The exhibition Clash at Bowman Gray was a smashing success. A packed house turned out at The Madhouse under chilly conditions and watched Chase Elliott earn the victory in the first NASCAR Cup Series race at the historic venue in 54 years. While there have been plenty of positive vibes around NASCAR returning to its roots at the quarter-mile track, there’s also the possibility that it could be a one-and-done.
The Sports Business Journal’s Adam Stern posted on X Sunday that the sanctioning body is considering using the exhibition race as an opportunity to potentially expand internationally.
“@NASCAR is using its season-opening Clash exhibition this year to go back to a classic venue that the Cup Series hasn’t run at since 1971 in Bowman Gray Stadium, but next year the event could be held overseas, possibly Brazil, as the racing property also looks to grow globally,” Stern wrote.
On Tuesday, Kevin Harvick recapped the weekend festivities in Winston-Salem on his “Happy Hour” podcast. During that discussion, the 2014 Cup champion addressed the possibility of the exhibition race moving overseas.
“I think we proved that you can go to these small race tracks as we went to the Coliseum,” Harvick said. “I was skeptical right from the beginning. I’m like, there’s no way this will work. And sure enough, it was a hit the first year at the Coliseum, and now we can go do all these things.
“But I don’t think you want to rip it out of the country. I think you’ll offend our grassroots fans of places like Bowman Gray and the places that you could affect your own house here in our country. Instead of trying to make it global, let’s fix the structure of our system that we have here from the grassroots up and use our biggest stars to do it.”
Harvick never shied away from sharing his opinion during his racing career. His mindset hasn’t changed since he’s moved to the broadcast booth. And his latest opinion is one that a lot of fans, especially those on the grassroots level, will wholeheartedly agree with.