The trucks are coming to Bowman Gray Stadium.
NASCAR announced Saturday, Aug. 22 that the historic venue in Winston-Salem, North Carolina will host a Craftsman Truck Series race next season on Aug. 20, 2027, giving the quarter-mile bullring track its first points-paying race since 1971.
It will mark the first time Bowman Gray has hosted the Truck Series.
The race will also make Bowman Gray the shortest track to host a points-paying race for one of NASCAR’s three national touring circuits in the modern era, according to Motorsports Reference.
Clay Campbell, president of Martinsville Speedway and vice president of NASCAR Mid-Atlantic, called it an “incredibly exciting moment” in a statement.
“Bowman Gray has always been about putting on unforgettable
racing in front of some of the most passionate fans in the sport,” Campbell said. “We know the Trucks will put on an incredible show when they take on The Madhouse.”
Nearly 90 years old, Bowman Gray Stadium first opened in 1938 and hosted a college football game between Wake Forest and Duke that year. To this day, it’s still the home to Division II Winston-Salem State’s football team. Around the football field is an asphalt track that hosted its first NASCAR race in 1958 with Bob Welborn and Lee Petty taking checkered flags in the pair of races held there that season.
The quarter-mile track sits about 17,000 people and is nicknamed "the Madhouse" for its close-quarters, scramble-style of racing where collisions are unavoidable.
NASCAR continued to visit Bowman Gray through the 1971 season. Rex White won six races there, while Richard Petty and Junior Johnson each took four checkered flags. Top-level NASCAR racing left the venue, but it continued to host lower-level and regional races, building a fervent community around open-wheel modifieds.
Beginning in 2019, the stadium underwent renovations totaling about $9 million. Upgrades included updating bathrooms, resurfacing the track and installing a new lighting system, catch fences and a SAFER barrier. In March 2024, NASCAR acquired the lease to the track and began managing racing at the stadium – a deal that runs through 2050.
In 2025, NASCAR brought its preseason Clash event there, bringing the top-level Cup Series back to Bowman Gray for the first time in more than five decades. The Clash was also held at Bowman Gray this past season, but will move to Daytona next year. Chase Elliott and Ryan Preece have won those pair of preseason competitions in Winston-Salem.
This past Friday on Aug. 21, it was the home of the inaugural Kyle Busch Invitational which featured Legends Cars and bandoleros. Busch’s widow Samantha called it a celebration of “everything Kyle loved.” His 11-year-old son raced in the event.
The full 2027 schedule for the Truck Series hasn’t been released yet, but several race dates have been announced. The Truck Series will return to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, where the series previously raced from 2013 to 2019 on the 2.459-mile road course. And the Truck Series and second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts Series won’t return to Rockingham in 2027 after racing there in each of the past two seasons.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bowman Gray to get first NASCAR points race since 1971 with Truck Series
