The NASCAR Cup Series is returning to Bowman Gray Stadium for the Cook Out Clash this weekend, but for over four decades, the exhibition race was held at Daytona International Speedway. 

From 1979 to 2021 — with the 2021 edition being run on Daytona’s infield road course — NASCAR ran the Clash at Daytona. In 2022, the event moved to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on a temporary 0.25-mile track before moving to Bowman Gray in 2025. 

One Cup Series driver in particular wouldn’t mind seeing the event go back to its Daytona roots, however. Erik Jones, who won the 2020 Clash, said in an interview on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Tuesday that he’d like to see the Clash move back to the 2.5-mile superspeedway. 

Erik Jones’ Clash opinion

“I enjoyed being in Daytona, that week there,” Jones said. “We would stay that whole time, so you almost got a mini two-day vacation, which wasn’t bad. To be honest, I know everybody kind of ragged on the Clash (at Daytona) and what it came and the wrecks, but I don’t understand what’s a whole lot different going to Bowman Gray.

“There’s a lot of beating and banging and wrecking there. I don’t think that’s a real argument for it. At the end of the day, it is what it is. But I would like it to be in Daytona.” 

In light of the current weather forecast for Winston-Salem this weekend, which calls for sub-freezing temperatures and potential snow, an extra trip down to Daytona Beach doesn’t sound too bad. 

But in recent years, NASCAR has enjoyed mixing the schedule up, and rewarding a loyal and rabid racing fan base with a Cup Series event certainly isn’t a bad thing.

Quotes provided by SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.