WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A longtime symbol of Winston-Salem pride is the coffee pot. A 7-foot-tall version built by local tinsmiths as an advertising device in 1858 has moved around town since its construction but still stands today near the original Old Salem settlement. The relocation came in part because of its size but also partly because curious rubberneckers would cause car accidents, and because one driver crashed into it back in the horseless-carriage age. That accident predates the construction of Bowman Gray Stadium, so no Madhouse regulars needed to be called in for questioning.

The coffee pot has come to symbolize community and the city’s welcoming spirit. So when Winston’s hometown track opened its gates Sunday evening to a national — even international — crowd for the first Cook Out Clash there, a measure of initiation from the locals felt like a mandatory rite of passage. The coffee pot became a melting pot, and the wide-eyed newbies joined the homegrown, diehard locals as the congregation.

This latest spin on what NASCAR’s preseason Clash exhibition is (and what it could be) created a rock-star atmosphere at one of its rugged original venues. The Cup Series’ first race of any sort at Bowman Gray Stadium since 1971 was greeted with lusty appreciation from a vibrant, knowledgeable crowd, one that frequently made its opinions known, whether it was to cheer a brilliant move on the quarter-mile oval’s contours or to shout out encouragement or jeers from the ever-proximate bleachers during driver introductions.

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“I thought the pre-race ceremony was pretty cool,” said defending Cup Series champ Joey Logano, who finished fourth but caught his share of hoots and gibes before the engines fired. “The fans being right there, it’s what Bowman Gray is, right? You have the fans heckling you, saying whatever they want, saying you’re No. 1 in two different ways. That’s what Bowman Gray was built off of. I don’t know if you guys got the boos I got.”

At this point, Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney shrugged in response as he sat alongside in post-race interviews. “Overall, I would say it was successful, right?” Logano added. “When fans are cheering and screaming, the drivers’ brands are being exposed to everybody, which is great, right? Everyone has a favorite or not. You’re passionate about it.”

NASCAR officials noted post-race Sunday that fans from 44 states, five countries and three continents bought tickets to the 17,000-seat arena for its first major-league event in five decades. Those numbers blended with roughly 40% of ticketholders from the greater Piedmont Triad area of Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem and its surrounding communities.

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One veteran radio voice provided anecdotal evidence that there was a sort of vetting process for the Bowman Gray first-timers, that buy-in to the rowdy atmosphere that’s given the stadium its Madhouse moniker was necessary for proper admission. For the fans, the middle-finger salute — a taboo gesture almost everywhere else — became like a secret handshake. For the drivers, any razzing from the railbirds during pre-race ceremonies was hard to ignore.

“It was neat to hear them cheering, supporting you. There’s not a lot of places we go where they’re that close and that passionate,” Blaney said. “For whatever reason, everyone wants to have their opinion heard here that’s in the stands, which is awesome to me. Good or bad, it’s awesome that they’re there and they’re wanting to interact. That is a hardcore race fan.”

NASCAR officials have taken a more aggressive approach to hosting unique events in recent years, and the non-points Clash has been a focal point for exploring where the schedule might go. The suggestion that the exhibition race might rotate to another showcase arena, to another historic venue or even to an international locale has been burbling ever since the series proved that the Olympic-style setting of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum could work.

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The City of Angels handed the torch to the Camel City for this year’s edition, and the rabid home crowd turned out. The venerable stadium was also ready for its prime-time network TV debut, with a thorough refresh to the arena that dates back to FDR’s second term.

“They took a facility here that’s been around for a long time and made it feel like a brand-new one,” said Denny Hamlin, who led briefly before settling for third Sunday. “The fans obviously were very, very excited to see us. They were enthusiastic. We feed into that. It felt like a big event. Even though it’s not a points-paying event or anything like that, it still feels big. You want to go wherever can give you that feel and atmosphere. There’s surely bigger venues and bigger cities to go to, but will you have this type of feel or not? That’s really what matters.”

This year’s racing calendar has barely begun, so what the 2026 schedule might hold is plenty far off. But the suggestion of putting on another pot of coffee at Bowman Gray is already out there, with many ready for that second cup of stadium joe.

“You’re going to pack it out,” Blaney said. “There’s going to be just as many people here next year as there was tonight. I don’t think it would lose any of its luster.”

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Tim Brown and Burt Myers both grew up at Bowman Gray Stadium, both part of families with rich racing history here. Brown’s earliest memories, he said, date back to when he was 5 or 6 years old, back when he joined Myers and other youngsters to play along the tree-lined pit area on Saturday nights while their older relatives tuned, wrenched and prepped.

