A Wild One | NASCAR Madhouse Classic At Bowman Gray Stadium Highlights 2/1/25

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Watch highlights from the inaugural NASCAR Madhouse Classic at Bowman Gray Stadium on February 1, 2025.

 

Why Bowman Gray deserves to be more than a one-and-done

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | February 3, 2025 2:30 PM ET

The drivers weren’t even strapped into their cars. A lap had yet to be run on Sunday at Bowman Gray Stadium. However, speculation, by way of the Sports Business Journal mentioning Brazil, had started about where NASCAR will contest its preseason Clash event next year.

Although it’s the nature of the business, it felt like a quick rush toward looking to the future when Bowman Gray had not yet made its case for consideration. And after the show put on Sunday between the Last Chance Qualifying race and the Cook Out Clash, a strong argument was made that Bowman Gray Stadium deserves more than one year as the host facility. The sport needs more of what it got over the weekend, and the atmosphere seemed to indicate an immediate desire to see it again in 2026.

All the boxes were checked: The passion of the fans. A good racing product. The use of bumpers on a short track. A facility rooted in NASCAR history. And everyone from the fans to the drivers and teams having a good time. The latter, honestly, is hard to come by.

“It was really, really good,” Joey Logano said on Sunday night of the experience. “I thought the pre-race ceremony was pretty cool. The fans being right there – it’s what Bowman Gray is, right? You’ve got the fans heckling you and saying whatever they want and saying you’re No. 1 in two different ways, so that’s what Bowman Gray was built off of.

“You look at when fans are cheering and screaming and those type of things, driver’s brands are being exposed to everybody, which is great. Everyone has a favorite or not, and they’re passionate about it and when you get everyone this close… I mean, you look at (Saturday). People hung out for the Modified race all the way until practice and the heat races. It was packed yesterday and tonight was standing room only, so, from that standpoint, the atmosphere was successful.”

Sunday night was a sold-out crowd. NASCAR said afterward ticketholders came from 44 states, five countries and three continents.

The Clash does not pay points and, for the longest time, was considered a warmup to the Daytona 500 as it was held in the days before the sport’s biggest race, with pole-winners making the field. Over the last few years, it has felt like the Clash has been searching for a new identity – one that seems to have landed on a chance to showcase NASCAR and its stars while reminding everyone that a new season is right around the corner.
Bowman Gray is about as old-school as the Cup Series gets, but it retained some of LA’s Hollywood vibe with the driver intros. Sean Gardner/Getty Images/NASCAR

Los Angeles served its purpose for three years (during which NASCAR also changed how the field was set by introducing heat races and a Last Chance Qualifying race) as a hype event where the racing seemed to take a backseat to the entertainment value. But it was in a market NASCAR wanted to serve, and accomplished its goal.

Bowman Gray Stadium put some of the focus back on the racing while also serving a fanbase that deserves Cup Series racing.

“I think the racing itself is an important factor,” Denny Hamlin said. “While the race is going on, there is either going to be a social media buzz around positive of the racing or not. So, I still think that is an important thing. But you got a great point in that it is something else as far as the spectacle itself. It is an exhibition race.

“I think it’s a primer to let people know that we’re racing again, truthfully. L.A. had its own place and I thought it was really well done and here, it looks like they did a really good job with it. So, I think each place has its certain relevance, and I think (Bowman Gray) has its relevance as well, with the history. It just seems like moving it around and changing things is what’s stirring the interest – not necessarily what’s happening on track.”

The weekend was filled with driver opinions about what should happen with the Clash next, and where it should be run. Over the last few years, NASCAR has shown that it is more open to change and trying different things than ever before and that’s commendable. Whether going to new markets, building tracks inside unique venues or going international, none should be taken off the table.

But what’s the rush? What happened at Bowman Gray was special, and NASCAR shouldn’t be so quick to turn away from trying to capture that feeling again in the future.

“Those driver intros were epic,” Shane van Gisbergen said. “The atmosphere and (being) pretty intimate with the crowd… there are some interesting specimens in the crowd, I’d say. But there are some awesome people. Everyone was really friendly and what a cool place.”

Another way to look at it is this: NASCAR fans are vocal about the sport needing to return to its roots and Bowman Gray did that. So, why not stay that way for a while longer?
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If that is a serious question....the reason is that NASCAR management is not racers like the founder Bill France was....and NASCAR management makes stupid decisions.

 

Bowman Gray was a "much improved" event from the Coliseum – Elliott

Sean Gardner/Getty Images/NASCAR
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emailBy Kelly Crandall | February 3, 2025 10:58 AM ET

Bowman Gray Stadium hosting the Clash received the seal of approval from race winner Chase Elliott.

Elliott admitted his bias after winning Sunday night’s exhibition race – a moment he called “special” – and because of the fan reception he received within the stadium. After starting from the pole, Elliott led a race-high 171 of 200 laps in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and made the winning pass on Denny Hamlin on lap 126.

“It seemed like a success,” Elliott said. “I know it’s always tough from a winner’s perspective when everything goes your way, but it seemed like the track was racey. I just thought the whole deal was much improved from the last couple of years, for sure.”

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The 200-lap feature event had a little bit of everything. Elliott and Hamlin combined to lead 199 of 200 laps, but the racing kept viewers engaged. Hamlin was one driver who made the outside lane – on a short track – work early in the event as he used it to take third place from Tyler Reddick.

There was also the ability to run side-by-side. Hamlin and Elliott routinely ran side-by-side as did other leaders, as was shown in the Last Chance Qualifying Race. Of course, there were the wrecks, which were expected at Bowman Gray. And one of the most impressive performances of the night came from Ryan Blaney, who finished second to Elliott after driving through the field from last on the starting grid (23rd).

“I don’t have any issues with coming back,” Elliott said. “I thought overall it seemed like a good show. Tire wear came into play. The environment from not only tonight but (Saturday) night, the place was packed out. It just seemed like a good all-around event, and I feel like if we’re going to race on a football field, this is probably as good a place as any to do it.”


Sunday night was sold out. Afterward, NASCAR announced the attendance comprised ticket holders from 44 states, five countries, and three continents.

NASCAR moved the Clash from its long-standing home in Daytona to Los Angeles in 2022, the first year of the Next Gen car. It stayed there in a three-year deal before going to Bowman Gray Stadium.

Elliott felt there were three variables as to why he liked racing at Bowman Gray over the Coliseum.

“I think the size of the track; it seemed bigger to me,” Elliott said. “I don’t know what the technical distance would be, how different it is or not, but the straightaways seemed a little longer, the corners didn’t seem like such a sharp apex. And I think all of those things, combined with the track surface having some age to it, probably had a pretty large impact on the race being better and putting it a little more in your hands as far as tire management and all that stuff.”