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We asked several drivers here today at Richmond Raceway that very question.
By KEVIN RICE
Richmond, VA- It was announced last week that NASCAR will assume operational control of Bowman Gray Stadium, the quarter-mile track in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The thought of a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event being held at the legendary track is intriguing to some of the drivers competing today at Richmond Raceway in Virginia, but a no-go for others.
The NASCAR Southern Modified Tour held several events there in the past, most recently in 2016. Eric Goodale is a Long Island driver who made a start in the south tour event in 2015. He seemed open to the idea, as he spoke about the possibility prior to practicing today at Richmond.
“Good and bad,” he offered. “It would be a cool venue. I think a lot of people would show up to it. It’s hard racing. I think there would be a lot of cautions. We don’t have patience on this tour. It would be difficult to run 200 laps there and get into a rhythm, and run some laps.
“When I ran there in the southern tour it wasn’t so bad. A lot of beating and banging. Basically the same as the NASCAR Clash for us Modifieds. The travel would suck, but I think we would put a show on for the fans. It was cool when I raced there. It was a lot of people. It’s cool racing in front of that many people, and the atmosphere there is certainly not duplicated anywhere we race today.”
Goodale offered some advice, based on what he learned from racing there back in 2015.
“Don’t overdrive,” he said. “That is the easiest way to get in trouble there. You start over-driving the track, and then you slip up. Once you slip up you’re not losing one or two spots. You’re losing five or more, depending on how many are lined up on the bottom behind you.”
NASCAR veteran Bobby Labonte first got back into racing by running a few Modified events in the weekly wars at Bowman Gray. He likes the location, and feels it would be an interesting event for both drivers and fans alike.
“It’s only 15 minutes from my house, so that would work,” he began. “I could wear my uniform to the track. That would be fun. It would be interesting to be a part of. You wouldn’t have the normal spectacle. It would be a different spectacle. That would be attractive in itself.”
Drivers racing for points on the NWMT aren’t quite as excited about the idea, most notably recent champions Justin Bonsignore and Ron Silk.
“I don’t really know what to think about that,” Bonsignore said when asked what his initial thought would be to see it on the schedule. “I don’t think it will be on the schedule, but we will go wherever they ask us to go and try to make the best of it. It does put on good racing at times, but it’s a tough little place.
“I was there one time to watch. It was fun as a fan. I don’t know how much fun it would be as a driver, but I would go into it with a positive outlook and see what happens I guess.”
The most recent NWMT Champion, Ron Silk has raced there in a handful of weekly events for Hillbilly Racing, but he didn’t run a southern tour race there.
“I hope it’s not on the schedule but if it is we would go there and do the best we can,” he offered. “I raced there a long time ago with the Hill’s. It was fun. It was a cool experience. I don’t think it’s great racing though, so I hope we don’t end up there.”
As a young, up and coming driver on the NWMT, Pennsylvania driver Austin Beers is open to the idea. Tour race or not, he wants to experience what it is like to race there at some point in his career.
“Interesting,” he replied when asked what his initial thought would be. “I have wanted to run there just to experience that atmosphere, but I’ve never been there. I watched ‘The Madhouse’ television show as a kid. That was pretty cool to see Modifieds on TV and the passion of the fans.
“I think it would be pretty cool. I’m sure some people wouldn’t like it. You saw what Justin and Silk did at Riverhead (NY Raceway). I am sure it would be some of the same at Bowman Gray.”
The idea is a non-starter for Kyle Bonsignore, who has been a mainstay on the tour for some years now. Bonsignore raced at BGS in a southern tour event in 2016. He doesn’t like the idea one bit, and he was not afraid to say so before strapping in for practice at Richmond.
“I probably wouldn’t go even though it’s 45 minutes from my house,” he vented. “When I go to the racetrack I actually want to race. Even at Riverhead the lanes move around during the race. You can get next to somebody, run them side-by-side but you can’t do that at Bowman Gray.
“I raced there before and it sucked. We were really fast. We ran top five almost the whole race before we overheated, but I hated every second of it. It is a lot of fun in practice and qualifying, but racing there is miserable.”
While this remains very much a hypothetical possibility, and maybe even a long-shot to actually see a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at Bowman Gray Stadium, one thing that is near certain is that a race there would bring with it sellout crowd, a national audience and a spectacle unlike anything this tour has ever had before.
