Latest news with #SeanGardner
New York Times
09-07-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
NASCAR's season-opening Clash race will return to Bowman Gray Stadium in 2026
After NASCAR's rollicking return in February to 'The Madhouse' following a 54-year absence, Bowman Gray Stadium won't have to wait long for an encore. NASCAR announced Wednesday that the popular North Carolina short track will host the 2026 season-opening Clash exhibition race. The 2026 Clash will be held Sunday, Feb. 1, at the Winston-Salem track. In 2025, before a capacity crowd, Chase Elliott won the race, the first premier Cup Series race of any kind at Bowman Gray since 1971. Advertisement The Clash kicks off each NASCAR season, and the unique format and venue are intended to get fans primed for the official season-opening Daytona 500 held two weeks later. And there are few venues in motorsports as unique as Bowman Gray, a quarter-mile bullring that often produces high-intensity racing and post-race theatrics. At a place that remembers everything, we're writing history you can't forget. The @nascarclash returns to The Madhouse in 2026! — NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 9, 2025 Once a mainstay on the NASCAR Cup schedule, Bowman Gray hosted races in the league's formative years, from 1958 to 1971. But as NASCAR began expanding to bigger and newer venues, the track fell off the Cup schedule, a relic of a bygone era. The track seemed destined to host various grassroots-level races, as it lacked the amenities NASCAR seeks in tracks that hold Cup races. All this changed last spring when NASCAR acquired rights to promote races at Bowman Gray (the city owns the actual property). A few months later, NASCAR announced it was shifting the Clash to Bowman Gray from a purpose-built short track inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which had served as host for three years. Part of the deal between the city and NASCAR included investing in improvements to a facility that first opened in 1937. Among them was new lighting, fencing and energy-reducing barriers along the outside walls that line the track to limit the impact to a driver in case of a crash. The decision to return to Bowman Gray this year was greeted with much fanfare. And when February's race generated largely positive feedback from fans, drivers, teams and others across the industry, it made sense to return the Clash to Bowman Gray for a second consecutive year as opposed to going elsewhere — including outside the United States, as NASCAR's decision-makers have explored. Advertisement NASCAR and Winston-Salem are also closing in on a new agreement to hold a race at Bowman Gray once annually over a five-year period, according to sources involved in the discussions but not authorized to speak publicly. The deal includes further improvements at the facility — most notably a new scoreboard. Other than the Clash in February 2026, NASCAR has not yet announced any future races at Bowman Gray. (Top photo of Bowman Gray Stadium during the 2025 Clash: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Violent crash forces stoppage in NASCAR Xfinity race at Bristol
Motorsport photo Sheldon Creed was running in 15th place during the first stage of Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol motor Speedway, trying to move forward. But 74 laps into the event, he got hit from behind by Dean Thompson and spun out. Advertisement Creed locked the car down and came screeching to a halt at the exit of Turn 4, sitting sideways on the track. Most of the field was able to narrowly avoid, but not Brennan Poole. Poole, who was competing for the Dash 4 Cash bonus alongside Creed and two other drivers this weekend, turned his car hard in a last-ditch effort to avoid a collision. But it was too late as Poole slammed into the front of Creed's car with the right side of his No. 44 Chevrolet. The violent impact ripped the entire right side door off, sending safety foam everywhere. The axle was also torn out with the right rear wheel left lying on the track still attached to the suspension. Sheldon Creed, Haas Factory Team Ford Sheldon Creed, Haas Factory Team Ford Sean Gardner / Getty Images Sean Gardner / Getty Images Advertisement Creed emerged from his own car, sarcastically clapping in Thompson's direction as the remains of his destroyed Haas Factory Team Ford rolled down the track (driverless) before impacting the inside the wall. The race was immediately halted for cleanup, resulting in a 14-minute red flag. The two remaining Dash 4 Cash drivers in the race are Justin Allgaier and Austin Hill, who will be battling for the $100,000. Both drivers said they had the wind knocked out of them in the incident, but each of them were evaluated and released from the infield care center. Drivers okay after scary crash "Yeah, I feel fine," said Creed. "Knocked the air out of me there for a second. Yeah, I mean, the 27 [Jeb Burton] was a lucky dog at the moment, and he was doing a really good job holding on to that. And I was just trying to play with things. I was fairly free, just trying to search and (saw) the 17 [Kyle Larson] diamond (the corner) when he was lapping us. And I feel like it worked pretty good. So I went and tried to start working that into my line. And I was just trying to work around the 27 and, I don't know, the 26 [Thompson] got me a few times by then, and then just got me enough there. So unfortunate…I'm bummed for all of our guys to be taken on stage one like that, but I don't know. happy to be okay and fight on next week." Brennan Poole's damaged No. 44 Alpha Prime Chevrolet Brennan Poole's damaged No. 44 Alpha Prime Chevrolet Sean Gardner / Getty Images Sean Gardner / Getty Images Advertisement Poole offered his own perspective of the wreck, saying: "I was in the top lane. I was already back to the gas. My spotter said, 'check up, check up, check up.' The way the banking is here, I couldn't even see where the 00 [Custer] was at yet. I just started slowing down, and he was right in the middle of track. I started to spin out and I nailed him. So, just kind of unfortunate. 'Hate that two Dash 4 Cash cars got into it. I just kind of stinks ... just one of those deals. But everything here happened so fast, and you also can't really see. Just kind of a tough deal,' Poole stated. Read Also: Alex Bowman beats Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to NASCAR Cup pole at Bristol Facing extreme tire wear, drivers "have no idea" what to expect at Bristol
