REAL NASCAR

Since its beginnings as a racetrack in 1947, Bowman Gray Stadium has been associated with some of the greatest names in auto racing and with some of the greatest racing in the sport’s history. 

No name looms larger in the track’s history than Alvin Hawkins who ran the city-owned track until his death, and whose family still operates it.  The Spartanburg, South Carolina native first appeared on the racing scene as a driver competing at the old Spartanburg Fairgrounds track in 1940.  Hawkins competed on the dirt tracks around the region in the early 1940s with some success battling such stock car racing legends as Lloyd Seay, Roy Hall, Fonty Flock, Smoky Purser, Joe Littlejohn, and Big Bill France.  He even raced in the famed Daytona beach/road race five times finishing sixth in an August, 1941 race. 

Along the way Hawkins formed close friendships with Spartanburg bootlegger, race driver, and race promoter Joe Littlejohn and with Big Bill France, founder/owner of NASCAR, that would shape his future career.  While he continued to compete sporadically as a racer after World War II, Hawkins increasingly became more involved in the sport as an official (as flagman/starter) and as a promoter.  In the late 1940s, Hawkins became an ever-present figure at Piedmont stock car races (particularly those promoted by France) sporting his trademark driving cap and puffing on a stogie.

In 1949, Hawkins partnered with France to begin weekly stock car races at Bowman Gray Stadium and moved his family to Winston-Salem every summer (as did Bill France for many years) until he relocated to the city permanently in 1954.  Throughout the 1950s and 60s Hawkins remained one of Bill France’s most trusted lieutenants as both an official and co-promoter and helped to transform NASCAR from a struggling entity to dominant status in American stock car racing. 

Hawkins’s promotion of both weekly racing and several annual Grand National races at Bowman Gray also helped to make the sport an entertainment staple in the Piedmont Triad region.  Indeed, Alvin Hawkins is one of those pioneering figures in southern stock car racing--who many NASCAR fans have probably never heard of --who deserves, at some point, to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.  (For more on folks you’ve never heard of who deserve to be inducted, stay tuned to the Real NASCAR blog.)

Beginning in 1958 and lasting until 1971, Bowman Gray became a regular stop on the NASCAR Grand National tour hosting a total of 29 races and as many as three a season.  The list of GN winners at the track reads like a who’s who of NASCAR royalty and include Lee Petty, Rex White, Glen Wood, Richard Petty, Jim Paschal, Junior Johnson, David Pearson, and Bobby Allison.

Surely the most memorable race in Bowman Gray’s storied Grand National history came on August 27, 1966.  The race featured, as so many early races at the stadium did, the outrageous antics of Curtis “Pops” Turner--sporting a silk three-piece suit--only recently returned to NASCAR after Big Bill France lifted his “lifetime” suspension for unionizing drivers in 1961.  Ironically, the race was the “Myers Brothers Memorial” to honor the two local racing legends who had both tragically died in the late 1950s.  The event drew a capacity crowd of over 15,000, most there to see Turner compete at the track once again.  "Pops" started in the fourth spot but soon became impatient to get up to leaders David Pearson and Richard Petty. 

Young Bobby Allison, making a splash in Grand National racing with three wins in only his first full season, was in the way, however.  Turner took his usual approach to such impediments, lived up to his nickname, and spun Allison out on lap eight and headed after the leaders.  Now down a lap, Allison took almost 100 laps to catch back up and came up on the now-leading Turner’s bumper to try to get his lap back and vie for the win.  At the same time as “Tiger” Tom Pistone battled Turner on the outside for the lead, Allison tried to take him on the inside.  At Bowman Gray two-wide is a stretch and three-wide is nigh on impossible.  Pistone hit the wall and Turner and Allison came together with Curtis getting the worst of the contact and spinning out.  Richard Petty took the lead in the midst of the mayhem as the caution flag came out.

The action, however, did not stop with the caution.  Turner had to pit for repairs and new tires and when he came back onto the track, he slowed considerably and lay in wait for Allison.  Allison anticipated that Turner was going to ram him so he took matters into his own hands, slammed into the side of the yellow Ford, and pinned Turner against the wall allowing the field to pass.  This set off a ten-lap demolition derby as each driver repeatedly crashed into the other until both their cars died on the frontstretch. 

It was a return to the old days of the bitter Myers Brothers/Turner rivalry at the stadium.  A near riot ensued as fans of both drivers climbed the fence and rushed the track.  Police intervened before anyone was hurt and wreckers cleared the cars from the track so the race could proceed.  Pearson won yet another battle with Petty, but few fans would remember the race winner.  NASCAR fined both drivers $100, and Triad racing fans had memories that would last a lifetime.

While Bowman Gray had its memorable Grand National races, it was the ongoing weekly racing that makes the place such a Triad institution.  Such racing at the stadium in the 1950s, 60s, and early 70s, not only featured local stars but Piedmont southern racing icons such as Glen Wood, Ned Jarrett, David Pearson, Bobby Isaac, Ralph Earnhardt, and Richard Childress—who got his start in racing as a kid selling peanuts in the stands.  In the 1970s, Bowman Gray began featuring modified races and regularly drew modified legends Richie Evans and Jerry Cook.

Attending a race at Bowman Gray Stadium is still a must for any hardcore racing fan.  The track averages more than 10,000 fans for its Saturday night shows and at $10--$1 for women on special “Ladies Nights”--is an entertainment bargain.  I’ll be back this season, but will never forget my first trip there two years ago.  I had spent the day at the dedication of an NC State historical marker to North Wilkesboro Speedway, whiled away part of the afternoon in the NWS stands listening to track caretaker Paul Call tell wonderful stories about the old days there, stopped off at Lexington Barbeque to eat a sandwich at the counter, got talked into taking one to- go by Rick Monk, and then ate my second sandwich of the evening in the stands at Bowman Gray as I enjoyed the pageant. 

Great atmosphere, great racing, and an unforgettable experience:  I recommend you try it.  

Next Week:  Danica-Mania and the History of Women in NASCAR