Welcome to Madhouse: NASCAR hits the little Bowman Gray stadium for rough and tatty races-Accesswdun

Winston-Salem, NC (AP) -Ryan Blaney was the first time the first time he was competing at Bowman Gray Stadium-says she couldn’t be older than 10th he remembers the coolest thing which he has ever done in motor sports.

He was at Bandolero, an entry-level car designed for young drivers, competing in front of 17,000 fans who made up the largest crowd he had ever seen as an athlete. The intensity was out of the charts, on the track and among the crowd.

“I was shot by the bird of children, more than I was, when I was 10,” Blaina said on Saturday. “So it was like,” Okay, that’s a place, people like you or not. “And I don’t even think they like me. I’m 10 years old. What is it not to like for the age of 10? So it was quite funny for me. ”

This is the expectation of the level of intensity on Saturday and Sunday night when NASCAR returns to its roots to compete with the pre -season collision of the exhibition in a place where it last brought its cars for cups in 1971 when NASCAR passed To the bigger and more modern markets and facilities, Bauman Gray remained stuck on time. He is home to the Football Team of the State University of Winston-Salem and serves as a quarter-mile song for weekly local competitions.

The track is so small NASCAR recently made a video that emphasizes what it can and cannot fit inside Bowman Gray. Among the things that could possibly be pressed? The BUC-EE comfort store and Bass Pro Shops store were only operated, while the Team Penske race shop, over 300,000 square feet, was adamant.

The average restrictions on average accidents are often – the modified race on Saturday afternoon did not even make it a tour without its first wreck – and the temperaments flame on the track called “Mecca of Madhahaus” for the fireworks produced by the action.

Kyle Bush, one of NASCAR’s more resume drivers, jokes in the field, met with NASCAR earlier on Saturday and “they have already given us the list of who should fight with whom.”

It’s kind of like what is expected on the famous rough track where car owner Richard Childers was selling peanuts in the stands as a child, and Eddie Wood was sitting in the same places every Saturday night, eating fried potatoes as his father, Wood Brothers Racing Founder Glen Wood, won 29 competitions in all divisions.

Tim Brown, a 53-year-old Rick Ware Racing mechanic, is the most profitable driver in Bowman Gray history with 101 wins and 12 championships and may not be kidding when he said the battle is a requirement to compete on the track.

Brown landed a place for this RWR event for his Cup series debut in what he called a dream come true for a local traveler athlete. And after 30 years he competed at Bowman Gray, he decided he was 10 matches.

“That’s pretty good, isn’t it? They were good, ”he said.

How much won?

“All of them,” Brown replied.

But what does this intensity of Winston-Salem bring, where the stadium was built in 1937 for $ 2.2 million as a public work project to provide jobs during the Great Depression?

“Just passion. I am very passionate about what I do on and outside the race track and we are very proud of our equipment and our racing cars are flawless, “Brown said.” We don’t make a lot of money to do this at this level, so if you tear my race car, I’ll come to see you. “

The first Bowman Gray event was a football match in 1938 between Wake Forest and Duke, and the first motorcycle race was a Midget car race in 1939, when the track was oval dirt. The first competition, sanctioned by NASCAR, was in 1949.

The competition does not count for points and is leading until February 16, the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, which hosted the clash from 1979 to 2021. It was moved to the Los Angeles Memorial Stadium on the NASCAR temporary track built in the last three seasons , but were moved to North Carolina in an attempt to return to the main cars.

He counts for nothing but pride, and yet every driver on the pitch wants to win.

“You want to win in clean places, historic places like this,” Blaina said. “Those who won in the Colosseum is a really historic place. You can say that I won in the Colosseum in LA and this is the same way. I think if I could have this title would be quite cool. “

For Bush, he appreciated the possibility of a NASCAR race in a small local place and the benefits that Bowman Gray can reap from the exposition. As the discussion is turning where the event should be held in the future, Bush wants to raise small short songs.

„Ние отиваме някъде, за да реинвестираме в бъдеще за други състезатели на местни и местни ниво – за да можем да видим по -добро място, да отидем и да се насладим и да донесат своите спонсори и да се забавляваме и да се състезават и да They compete – it will only take advantage of the top, ”Bush said. “There are short songs in Florida that are cool. Pensacola is one of them who would really take advantage of this opportunity. There is a couple in Alabama who would really take advantage of this opportunity. “

“Investment return? I don’t know, but I think the return on investment is the younger generations and the younger competitors who want to be someone and compete in a cool place, and then they can move up the ladder and someday, one day They go back and the race of their home as a professional, “he added.

The clash begins on Saturday night with the 39 cars, divided into short training groups, followed by four heat races that will determine the starting lineup on Sunday night. From 1959 to 1971, all the winners in the Cup came from the first two lines for 26 consecutive competitions.

The main event on Sunday at night will be 200 halftime laps for 100 laps and only the number of green flag tours.

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