I was supposed to be able to start this particular article off with the phrase “Last Sunday, the Cook Out Clash…” but then the event got moved to Monday…and then to Wednesday. Needless to say, weather was just as big a character in this race as eventual winner Ryan Preece.
As with all climate-related news stories, there was plenty of talk about the “historic” weather that caused the delay. It had never happened before…except for all the other times it had happened. But why let a little thing like facts to get in the way of the narrative.
As for the race itself, it was almost a three-part story. You had the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ), the first 100 laps of the Clash and the second 100 laps of the Clash.
In the LCQ, the story wasn’t so much Josh Berry winning, as he broke away from the field like he was a Cup guy in an O’Reilly’s Series race on a mile-and-a-half. The story was the battle for the second (and final) qualifying spot between Austin Cindric, Corey Lajoie, and AJ Allmendinger. Lajoie was sixth at one point but managed to use the chrome horn to move people out and himself up and claimed second place, at least momentarily.
During the last handful of laps, Cindric and Lajoie exchanged the lead and a lot of paint, with Allmendinger seemingly lurking and waiting to pounce. This was short track racing at its best and having that second position in the Clash open, it gave those three drivers something to race for. And race for it they did. It wasn’t until Allmendinger gave Cindric a shove going into the last corners that the battle for second was decided.
As far as I’m concerned, it was that battle that was the highlight of the Clash.
Speaking of which, the first 100 laps of the Clash was a marked improvement over the 2025 installment. It was like the drivers had figured out how to drive Bowman Gray Stadium. The Clash wasn’t a Talladega-style race where there were lead changes every time you blinked but it also wasn’t a case where one driver got out in front and just drove away.
When I wrote a recap of last year’s Clash, titled “The Clash Sucked- But That’s Okay,” I felt confident that the on-track action would improve. There would be more passes for the lead and less drivers banging into each other and spinning out. That first 100 laps of the 2026 seemed to justify that logic.
Ty Gibbs was the leader at the break at Lap 100. The break that never seemed to end and the point of the race where everything seemed to change. After the drivers and teams were able to undertake “non-competitive pit stops,” weather came back into the conversation as sleet fell across Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
After bringing the teams back down pit road to put on wet weather tires, we were set to FINALLY go back racing.
Of course, by then it was approaching 8 p.m. and instead of cars racing around Bowman Gray Stadium, my TV screen showed the absurdity that is The Masked Singer. At first I assumed my local cable company had made the “brilliant” decision to switch from Fox over to the local affiliate that was broadcasting that particular show.
Initially I went to my laptop to follow along as best as I could on Sirius XM’s NASCAR channel. I also checked social media to see if others were having the same issue. I eventually found that TSN was showing the race. Meanwhile, nary a word about the switch away from the Clash. I did hear a word or three about it a couple of days later and it seemed it was less a Rogers problem and more a Fox decision, even though Mike Joy said the Masked Singer was still to come. Then, at 9 p.m., Fox switched over to their regularly scheduled program and told fans to switch to some App to watch the final portion of the race. (TSN continued uninterrupted.) I’m surprised social media wasn’t aflame because if I had been waiting three days for a race and then could only see half, I’d be annoyed. (Well, to be honest, I was…until I managed to stumble across a solution.)
I missed about 20 laps and it must have been the best 20 laps of the second half. If NASCAR’s best were able to conquer Bowman Gray Stadium on regular tires, they were back to square one when they put the wet weather tires on. There was no rhythm to the race at all. There were times when they were barely a lap or two into a run and another caution came out. Oh, and of course, the longer the race went, the more fuel that got burned up and, as it turned out, not everyone had topped up their tanks. First, Kyle Larson and then Chase Elliott ran out of gas and had to be pushed back to the pits. Only after two delays did NASCAR decide to give everyone else a chance to pit and fill up on fuel. A race that should have been all said and done within two hours continued on for more than three hours.
In the end there was a Clash record 17 cautions and the speed dipped to just over 21 m.p.h. Jeremy Mayfield posted on his Facebook page that the Clash was “a bad look for the sport” and I have to agree. It wasn’t completely NASCAR’s fault. The weather continued to throw them curveballs and they tried to do their best to deliver the best product they could under the circumstances. There were certainly moments where it seemed like they got it right but then there were moments when it all went wrong.
Give NASCAR some credit, however. This is just the second year of bringing the Clash to Bowman Gray Stadium and, unlike the Clash at the Coliseum, those fans who braved the weather were enthused and engaged. (To be honest, even as the second half of the Clash dragged on and on, I saw the fans in the stands having fun and just enjoying the experience and thought “Maybe I’ve gotten this wrong!”)
Let’s give the Clash at Bowman Gray at least one more chance and see what happens.
Of course…if NASCAR does want to make changes and go back to “the Glory Days of NASCAR,” why not go completely old school and just have the polesitters from the previous season and do a 50-lap shootout at Daytona.
And, if they still want to go to a short track that carries with it the risk of bad winter weather, come north to Delaware (Ontario) Speedway. I guarantee that us Canadians would know even better how to deal with snow and cold weather!
johnmilner.ca 