plenty of standing room is also available all across the concourse.

In addition to racing, Bowman Gray is the home of the Winston-Salem State Rams football team, which has taken to the infield gridiron on fall Saturdays since 1956. The infield was also the site of a 4-game baseball series in 2023. Hosted by the summer collegiate Carolina Disco Turkeys on 4th of July weekend, the event saw players field balls on the asphalt track, dozens of home runs to the right field grandstands and other oddities.

Truly no sport has a stronger hold of the Carolinas than auto racing, although football gives it a run for its money. At the cozy confines of the venerable Bowman Gray Stadium, fans have the opportunity to see both, with an intimate environment for racing that bests that of the monster NASCAR coliseums. While Bristol and Talladega have their appeal, a night out at the races at the one and only Madhouse must be the pinnacle of any race fan’s bucket list.