Kyle Busch has predicted a good amount of contact between drivers when NASCAR's Clash at Bowman Gray finally runs on Wednesday.
The season-opening exhibition race was originally due to be run on Sunday, February 1 but has been pushed back twice thanks to adverse weather conditions, following historic snowstorms in the area.
Everyone appears to be itching to get back on track (although that hasn't stopped some drivers having some fun in the snow – check out Chris Buescher's shenanigans), but the cold temperatures won't stop tempers from flaring.
Busch recalled drivers getting heated with each other 'for no reason' when NASCAR returned to the quarter-mile oval last year, saying that contact is bound to happen at such a small, tight track.
Busch: 2025 got pretty chaotic
Speaking ahead of the long-awaited race, Busch said: “Bowman Gray was really great last year, I feel like the fans really supported that race. NASCAR’s most popular driver won the race, so that was good for everyone, too. But we want to be a little bit more out front and be battling for the win.
“Bowman Gray is cool because it’s so short. It’s so small and the fans are right there on top of everything. It’s a really tight bull ring and hard to get around there, hard to pass with these big heavy stock cars.”
About on-track contact specifically, he added: “Yeah, I think we saw plenty of it last year. The heat races, the last chance qualifier race – there were guys crawling over guys and spinning each other out.
“It got pretty hectic and chaotic, and even in the feature race there was some of that going on towards the back of the field. There were definitely some moments there where some guys were running over each other, and guys got mad at each other for no reason.
“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.”
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