Nascar moves preseason Clash event to Bowman Gray Stadium in 2025

Nascar has moved its preseason Clash event to Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina for next season.

Confirmed:

• Non-points event scheduled for 2nd February 2025 and will be broadcast live on Fox
• Nascar Studios and Fox Sports Films to produce one-hour documentary to commemorate the return to the stadium, which will premiere on FS1

Context:

The exhibition event moves away from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum after three years. The temporary circuit at the LA Coliseum was even based on the design of the track at Bowman Gray Stadium.

Bowman Gray has a strong history in Nascar, having hosted Cup Series points events between 1958 and 1971. The series will hope next year’s event is not affected by weather to the same extent as this season’s Clash, as rain delays caused a dramatic 58.6 per cent fall in viewership compared to 2023.

Comment:

“We’re going back to The Madhouse in Bowman Gray Stadium,” said Ben Kennedy, Nascar’s executive vice president and chief venue and racing innovation officer.

“Bringing our Cup Series back there for the first time since the 1970s, it’s going to be another historic event. I’d say in a lot of ways, this is going to be an opportunity to celebrate our roots, our history and celebrate our Nascar regional series.”

He added: “This is the next evolution of The Clash for us. One of the areas where we feel like there’s an opportunity for us to continue to switch it up and go to new markets and new venues is an exhibition race like The Clash.”

Coming next:

Nascar still needs to complete its weekend action as Sunday’s race at Michigan International Speedway suffered a rain delay. The rescheduled race takes place on 19th August, before the final two races of the Cup Series regular season at Daytona (24th August) and Darlington (1st September).

Go deeper:

• What’s going on with Nascar’s charter system?
• Nascar’s US$7.7bn TV deal: Why the annual value went up, who gets what, and the impact on fans