NASCAR’s Clash at Bowman Gray Kicks Off the Season with a Blast from the Past

WINSTON SALEM, NC - AUGUST 01: General view of the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Strutmasters.com 199 at Bowman Gray Stadium on August 1, 2015 in Winston Salem, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
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The season-opening Clash is an institution in NASCAR. Started at 1979 as part of Speedweeks at Daytona, the event has moved around in the past few years, first to the Daytona Road Course then across the country to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. But now it’s found a venue even more venerable than it and any of its former host tracks.

Bowman Gray Stadium was built in 1937 (22 years before Daytona), and it was the very first paved track that NASCAR ever raced on in 1949. It hosted 29 races at the Cup Series level until 1971, including being the site of Richard Petty’s 100th win in 1969. Today, it’s known for hosting Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series racing and the wrecks and tempers that go viral on YouTube and draw crowds to the track.

And now it plays host to the season-opening Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on Sunday, February 2nd, airing at 8 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Odds via BetMGM
+800 – Denny Hamlin
+800 – Kyle Larson
+800 – Christopher Bell
+900 – Joey Logano
+900 – Ryan Blaney
+1000 – Chase Briscoe
+1300 – William Byron
+1300 – Ty Gibbs
+1300 – Chase Elliott
+1400 – Kyle Busch

As like any Clash in years past, the event doesn’t award points but is all about the spectacle. The format is the same as last year: Saturday will feature practice and qualifying for the heat races then the heat races themselves to set the field followed by a 75-lap last-chance qualifier. Sunday is the big-ticket 200-lap spectacle.

That’s not the only similarity to last year. Bowman Gray is a tiny quarter-mile track – so short that NASCAR had to hold tech inspection in the much larger Charlotte Motor Speedway because of the lack of space at Bowman Gray – making it the same length as the track built inside a football stadium in LA.

If the racing in LA has been any indication, racing on such a small track means passing will be incredibly difficult. That was Kyle Larson’s thought. However, making passing difficult has the added effect of encouraging beating-and-banging and aggressive moves that Bowman Gray is known for, which can be exciting.

“I’m sure it’ll be tough to pass this weekend. I hope we can give the fans the kind of exciting racing they’re used to seeing on a Saturday night in the summer. I’m sure the energy will be high in the stands – and be crazy on the track, too,” Larson said. 

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour racing at Bowman Gray Stadium.

NASCAR announced last August that the Clash would be moved to Bowman Gray for the first time, but that’s not an unfamiliar prospect for much of the field.  Alex Bowman, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Justin Haley, Corey Lajoie, Kyle Larson, Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez, and Bubba Wallace have all competed at the facility in some series, mostly in ARCA East when that tour stopped at Bowman Gray between 2011 and 2015.

Preece explained that the style of racing at the track is particularly aggressive, and a good finish requires embracing that aggression.

“The hope is you don’t want it to get brutal, but the reality is that if it starts to get brutal, you need to be willing to do that,” Preece said, “and not in a fighting manner. What I mean is in a racing manner, and I think anybody who races at quarter miles and three-eighths mile racetracks understand that, so it’s not necessarily the way you want to initiate, but sometimes it can be a product of that style of racing. I’m not looking to be the one that initiates it, but I’m certainly not afraid to give what’s taken.”

Ryan Preece is now racing for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing in the No. 60 Ford Mustang, one of many changes to the driver lineup for this season. He got the ride after his old team Stewart-Haas Racing folded at the end of last season.

“I feel like every opportunity has had a lot of different life lessons and certain things that I feel like have helped me get ready for this moment. I had a great time with Stewart-Haas,” Preece acknowledged. “There were some challenges, but there was also some points that were good, so all lessons that I’m bringing here to RFK and certainly you look at what Brad, Jack and the Fenway Group – what they’ve done over the past three years – it’s pretty impressive.

