By james art 
For the first time in 54 years, NASCAR returns to Bowman Gray Stadium, with 17,000 fans expected. From full restaurants to sold out parking, here’s how Winston-Salem.
Winston-Salem, NC-Winston-Salem is preparing for a big NASCAR event this weekend, as the Bowman Gray Stadium is preparing to host its first NASCAR race in 54 years. The competition is expected to attract about 17,000 fans in the city.
The crews are busy making final preparations at the stadium while local restaurants finalize their plans to deal with the influx of visitors.
As the parking on the spot is already sold out and the neighborhood streets are blocked, the competitions will have to park in the city center and take a shuttle to the stadium.
“Several thousand spots are available between the innovative neighborhood and the Allegacy Stadium,” said Justin Suling, the leader of the NASCAR COOOKOUT clash project. “We will have shuttles on a continuous cycle, so there should never be a time when you are at the Bowman Gray stadium looking to return to your parking lot and you have no solution to a shuttle to take you there. “
Not only NASCAR fans are excited – local businesses are too.
With the expected thousands of visitors, restaurant owners have said they have been preparing for months. The event falls in the middle of what is usually a more slow season, which makes it welcome to the local economy.
“We usually feed between 1000 and 2000 people on a typical Saturday. I could see that it was rising to 2500 this weekend, “said Steve Dums, owner of Camel City BBQ.
“We hope this is a real good crowd this time. I think it will look a lot like the crowd of wrestling, which we get a lot, and this is one of our most willed crowds that we need to have here, so we hope, “said Tim Walker, the owner of a small batch.
Currently, the Bowman Gray seats remain empty. But by Saturday, the stadium is expected to be full of excited fans, as NASCAR returns to Winston-Salem for the first time in more than five decades.
The companies said they were preparing for fans to start arriving on Thursday and Friday, leading to what is expected to be a high -energy weekend.
Related: Return 2 Madhouse | WFMY NEWS 2 Special Celebrates Bowman Gray on NASCAR
Related: Plan forward: Closing the road announced for Nascar Weekend in Winston-Salem
Stay related to local, national and Breaking News: Download the WFMY NEWS 2 app.
►Teax app to 336-379-5775
► Download for iPhone here
► Download for Android here
More Ways To Get WFMY NEWS 2
Subscribe to our daily newsletter, let’s take it 2!
Download the WFMY NEWS 2 app from your Apple or Google Play Store.
Add the WFMY+ app to your streaming device
Roku: Add the channel from the Roku store or look for WFMY.
Amazon Fire TV: Look for WFMY to find the free app to add to your account. You can also add the app directly to your Fire TV through your Amazon account.