Despite three delays through one of the worst winter storms the US has seen in years, the Cookout Clash at Bowman Gray finally went underway in Winston-Salem. With the help of various people, such as Winston-Salem State students and even minor league hockey players, NASCAR promptly cleared the track of snow throughout the week to ensure a midweek start. 

What did we get? A Wednesday night short track race around a frozen football field with so many caution laps that drivers ran out of fuel and the broadcast got bumped to FS2 for The Masked Singer. There’s a whole lot to dig into here after a race that was more chaos than competence at times. 

Weathering Things Down 

From the get go, weather was a topic of discussion for this race. The aforementioned winter storm that hit the southeast totally wrecked any chance at a normal start date, but by Wednesday night the track was cold and dry. Throughout the last chance qualifier, cars used two lanes if necessary, as seen with Corey LaJoie battling Austin Cindric for second place side by side for around five laps. 

Things kept cordial at the start of the finale, with a few expected cautions here and there until lap 105 when the sleet & rain came falling onto the track. NASCAR deemed the race under wet weather conditions and made teams put on the rain tires. 

What ensued was pure chaos. 14 of the race’s 17 cautions happened after the halfway point. Drivers failed to find a groove in the all wet track and began sliding either themselves or at any slight level of contact. Again and again it seemed that the field would bunch up, not have a single dry groove yet, caution, and redo the process. 

Finally some cars began to clean up racing lanes and provide a drivable track, but until around lap 180, it was a battle for the entire field, and with caution laps not counting, it began to really drag on. I commend NASCARs effort with the rain tires, but the competition hardly followed suit.

Winners & Losers 

The field flipped in this race countless times due to caution after caution, which saw comers and goers despite not having a dedicated pit lane. First it was Kyle Larson who dominated, but tire fall off got to him and he was never able to recover. 

Then a mid to late race surge by none other than Shane Van Gisbergen which saw him take over the lead. Him and his newly minted rookie teammate Connor Zilisch used their experience in wet weather to race to the front of the field, before an incident brought them back to earth. 

It would be Ryan Preece, the man once known for walking away from some of the worst accidents the sport has seen with the Gen 7 car, that would survive the cycle of cautions and capture his first series win. Exhibition or not, Preece’s win sets a precedent for the 60 team ahead of a season that could prove a lot for the former Modifieds driver. 

Sadly, one of the biggest losers was Bubba Wallace. The 23 was mired in incidents early on, getting spun out and never recovering. He would make it back to row 4 close to the end of the race, but more scrums would perpetually put Wallace in the back of the field. Clearly frustrated, Wallace would clear out Carson Hocevar before unfortunately crossing the finish dead last and a lap behind. Let’s just forget that one happened. 

Long Live the Madhouse 

I know everyone’s feelings on this race after what was essentially a parade is different, but if we hadn’t dealt with so many incidents, this race would provide great side by side racing action. 

The track proved to handle two grooves when it was dry. Drivers rarely had any opportunity to catch up to the back of the pack with how many times they re-racked the cars, but the lap traffic played a factor the few times it was visible during the contest. 

Just seeing these cars go around this bullring, beaten and battered with dirt and dents, is exactly what this sport should strive to be. The energy I felt seeing Allmendinger shove Cindric to a main event appearance in the LCQ or seeing cars beat and bang at 20 MPH was second to none. The track itself has it’s issues, such as the massive jut that sticks out of the turn 4 wall. 

It’s the truth that this style of racing encapsulates this sport far more than any intermediate or superspeedway can, and the further we procrastinate prioritizing these kinds of tracks, the further we perpetuate this sports decline. I hope we can keep the Clash at local short tracks and maybe move the All Star race to Bowman Gray (NOT DOVER, christ)

One digital step forward, two back

Watching this awesome track get rubber put down on it gave me the itch to hop back onto NASCAR 25 and really feel what it was like to race around a football stadium and–oh, that’s right. The exhibition race that’s on year 2 of its existence is not in the video game. In fact, the game will remain outdated to the 2025 season until presumably this October in the thick of the Chase.

This choice is one in the many lines of NASCARs video game decisions that make not a single ounce of sense. Every major sports franchise that has a video game accompanying it releases the game about a month before, with updated rosters and the full season schedule. So you can, you know, simulate the upcoming season and garner excitement.

It’s why when the game’s release schedule was primed to fall, I just felt confused. Fast forward to the point in time where the video game would pull SO much weight and it’s outdated and unfinished. Imagine playing Madden and not having the option to play the pre-season, oh and you’re forced to play as the Geno Smith-led Seahawks (sorry, Jack) despite the fact he is long gone. Doesn’t exactly sound exciting does it? No, so the sooner we figure this out the better. At least we have a competent game finally.