Tim Brown, 53, is finally getting the opportunity to be a NASCAR Cup Series driver.
Bowman Gray Stadium is the reason why. For the first time since 1971, the track will host a NASCAR Cup Series race with the Cook Out Clash taking place Sunday. It’s an annual exhibition event to kick off the season, but not every driver makes it into the field. The format for this year’s edition will have 23 drivers in the main event.
Brown might not be a household name among Cup Series followers and probably will be unfamiliar to some who tune into the Clash. At the regional level, though, he will go down as one of the greatest to get behind the wheel — certainly at Bowman Gray Stadium. He is the winningest driver in the venue’s history in the modified division with 101 victories, 12 track championships and 146 poles.
Fittingly, Bowman Gray is where the North Carolina native makes his debut, even if it comes 35 years after first chasing the dream.
“I’ll be honest with you, once I turned about 30 years old, I gave up on my lifelong dream of being a Cup driver,” Brown said. “Just because I had seen that transition to where you either had to be 12 or 13 years old and get signed or you had to have big money to pay an owner to let you drive, so I had already given up on that dream.”
Rick Ware Racing is fielding the car for Brown. The two are familiar because Brown is a Ware employee, one who will be among those building the car he’ll drive. When the rumors began about NASCAR bringing the Clash to Bowman Gray, Ware and team president Robby Benton immediately told Brown the goal was to put him in the car.
Brown won’t be alone in fulfilling a dream at Bowman Gray. Burt Myers, another 12-time track champion and rival of Brown’s, will also make his Cup Series debut, doing so with Team AmeriVet.
The two local stars are among a number of reasons why all eyes will be on Bowman Gray Stadium on Sunday. It’s already considered a special weekend without a car having yet hit the track.
Bowman Gray Stadium is a quarter-mile racetrack, one that circles the Winston-Salem State University football field, with deep roots in NASCAR. It is advertised as the series’ first and longest-running weekly track, dating to 1949 when two of NASCAR’s founding fathers, Bill France Sr. and Alvin Hawkins, brought racing to the facility.
Ben Kennedy, the great-grandson of France, won a NASCAR regional series race at the track in 2013. Last year, Kennedy was the one who went to Bowman Gray Stadium to announce in person that the Clash was coming to the track.
Though Brown and Myers might not be known to fans of NASCAR’s highest level, those followers will be familiar with many other names with Bowman Gray connections.
A young Richard Childress, now a NASCAR Hall of Fame car owner with his Richard Childress Racing operation, worked concussions at the track. Richard Petty recorded his 100th race win at Bowman Gray in 1969. Junior Johnson, David Pearson, along with the Allisons and Earnhardts, all once raced at Bowman Gray.
For the longest time, NASCAR was hardly a sport that returned to things it had once moved away from. The quest has been to find ways to evolve, whether through competing in new markets, schedule changes, championship format changes or different versions of the race car itself. It’s a monumental moment to bring the Cup Series back to Bowman Gray Stadium.
“I do like that we’re at home at Bowman Gray,” Team Penske’s Austin Cindric said. “When I think of downtown Los Angeles, I don’t think of short-track racing. When I think of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, it’s a lot closer to short-track racing. I do think the fan base is very passionate at that place and will definitely appreciate having Cup cars there, maybe more than anywhere else. I can’t wait to see that. I can’t wait to see the turnout.”
The turnout will also be noticeable on the racetrack. During the three years NASCAR spent in Los Angeles at the Coliseum, the entry list consisted of the 36 charter teams required to make the cross-country trip and compete. Bowman Gray has an entry list of 39.
North Carolina is considered the home of NASCAR and where many of its teams and drivers are based. Starting the season at home and at a track beloved by many has resonated within the industry.
In the three years the Clash was held in L.A., the racing was decent but secondary as entertainment took center stage with musical acts, celebrities and athletes appearing. The feel is set to be different this weekend, and it should be because this could be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for some.
“As much as it is an exhibition race, anybody that says they don’t want to win at Bowman Gray is lying,” Ryan Preece of RFK Racing said. “Winning in general, you want to do, but Bowman Gray, the history that’s behind it, you look back at some of the names and adding your name to that list of the Cup Series going and winning at Bowman Gray. That’s where NASCAR was pretty much born, so it would be pretty special to go and do that, and what better way than to kick it off here in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.”
Source: espn.com