Mark Martin Pushes Back on Negative Reaction to NASCAR’s Clash
What’s Happening? NASCAR legend Mark Martin is calling on fans to have a more positive reaction to “the good things” in…
Gifts for NASCAR Fans
NASCAR legend Jeremy Mayfield said that he thinks NASCAR’s 2026 Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium was “a bad look for the sport,” asking if “this really how we want to kick off a season” in a Thursday morning Facebook post.
Last night’s Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium is the talk of the town in NASCAR for reasons both good and bad.
On one hand, the event produced a first-time winner in Ryan Preece (albeit he is still chasing that elusive first points win), and had some solid drama and racing both at the front of the field and mid-pack.
On the other hand, the event was marred by winter weather, with NASCAR cancelling all preliminary races, minus the Last Chance Qualifier, and moving the race to Monday, then Wednesday.
Even then, the race couldn’t avoid the weather, as after the mid-race break, sleet began to fall on the track, with drivers slipping and sliding around.250-mile track to a total of 17 cautions, 13 of which were in the final half of the race.
While some fans have complained about the length of the over three-hour exhibition race, others have pointed to the quality, or lack thereof, of racing on the track.
Though there were those mid-pack battles and drivers gunning for the lead, many drivers found themselves spinning or spun in the tight confines of the madhouse.
Some are complaining, while others, like Hall of Famer Mark Martin, are asking his fellow race fans to “be grateful for the good things.”
Another notable NASCAR name to comment on the race was former Cup Series driver Jeremy Mayfield, who said in a lengthy post to Facebook, “I’m going to say what a lot of people are thinking but are too scared to voice: Last night was a bad look for the sport.”
Mayfield continued on by saying that the racing at Bowman Gray made the “best drivers in the world” look like they “had no clue how to drive,” and that the event was a bad representation of the engineering put into the cars by race teams, and “makes the ‘elite’ level of our sport look amateur.”
“These teams spend tens of millions of dollars on engineering, wind tunnel time, and elite technology. Then we take the “top tier” of racing and put them in a stadium to crawl around at 70mph in the sleet and rain?” — Jeremy Mayfield
In this post, Mayfield was seemingly wondering what many fans are asking themselves on Thursday morning: should the Clash return to BGS in 2027, or go elsewhere?
What’s Happening? NASCAR legend Mark Martin is calling on fans to have a more positive reaction to “the good things” in…
While the Clash has had its fair share of moments in its two years at Bowman Gray, the bad taste left in the mouth of fans from this year’s chaotic and unimaginable race might be enough to get NASCAR to move the race.
But that begs the question of where NASCAR would find another short track, another stadium, or even return to Daytona? What about Bowman Gray? Would the fans in the Winston-Salem market be left behind?
There are a lot of questions in the air as NASCAR heads towards a 2027 season that could see the schedule reshuffled for a number of reasons, and now with the 2026 Clash in the books, it’s worth asking if the Clash needs to be a part of those new plans, or if its spot is safe as is.
What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.