Last year’s Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium was a chaotic affair, filled with incidents that took away from the overall racing spectacle. As the 2026 Clash approaches, two-time champion Kyle Busch is hoping the field shows more maturity behind the wheel.
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In 2025, the tight 0.250-mile paved oval produced intense, close-quarters racing but also constant disruptions. There were just four lead changes among three drivers and seven cautions, as competitors battled relentlessly for track position in extremely cramped conditions. The narrow layout encouraged a high-contact style of racing, with drivers often forced to bump and push their way through the field just to make passes.
During media day ahead of Wednesday’s race, when Busch was probed if he expects more chaos at the Clash this season, he remarked, “I felt like last year’s Clash was a little chaotic.
“There were definitely some moments there where some guys were running over each other, and guys got mad at each other for no reason.”
That said, Busch reasoned, “You are going to hit each other. It’s inevitable, it’s going to happen. But the nature of just getting a little bump-bump and then getting mad about it and trying to retaliate, that’s just the nature of the sport, I guess we are in today.
“Hopefully, the drivers have grown up over the off-season. I doubt it, but we will see what happens,” he continued.
Last year, within 20 laps of the start, caution flew for a spin in turn four by Busch. The #8 driver took a shot to the rear off the nose of Noah Gragson, spinning around but managing to keep it off the wall. On lap 79, when William Byron got into the wall, the second caution emerged.
Following a lengthy break for a hard wreck by local favorite Burt Myers on lap 62, the restart became a three-wide scuffle, where Erik Jones got spun, and multiple drivers incurred damage. After the lap 100 break, a chaotic chain reaction occurred when Austin Cindric tagged Kyle Larson, sending him into Shane van Gisbergen, who then collided with Chase Briscoe. This was just one of multiple incidents that took place last year.
Given that neither the drivers nor the track have changed, the race will likely prove chaotic again, with some extra horsepower for short-track racing.