“My expectations are high. They’ve always been high. I don’t ever set a bar low. I always want to set it really high and winning races is the goal. I didn’t move down here and do the sacrifices and put my family through what I’ve done to come down here and just be a part of the show. That’s not who I am as a racer. I’m somebody that wants to win races. It doesn’t matter if I’m at my local short track or racing Cup on Sunday. The goal is to win.”

His teammate of last year, Josh Berry, moved to the Wood Brothers Racing team, NASCAR’s oldest, to pilot the No. 21 for this season. Berry said he’s been focused on finding the rhythm of the old organization.

“For me, I don’t know that I have a lot to add on that too much because I’m coming into the most established team in NASCAR,” he explained. “They’ve been here 75 years. They have a great relationship with Team Penske. Team Penske obviously has had a tremendous amount of success, so, really, for me, it’s just about fitting in and getting in a rhythm of working with my team and everybody there to be prepared to come racing this weekend.”

The remaining two of Stewart-Haas Racing’s drivers from last year will also still be appearing this season. Noah Gragson will be driving the No. 4 Ford for Front Row Motorsports and Chase Briscoe will replace Martin Truex Jr in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. The former SHR effort has been consolidated into a one-car team, with SHR’s former Xfinity Series driver Cole Custer competing in the No. 41 for the team this year.

Justin Haley is back behind the wheel of the Spire Motorsports No. 7; he swapped seats with Corey Lajoie last season, but the multi-year deal officially starts now. Lajoie is now a part-time driver and a TV analyst for Amazon, with the No. 51 car to be driven by Cody Ware in a return to the series.

Front Row Motorsports has a totally shaken-up lineup, with Gragson, Todd Gilliland moving to the No. 34, and Zane Smith moving to the No. 38 after being released by Trackhouse.

A seat is available at Front Row because of the departure of Michael McDowell, the team’s long-serving driver who built up the organization and earned it multiple wins and poles in the last few seasons. McDowell will now be driving the No. 71 for Spire Motorsports.

“There has been a lot of change this offseason, and Spire has been super helpful in integrating me into their system,” McDowell said. “There has been a lot to learn, and I am enjoying the process of everything; it is going to be a slow build while our team gets the hang of things, but I am excited to see where we can be as the season goes on.

“We have been very upfront about our goals, we want to win races and make the playoffs, and I think this has been my best opportunity to make that happen,” he concluded. 

Rookie Riley Herbst joins the Cup Series as driver of the No. 35 for 23XI Racing, with that team expanding to three cars. Also expanding to three cars is Trackhouse, with the most anticipated Cup rookie in years in the form of Shane van Gisbergen who is competing full-time in NASCAR’s top division in his second year in the sport, driving the legendary No. 88 with sponsorship from Red Bull.

Finally, Ty Dillon returns to full-time Cup competition with Kaulig in the No. 10, and Ricky Stenhouse sticks with the No. 47, but it’s now owned by Hyak Motorsports.

If there’s any test of how a new team and driver pairing works under pressure, then the intensity of a quarter-mile bullring is the place for it.

Also expect some new looks. The one that’s engendered the biggest reaction is Tyler Reddick’s car, featuring the word ‘unbannable’ in the paint scheme to promote a Jordan sneaker collection. While fans suggested a double meaning considering the ongoing charter lawsuit lodged by his 23XI team against NASCAR, Reddick demurred about any link when questioned by the media, saying he’d answer any question ‘when the time’s right’.

A few things haven’t changed. One of them is a champion’s confidence. Joey Logano now has the most championships of any active driver in the sport, and he has the swagger to back it up. There was a lot of talk about whether his last championship was ‘deserving’ under the Playoff format, but Logano didn’t hesitate in responding.

To be honest with you, I can’t hear well because my trophies, they kind of echo around me, so I can’t hear that. It’s kind of crazy,” he laughed. 

He might have enough championship trophies to block out any noise, but Logano and every other driver wants that inaugural trophy for winning the Bowman Gray clash. Logano is no stranger to getting that: a master of adapting to new tracks and repaves, he won the inaugural race the last time the Clash moved, that time to LA.

Owen Johnson