Jacen's Rants
NASCAR Race Review - 2025 Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium
February 2, 2025
I had some concerns about Bowman Gray even before NASCAR announced that the Clash would be moving there for 2025. However, by the time we finished Saturday's heat races, I was 100% sure that NASCAR should never go to Bowman Gray again.
The Format
For the uninitiated, here's the format for the exhibition race weekend.
Drivers were split into three groups. Each of these groups got two 8-minute practice sessions to feel out the track and dial in adjustments. After this, the three groups were split in half for a third practice session that effectively acted as group qualifying. These qualifying times decided the lineups for four 25-lap heat races.
In each of these four heat races, the top 5 drivers would transfer to the main event on Sunday. These heat races also determined the starting order for the main. The remaining 19 drivers would need to participate in a 75-lap last-chance qualifier event. The top two drivers in the LCQ would transfer to two of the final three spots in the main event, with the final spot going to the highest-finishing driver in last year's championship who is not already locked in through the heats or LCQ.
Finally, we have the 200-lap main event. The main was split into two 100-lap stages, with a halftime break for changing tires and making adjustments. In all of these various events, caution laps are not counted, and the race must finish under green-flag conditions.
The Heat Races
Any NASCAR purist will tell you that the "bump-and-run" is an integral part of the sport's history and what sets it apart from other motorsports.
The bump-and-run is not what happened in the heats.
The primary method for passing seemed to be running into the left-rear wheel if the car in front of you and spinning him out. The primary method for defending was blocking the bottom lane, forcing the guy to try and pass you on the outside, then overdriving the corner and running into his door.
Neither of those things take any skill. I can jump in a car and hook a guy in the left-rear. Does that make me a NASCAR driver?
Beyond that, once the field spread out, no one could even get close enough to the car in front to attempt a bump-and-run even if they wanted to.
It's fortunate that these races were only 25 laps each. It was some of the most boring and unskilled racing I've ever watched.
Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Noah Gragson, Kyle Busch, and Ross Chastain were top 5 in heat 1. Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe, Shane Van Gisbergen, Bubba Wallace, and Daniel Suarez finished top 5 in heat 2. Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, William Byron, Carson Hocevar, and Alex Bowman were the top 5 in heat 3. Finally, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Ryan Preece, and Todd Gilliland finished top 5 in heat 4.
Last-Chance Qualifier
The LCQ was more of the same: no respect and no skill. It still felt less like racing and more like a game of Wreckfest. Once again, there are people who would argue that's what makes NASCAR what it is, but I argue that it shouldn't be. Any idiot can jump in a car and spin people out. Actually passing people cleanly and without contact takes actual skill.
The increased aggression and desperation created an absolute slog of a race as caution flowed into caution. The appeal wore off very quickly as the race devolved into an expensive game of bumper cars.
Fittingly, the race finished with a wreck, and Kyle Larson and Josh Berry advanced to the main event. Ryan Blaney pulled off early and took the points provisional.
Main Event
Unfortunately, there was still one more race that needed to be completed before this shitshow could be over. It was more of the same, with the only passes being unskilled and low quality, and the long green-flag runs becoming absolute snoozefests as no one could catch each other. Fortunately, the first half of the race had very few cautions and long green-flag runs, so the suffering went by quickly.
The second half of the race was not as well-behaved, with several quick cautions near the start. The many restarts did at least create a much tighter race among the top 5 or so, with the racing up front being a lot more respectful and cordial than the racing in the pack. Eventually, things did settle down, and we got another long green flag run to the finish. While the main event was certainly better than the heats or LCQ, that's only because that isn't exactly a very high bar.
Elliott dominated the first half of the main, although he lost the lead to Hamlin just before halftime. The flurry of cautions allowed him to take advantage of a mistake from Hamlin and retake the lead. Meanwhile, Blaney had a heroic effort to run from last place all the way up to second, and he began hounding Elliott throughout the second half. Ultimately, Blaney didn't quite have a good enough car to make it past Elliott, and he would have to settle for second.
Conclusion
NASCAR has done a lot of dumb things over the years, but this is certainly on the shortlist of the dumbest. This weekend was a complete embarrassment to the sport. It's a prime example of why NASCAR isn't taken seriously among fans of other motorsports. NASCAR needs to stop having the Clash at these quarter-mile tracks. It doesn't provide an entertaining experience, and all it does is destroy a bunch of race cars and waste a lot of money for no good reason. As it is, NASCAR's drivers are too undisciplined and disrespectful for a race at one of these grassroots tracks to work.
As for the drivers, I was impressed with SVG, who ran in or around the top 10 for a lot of the race. Hopefully, that's a good sign for things to come this season for him. Toyota also had a good showing, with Hamlin and Reddick running very strong for most of the race, and Bell and Wallace getting in the mix occasionally. RFK had a pretty good run going, and Blaney was impressive with his march through the field.