Their paths never strayed very far from there, but now their memories include record-breaking statistics that vet them as stadium legends. This was, and is still, their playground.

“That’s what makes it even more special to get to make a Cup debut here,” Brown says.

Brown and Myers will attempt to put some local flavor into the main-event field as the lone double-duty drivers for Sunday’s Cook Out Clash (8 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), which will stage its first edition at the quarter-mile track. They’ll be vying for the two open spots on the 23-car starting grid in the 75-lap Last Chance Qualifier (6 p.m. ET), hoping their hometown advantage as Bowman Gray regulars holds sway.

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Those early childhood memories have evolved into one of the track’s most competitive rivalries. Brown and Myers have combined (in a near-even split) for 23 championships and 198 wins in the featured Modified Division, and their tendency to find each other’s cars at the front of the pack has created fierce racing between them through the years. Myers says at Bowman Gray, the roots typically run deep — to a lifelong level, in some cases — so it’s natural that altercations would sometimes flare.

“Me and Tim Brown been racing together for almost 30 years,” Myers says. “What do you think is going to happen at least three or four times throughout our careers, racing against each other and battling for wins and championships every Saturday night? That’s what creates rivalries.”

So it was also natural that both Modified standouts landed a call-up to the majors for the Cup Series’ return to Bowman Gray. Brown will drive the No. 15 Ford for Rick Ware Racing, where he works full-time as a suspension and drivetrain specialist. Myers reached a deal with AmeriVet Racing’s No. 50 Chevrolet team for a potential Clash debut.

When Brown was presented with the suggestion that he might also hope for the best for Myers in a show of stadium solidarity against the Cup Series stars, he didn’t exactly throw water on his competitive fires. But he was also quick to recognize the importance of this moment for a pair of Bowman Gray lifers.

“That’s a tough question to answer because the racer in me says no, but I think it’s good that both of us got this opportunity to do this and thanks to everybody involved that thinks the same way,” Brown says. “At my age, just to get the opportunity to do this is overwhelming and it’s super special.”

Brown’s age is 53, which makes him the oldest driver on this weekend’s entry list. Myers’ age is 49, second-oldest in the Cup garage this weekend, but he cautions not to take that number at face value.

“Don’t make a mistake now, I’m in my prime,” Myers says with a laugh. “That’s what I tell people. I’m like Doc Holliday, I’m in my prime.”

As reigning track champion, Myers has some truth behind the statement. A whopping 15 of the last 17 Modified titles have gone to either Brown or Myers, and both are still winning races on a regular basis.

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The track that’s greeting them this weekend has undergone a transformation, with new SAFER barriers lining the oval and bright, Musco lights illuminating the action. For Brown and Myers, those changes are particularly personal.

“I mean, it’s a double-edged sword,” Myers says. “The old-school Burt Myers, I love the nostalgia of it, of the old track with the red and white guardrail, and I like the fact that it was the old Bowman Gray. So I was sad to see that go, but at the same time, what they’re doing and what they’ve done only speaks of the future of Bowman Gray. In other words, I think we can all agree that Bowman Gray is probably going to still be there racing in another 100 years. They’re not going to do all this just to run one show. This is for the Cup show, but at the same time, this is for the longevity of the short-track series that has been so successful there for so long.”

Says Brown: “Cosmetically, it’s beautiful and that’s important, too, for the fans that come, for sponsors to spend money to come. If you say, ‘Hey, we’re partners with teams that race here’ and you show them this race track now, they’re gonna be impressed. Now, it did have some history with the old guardrails laid over and painted and things and had some character and very historical, but it’s just a new chapter, so it’ll still have the same persona, it’ll still have the same passion of fans and it’ll still put on a great race, but it just looks great now.”

The hometown crowd that will pack the place Sunday evening will have a local rooting interest, but it’s also a shot at the big leagues for two homegrown heroes.

“It means everything to me, not just to me but my family and all of our partners and sponsors that have been with me through this journey for many years,” Brown says. “Just to be at this level to get to shine is just outstanding and I can’t wait to make the best of it.”

In some aspects, the NASCAR Cup Series’ takeover of the Bowman Gray garage is a long way from the spring and summer nights that Brown and Myers spent growing up around the stadium fieldhouse. The complexion might be different, but for both, it still feels like home.

“It’s so cliche, and we joke about it, and I say it all the time: Our lives are planned around racing — vacations, parties, birthdays, childbirth, everything we do is planned around racing,” Myers says. “Me and (brother) Jason were born in November and December. I don’t think that was coincidence. I really don’t, and it’s because of drivers and teams who are so engulfed in racing, and when you add in the spectacle of Bowman Gray Stadium and how special that place is to NASCAR and to us, that’s all we know.”