The longest-running weekly racing track in all of NASCAR returns this Saturday to open its 74th season of racing. The 2023 season at Winston-Salem, North Carolina’s Bowman Gray Stadium will open the same way every season does with its longest race of the year, the Hayes Jewelers 200 for the Modifieds. 

Before the first green flag waves on Saturday night, we wanted to get you caught up on everything you need to know for the 2023 season at “The Madhouse.”

Tim Brown Chasing More Bowman Gray History

The 2022 season saw Tim Brown set two more records in his illustrious Modified career at Bowman Gray. Brown won his 12th championship, extending his record for the most championships by any driver in Bowman Gray history. Brown’s arch-rival Burt Myers is second on that list with 10 championships.

Brown also set pulled off another historic feat in his 12th championship season, one he’s much less proud of. Brown, who has won 94 times at Bowman Gray, went winless in 2022, becoming the first driver to win a championship without winning a single race since 1979. He’s just the fourth driver in the track’s history to do that.

“Twelve championships is impressive, and it does mean a lot to me,” Brown told NASCAR after winning the title last August. “But I already had more than anybody with 11. What’s running in the back of my mind right now, just over and over, is that I did it without winning a race. And that sucks.”

Tim Brown Scores Emotional 12th Championship at Bowman Gray

Brandon Ward Building Towards First Bowman Gray Title

Brandon Ward came oh so close to doing something that very few drivers have done in the last 15 years, and that’s win a championship. With the exception of 2014, in which Danny Bohn won the championship, it’s been the Tim Brown and Burt Myers show at Bowman Gray Stadium for a very long time.

Ward entered the season finale a year ago just a few points behind Brown in the standings. Ward had one victory to Brown’s zero wins. Literally just one more win on the season would have resulted in Ward winning the championship last year.

Now the key is building on that and finding a way to break into victory lane a few more times. Ward is off to a solid start with an exciting win with the SMART Modified Tour already under his belt this season.

Burt Myers In Need Of A Rebound

The resurfacing of Bowman Gray Stadium prior to the 2022 season threw everybody a curveball, but Burt Myers suffered from it worse than any of the perennial frontrunners, at least for the first half of the season. Myers was terrible, and he’d tell you that. It was a struggle for him to stay inside the top 10, let alone contend for wins. 

But something clicked at the midway point of the season and Myers started to win some races. By the end of the year Myers had four wins under his belt, tied with Jonathan Brown for the most of any driver last year.

Myers is just a handful of wins behind Brown for the top spot on the all-time wins list. He entered last season one championship behind Brown for the top spot on the all-time champions list.

And while he gained ground on Brown in the wins department, he’s now two championships behind Brown. You can bet he’ll want to change that as soon as possible.

How To Watch Bowman Gray Stadium Live

Every race during the 2023 season at Bowman Gray Stadium will be streamed live on FloRacing for the second straight year. 

STREAMING: Watch the 2023 Season Opener at Bowman Gray Stadium on FloRacing. SIGN UP HERE.

On Your TV: Now Available on Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast & Apple TV.

Cast: Cast to your smart TV including Vizio, Samsung and LG TVs.

On The Go: Download the FloSports app on iOS or Android.

The Repave Of The Repave At Bowman Gray

We mentioned that Burt Myers struggled to find grip on the newly repaved surface to start off last season. Well, now he’ll have to find grip again as Bowman Gray Stadium was repaved for the second year in a row.

That might sound odd, because never do tracks get resurfaced two years in a row. But Bowman Gray tried to right a wrong, and they deserve credit for that. 

The repave going into 2022 was a disaster. There’s no other way to put it. The track had zero grip, especially in the outside lane, and the entry to the corners was so bumpy it was like a whoop section on a motocross track. Every driver complained about it, and that’s no exaggeration. Literally every driver complained about it, even though they all accepted that they all had to race on it.  

After the season ended the decision was made to tear up the pavement and start again, much to the delight of the teams and drivers. How will this repave fare compared to last year? Well, we’ll find out during Friday night’s practice session in advance of Saturday’s Hayes Jewelers 200.

‘Madhouse’

FloSports recently released an original film titled ‘Madhouse: Bowman Gray Stadium’ ahead of the season starting. With a 22-minute runtime, fans will get the story of Bowman Gray Stadium, and find out more information on the drivers fans love, and drivers the fans love to hate. It’s a thrilling look (in our extremely unbiased opinion) into one of the most colorful, historic, and explosive race tracks in the world. 

You can watch ‘Madhouse: Bowman Gray Stadium’ by clicking here.

2023 Bowman Gray Stadium Schedule