NASCAR Clash returning to Bowman Gray Stadium in 2026

Bowman Gray Stadium, nicknamed "The Madhouse," has become a legendary fixture of American short-track racing due to its no-holds-barred style of racing and the altercations that often result from it. 

The 0.25-mile track also serves as the home of the Winston-Salem State University Rams football team and has hosted Cup Series races from 1958 until 1971. 

NASCAR's return to the facility in 2025 introduced SAFER barriers to the track, along with improved lighting. 

NASCAR's Clash has been used by the sanctioning body as an experiment in recent years. Since leaving the traditional Clash site — the oval of Daytona International Speedway — NASCAR has run the Clash on the Daytona road course, inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on a temporary, 0.25-mile circuit and at Bowman Gray Stadium. 

A return to Bowman Gray is a love letter to NASCAR's core fan base in the southeast, many of whom are partial to the rough-and-tumble action that Bowman Gray Stadium provides on Saturday nights. 

At a time when NASCAR is exploring potential races in new markets such as Philadelphia and San Diego, it's equally as important for the sport to allow its diehard fans to see races at grassroots facilities. 

Not only will the Cup Series return for the Clash in 2026, but according to Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, NASCAR and Winston-Salem are nearing a deal to hold a NASCAR race at Bowman Gray Stadium once annually over the next five years. According to Bianchi, that deal would include another significant improvement to the facility, namely a new scoreboard. 

NASCAR is rightfully focused on expanding its reach and taking the sport to new markets, but it's nice to see that it remains grounded. The economic and emotional impact of bringing NASCAR to Winston Salem — a city full of and surrounded by rabid fans — consistently can't be understated. 

As NASCAR looks to the future, it's doing the right thing by ensuring tracks like Bowman Gray aren't left in the past.