April 22

Bowman Gray Stadium Begins 60th Racing Season  
Fans and Drivers Await Impact of New Rules Changes.  
    A historic new season begins on Saturday for NASCAR’s first and longest running weekly race track: Bowman Gray Stadium kicks off its 60th year with the Tucson 200. 
  For decades, Bowman Gray Stadium has started off the racing season in full-force with the 200-lap race, the longest and highest-paying race of the year. Every Modified driver will point to the Tucson 200 as the most prestigious – and the most challenging – race at Bowman Gray Stadium. And this season proves to be even more of a challenge for drivers as some new rules changes shake up the Farm Bureau Insurance Modified Series. 
  Modified cars will compete with a new type of tire this year – a tire made of a softer compound. The softer tire should allow for some more exciting racing as passing on the outside becomes more of a factor – not to mention that the tires will wear out more quickly. 
  The durability of the tire compound is of special interest for the season-opening 200-lapper. In the past few years, cars have been set up well enough to allow them to race the entire 200 laps without pitting for a tire change. Will the new type of tire change that? 
“There’s a big question mark there,” said Gray Garrison, promoter of Bowman Gray Stadium. “No one knows yet whether this new tire will last for the whole race or whether pit stops will be a factor. It should add a lot more strategy into the race for drivers and their crews.” 
  With a quarter-mile track as tight as Bowman Gray, it’s often hard for a car as powerful as the Modifieds to pass on the outside. But Garrison feels that the new tire compound will allow for more passing in the Modified Series. “Now fans should see side-by-side racing and an outside groove,” said Garrison. 
  Another rules change that will affect all divisions is the movement of the starting line. For past seasons, the green flag would drop when the competing cars were in the middle of turns three and four. This put the inside lane in better shape to round turn four more quickly and get better track position as the cars shot into the first turn. 
  Starting this season, the green will be given once competitors have come out of turn four and are pointing down the straight-away. The pole car and the outside-pole car will be side-by-side as the green flag falls. “It’s now going to be a drag race into turn one,” said Gray Garrison about the change. “It should make for some more exciting starts for all divisions.” 
The first round of qualifying for the Modified Division is scheduled for Friday night, April 25, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM. On Saturday night, April 26, ticket gates open at 6:00 for practice, the second and final round of qualifying begins at 7:20, and the first race begins at 8:00 PM. There will also be races for the Sportsman, Street Stock, and Stadium Stock Divisions.