After three years in L.A., NASCAR brings its preseason race back to North Carolina, where Bowman Gray Stadium's return marks an emotional start to 2025.

This weekend in Winston-Salem -- a little ways off from the tobacco farms and not far from the greater Charlotte area -- the Carolina winter will heat up and the earth will roar back to life with the beginning of a new year for NASCAR with its annual preseason exhibition race,

Current and former NASCAR drivers are stoked for the sport’s return to Bowman Gray Stadium, an event that aims to have a long-term impact on the famed venue that currently hosts college football games and modifieds races.