NASCAR
Where Should The Clash Go for 2026 and Beyond?
The Hail Mary play NASCAR made by moving The Clash 2,500 miles east from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to Bowman Gray Stadium appears to have paid off. Drivers, spectators near and far, and seemingly everyone who witnessed Sunday’s Cook Out Clash from The Madhouse resoundingly said they were thoroughly entertained. After such a near-universally beloved show, running Bowman Gray back for 2026 should be a cut and dry option. Does holding the preseason exhibition race at the famed quarter-mile have the sport’s best interest in mind, however?
While we’re only halfway through this decade, the 2020s have seen an ever-shifting identity for NASCAR’s annual warm up race. Four different tracks have called The Clash home over a six year span. This includes: the Daytona oval, the road course, L.A.’s temporary circuit, and most recently Bowman Gray Stadium. This constant evolution shows the sanctioning body using this non-points contest as a testing ground for concepts once thought insane. Mere years ago, few could have envisioned building a temporary track inside one of the nation’s most historic football fields. Returning Cup cars to NASCAR’s oldest operating weekly venue was a likewise pipe dream.
Did The Clash grow stale within the confines of Daytona International Speedway? The last two iterations of that event were defined by single-file, half-throttle formation laps until the end, where chaos ensued. 2021 saw a radical departure from the norm, hosting this race on the Daytona Road Course. While a largely clean event, it did deliver last-corner contact between leaders and a surprise win from third-place Kyle Busch.
Deciding to take The Clash across the country to Los Angeles was a lofty and bold leap of faith by the sanctioning body. This venture into uncharted waters did pay off dividends in its first year. A majority of new fans experienced their first ever race. As with any big new event, the hype did taper off in subsequent years. The third and final year of the L.A. Clash is looked on sourly, with the Sunday race being moved up to Saturday by impending rain. Such little notice of this change led to very few fans able to attend the race.
It would be appropriate to call the 2020s so far a period of short track renaissance in NASCAR. The post-pandemic era has seen new life flow into both North Wilkesboro Speedway and Rockingham Speedway. Interest continues to build around Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway as well. North Wilkesboro will host its third-straight All-Star Race in May. ‘The Rock’ also returns, with earned Xfinity and Truck Series dates in April. Adding onto this list of grassroots tracks being revived around the Carolinas is the quarter-mile track less than an hour north of NASCAR’s Charlotte epicenter.
For those who have never attended a weekly series race at Bowman Gray Stadium, the track is steeped in tradition and lore matched by very few venues today. The 17,000 seat grandstands are more often than not a standing-room-only crowd for Saturday night shows across the summer. Deeply-ingrained fan support unlike anywhere else is the norm here. It is of little surprise that Cook Out Clash weekend saw two days of sellout attendance at The Madhouse. Fans clamored to see their beloved Modifieds and NASCAR Cup cars for the first time in 54 years.
On paper, it looks like NASCAR has 17,000 reasons to immediately greenlight a Clash return to Bowman Gray. I say this with as little bias as possible, being a Winston-Salem resident myself who grew up at The Madhouse. Los Angeles did serve its purpose in attracting new fans. Those efforts are currently all for naught, though, without another racetrack in the vicinity. The Clash can certainly work at countless other historic short tracks or temporary stadium venues the world over. What made Bowman Gray stand out though was a return to racing’s roots very akin to North Wilkesboro’s racetrack revival. Renovations undertaken ahead of the Cook Out Clash will continue to only benefit Bowman Gray’s weekly racing for years to come. There are dozens of short tracks that could fit this mold too and see a NASCAR date pay off dividends.
Moving The Clash to an international track would mark another huge gamble with this race. But this risk could prove to be an equally big home run. Race fans outside of the United States typically have to make lengthy excursions to catch a glimpse of NASCAR’s spectacle. Bringing a date to a previously untapped market would be a boon to the respective host nation. In an era where all sports are vying for global relevance and support, it would be fitting for NASCAR to join this trend.
Should opportunities open up for future global expansion, The Clash may be the easiest lever to pull. Already falling two weeks before the regular season, this warmup act allows for plenty of ingress and egress time from any venue prior to a new year’s weekly grind. However, Bowman Gray Stadium last weekend was an example of lightning in a bottle. The Madhouse saw a completely unique atmosphere and palpable crowd energy. Any good faith NASCAR has built within the short track fanbase would be at risk of becoming alienated and disenfranchised once again. In the short term, returning The Clash to Bowman Gray appears as the easiest option for 2026. We will all learn in due time just what the future does hold for this transformed event.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credits to Sean Gardner/Getty Images
