Many long-time fans are starting to feel worried about NASCAR’s enthusiastic embrace of the new over the traditional. NASCAR announced today that it will take over racing operations of the historic Bowman Gray Stadium as a clear offering of peace to the traditionalists.
In fact, NASCAR is already heavily promoting the traditionalist aspect with this acquisition. Just hours after the Bowman Gray short track announcement, NASCAR highlighted its “racing roots.”
New NASCAR Now On A Grassroots Track
Few tracks can match the grassroots appeal of Bowman Gray Stadium. As NASCAR notes, the quarter mile track has hosted regional racing events since 1949. It’s the longest-running NASCAR-sanctioned track, operating as Winston-Salem Speedway, Inc. It’s been managed by the Alvin Hawkins family for generations. As old school as it gets. Now, NASCAR corporate will manage the track’s racing operations.
In their news release, NASCAR focused mainly on the old school, grassroots aspect. NASCAR founder “Bill France Jr. met his future wife — then Betty Jane Zachary, a Winston-Salem native — at the track in 1957,” the announcement stated. If that wasn’t clear enough, they added, “the biggest takeaway from this is it shows (NASCAR’s) support for grassroots racing.”
NASCAR’s Ben Kennedy, senior vice president of racing development and strategy, echoed the ‘racing roots’ theme. “This one certainly comes with a lot of history and memories,” he said.
Emphasizing the racing roots aspect is nice, but don’t expect a NASCAR Cup Series race there anytime soon, and don’t expect the Clash to be moved to Bowman Gray, either. When asked about the possibility, NASCAR’s Kennedy avoided the question. “Potentially. I certainly wouldn’t rule anything out, and I’d be lying to say if we haven’t talked about it before.“ He quickly added, however, “we’ve talked about hundreds of tracks. … So obviously nothing to report today.”
NASCAR Not Giving Up On Expansion Hopes
Make no mistake. NASCAR’s takeover of Bowman Gray, whether that’s good or bad, is not a sign the racing organization intends to stop its ongoing efforts to move beyond its roots. NASCAR does not intend to give back gains it’s made by moving away from old school tracks and into urban areas, including Los Angeles and Chicago. Nor does NASCAR plan to abandon its new media relationships with Netflix, Amazon, and others. As Heavy wrote, “on the two metrics crucial for the success of any sport, fans and financials, today’s NASCAR is dominating.” Adding, “all that’s left for NASCAR is to grow the sport internationally.”
The plans to expand beyond its traditional base — and grow internationally — are not stopping. NASCAR has made this clear, as Heavy has recently documented. “NASCAR has gone international. For most of its life, the sport that started out as Strictly Stock was strictly American. All of the drivers were American, and all of the races were in the United States.” Those are NASCAR’s own words.
NASCAR is using TikTok and YouTube, among others, to target underserved, non-traditional markets. NASCAR is also embracing new platforms to help it both grow revenues even bigger and to reach non-traditional NASCAR fans. In particular, through gambling. “NASCAR has gone all in on sports betting, in an effort to boost income and reach more viewers outside its usual audience.
NASCAR seems to be leveraging its past to enter new markets by drafting closely behind other cars. It's a risky approach.
