N.C. Senate kills WSSU request to buy Bowman Gray; Childress is a potential buyer

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina - Winston-Salem State University's effort to buy Bowman Gray Stadium from the city was snuffed out Thursday when state lawmakers killed the university's request for permission to borrow $7.5 million for the purchase.

The legislative move — sponsored by Sen. Don East, R-Surry, and pushed by Winston-Salem entrepreneur Harold Day — opens the door wider to another potential bidder: Richard Childress, the NASCAR icon from Winston-Salem who sold peanuts as a child at Bowman Gray and started his racing career there in the 1950s.

Bill Patterson, an executive vice president at Richard Childress Racing, met with Martha Wheelock, an assistant city manager, recently to talk about costs related to the stadium, he said.  Bowman Gray has sentimental value for Childress. It's a landmark stock-car racing stadium and more could be done with it, Patterson said, though he declined to provide further information about what else could be done.

"We do have an interest in it," he said.

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