Hey nascar fans, It’s race week.
It’s been a while, isn’t it?
No, he’s not a civil servant, Paid breed On the 2025 calendar, but a high level exhibition on a tiny oval surrounds a football field.
Does that seem familiar?
This should, because it is the same way that they have started each of the last three seasons.
But man is it always different This time.
The Winston-Salem Bowman Gray Stadium, a host for Sunday evening shock, is so far from the Coliseum, it could just as easily be in Le Mans.
A QNA with SVG Daytona 500, Nascar Cup coming season for Shane Van Gisbergen
Unless you have visited in person, you can consult Bowman Gray Action through old videos and discover the sweet culture shock to watch cars move around the tours of the big grass whose day work is the football field For the state of Winston-Salem.
This weekend, the whole place is necessarily Gussied for its close-up Nascar / Fox TV, with new safer barriers and additional seats and sparks and strands.
But it is always the place where they call “Madhouse”, and you can also find many videos testifying to the authenticity of this label. No points or playoffs waiting in Victory Lane, but there are money and sponsors to have, so don’t be surprised if some guys leave angry.
They will then have two weeks to inspire and expire before the peace and tranquility of the great and spacious Daytona. RIGHT?
There is no understanding of relaxation in the new year for boys in the body workshop.
First equipment: Who is Bowman and who is gray? Happy you have asked
You may wonder why there is no union between Bowman and Gray. Well, you can’t, but others can ask, “Who was Bowman and who was gray?” It turns out that it was just a guy – Bowman Gray, president and president of the RJ Reynolds tobacco company from RJ Reynolds in Winston -Salem. A bit of a big problem, to say the least.
He was completely the local philanthropic, and his name is not only on the old football / racing track field. In 1935, he died of a heart attack at 61 when he was on a cruise ship off the coast of Norway, and he was buried at sea. True history.
Anyway, Bowman Gray was built for football purposes, but quickly welcomed horses for trotting races around the perimeter, and finally racing cars and, from 1958 to 1971, Nascar.
Oh, Winston-Salem? Yes, a link. The name came from the merger of two neighboring cities in the early 1900s.
Second equipment: a little for info on the LCQ
The format for Sunday evening shock is pleasantly easy to understand.
Four heat races of 25 laps, the alignments determined by training speeds, with the five best finisters of each transfer to the main event. Put your fingers – it’s 20 spots.
After the heat races, it is a must -have short -track races worldwide: the LCQ, officially known as Last Chance Qualify – 75 laps, the two best finisters obtains stains 21 and 22 in the shock .
Then, a dose of corporate well-being: a 23rd starting place given to the driver who finished the highest in the standards of last year but did not make the main event of Clash through the sleeves or LCQ. You go there, 23 cars, which will be sufficient on this tight arrangement.
The grand finale is 200 laps with a half-time break at the 100th round. Only the green flag towers count, it must finish in green, and yes, it could take some time.
Third equipment: no bull, the jägerbombs are back!
Here are some news of the sponsors that seem more interesting than most.
Red Bull returns to Nascar as a limited basis. In racing circles (or road lessons, in particular), the energy -based energy drink has become better known for its Formula 1 team in the past 20 years.
Red Bull owned a team from the series of two cars from 2007 to 11 and was rather disappointing. Just two victories in 324 combined departures – one from Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne. It was far from the success of the F1 team, where he won four consecutive championships twice-with Sebastian Vettel from 2010-13 and Max Verstappen of 2021-24.
Meanwhile, its American presence was relegated to the bar stage, where the Jägerbombs and the Red Bulls vodka made or ruined at the end of the night. But now, he’s back in Nascar with (who else?) Trackhouse Racing, who is co -owner by a separate bull – Pit.
Red Bull will adorn the Shane Van Gisbergen’s Chevy for five cup races this year and finance the beginnings in the Connor Zilisch Cup in early March in Cota in Austin.
Sponsorship news has sometimes been bad in recent years, but this must be considered a positive development on the marketing front.
Fourth equipment: like a rock, another Nascar return
You can call Rockingham a track back in the Nascar world. And in April, he will be hosted by a return pilot.
Admittedly, you don’t have to launch him too far to find Kasey Kahne, who has retired after the 2018 season and who has been going on dirt since.
He will return to the road for an Xfinity series race which is part of a Doubleheader Rockingham with the truck series on the third weekend in April. Kahne will drive a childe racing chevrolet with the sponsorship of Hendrickcars.com.
Rock has not been on the Nascar or Xfinity Cup times since 2004. Many older fans would like to see the song on the Cup menu, but given the current direction of things, it could be a scope.
With its length of a mile and its bank between 22 and 25 degrees, it is suitable for almost all the desires of all fans. Small but fast.
If you are in the neighborhood, however, bad news. The old Lobsteer restaurant on us 1 closed a decade ago. I can’t win them all.
– Send an email to Ken Willis at [email protected]
This article originally appeared in Daytona Beach’s Journal: Nascar Nouvelles: Bowman Gray, LCQS, A Rock Throwback and Jagerbombs!
