NASCAR insiders shout out crowd at Bowman Gray during Clash: 'Absolutely electric'

NASCAR shook things up with The Clash this year, sending the Cook Out Clash to Bowman Gray to dig up a little bit of history. It might just have uncovered a new gem in the NASCAR circuit, too.

Fans and journalists alike came away raving about the experience, which was fueled by one of the most intense — albeit smallest — crowds in recent memory.

“What I think I underestimated was — and listen, you knew it was going to be sold out and packed and it was going to be electric atmosphere, great environment, right — but I think what I underestimated was what the fans do here to this environment,” The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck said on The Teardown podcast. “I don’t think I’ve ever been to a NASCAR race where so much of the crowd, such a large percentage, which felt like, you could have told me 100%, was so into the race.”

The NASCAR race itself had some moments that were thrilling. Ty Gibbs ramped off Justin Haley in a seeming retaliatory move. Chase Elliott controlled the field with a near-perfect race.

Other bumps and shoves drew even more rises out of the fans.

Through it all, the crowd remained remarkably engaged and into the race. It was an awesome experience for the drivers and fans alike.

“This was like the hardcore fans race. People were so into this,” Gluck said. “I’ve sat in the stands, this is how I know this. Everybody around me cheering for every pass. When the guys would get in lap traffic, when somebody would get on somebody’s bumper, when somebody would get spun out, just big reactions. Absolutely loving it, intense. Even in the sort of long green flag runs, so to speak at times, for me there was still something to watch the whole time because the field never really got totally strung out all the way through the back.”

The racing itself was on point. For a warm-up race before the NASCAR season begins it certainly delivered.

The setup at Bowman Gray made it all possible.

“It’s such a such a small track that you can see everywhere,” Gluck explained. “Everything is right in front of you in this little bowl and it’s all unfolding. Then you can look back to the leader, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s about to hit lap traffic’ or ‘there’s somebody on his bumper.’ You look back to 12, they’re racing hard. Somebody gets knocked out of the groove.

“To me it was so fun and when you did see those passes for the lead, I mean especially when (Denny) Hamlin got passed by Elliott, and then (Ryan) Blaney passed Hamlin for second, the crowd was just going nuts. I mean they were just absolutely electric. So that part of it made it so fun to me, the fact that the fans are so close to the track. It was a very intimate atmosphere. And yes, 17,000, 18,000 people. Probably the smallest Cup Series crowd in decades. But this proved, again, you don’t need that. You don’t need the big crowd.”