The last three Busch Light Clash races have taken place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Now, however, the exhibition race will head to a historic short track dubbed "The Madhouse."
According to an announcement by NASCAR, Bowman Gray Stadium will host the 2025 Clash. This exhibition will kick off the 2025 season on Sunday, Feb. 2. Fox will provide coverage for the race that marks NASCAR's first event at the track in 54 years.
We're ready for The Madhouse.
The Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium coming in 2025. pic.twitter.com/xJFIft55ZQ
— NASCAR Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium (@nascarclash) August 17, 2024
"Bowman Gray Stadium has a storied history in motorsports, so we look forward to bringing the Cup Series back to this revered racetrack for the first time since 1971," said Ben Kennedy, Executive Vice President and Chief Venue & Racing Innovation Officer at NASCAR.
"As NASCAR's first weekly racetrack, Bowman Gray Stadium holds a special place as the original home to grassroots racing. With a history of intense competition, we are proud to host The Clash at the 'The Madhouse.'"
NASCAR has decades-long ties to Bowman Gray Stadium, which hosts the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series. The quarter-mile track, built in 1937, was the first paved race track on which NASCAR competed back in 1949. Bill France Sr. and Alvin Hawkins spearheaded this move.
The sanctioning body also took over long-term management of racing operations at Bowman Gray Stadium earlier this year, doing so in partnership with the city of Winston-Salem.
To celebrate the move, NASCAR and Fox Sports will join forces on an hour-long documentary highlighting the Clash's move to the quarter-mile track. "The Madhouse: NASCAR's Return to Bowman Gray Stadium" will air on FS1 as it tells the history of the track and highlights NASCAR's preparations.
While NASCAR has not competed at Bowman Gray Stadium in 54 years, an early iteration of the Next Gen car has completed several laps around the quarter-mile track.
Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Clint Bowyer headed to Bowman Gray Stadium in October 2021 and took turns behind the wheel of the Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro test car as NASCAR prepared for its new era of racing.
Earnhardt walked away from the session highlighting differences in braking performance between the Gen 6 Cup car and the Next Gen car. Bowyer proclaimed that the car would create some carnage and hurt feelings in short-track races.
Multiple seasons of Next Gen racing have proven these veterans correct. Now the updated version of the Next Gen car will return to Bowman Gray stadium to put on a full Cup Series race.