Former NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick didn’t mince words when assessing the officiating decisions during the rain-impacted Clash at Bowman Gray on Wednesday. He called the handling of the event overly cautious and ultimately counterproductive.
Speaking on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Harvick stated that the unique nature of the exhibition race only amplified what he viewed as hesitation from race control once weather became a factor. It was a disappointing development for him.
“I think there were definitely some moments that could have been officiated smoother,” Harvick said. “When the event started to become a wet-weather event, I just wish we weren’t so tentative. Especially at the Clash.”
Harvick has firsthand experience racing on wet-weather tires, so he made sure to question why NASCAR failed to act decisively once rain began falling: “If you’ve got the wet weather tires in the pits, give them five minutes, put the tires on, send them out on the racetrack and let’s go,” he said. “We heard it from several of them. Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott. Guys saying, ‘Let’s go.’”
Instead, Harvick argued, NASCAR’s delay created unnecessary downtime that rippled into the broadcast and fan experience. The stoppages ultimately pushed the event off FOX’s main broadcast window and onto FS2.
“It took 15, 20, 30 minutes. Whatever it was,” Harvick added. “It pushed us off the air, out of our broadcast window. That’s not good for anybody.”
From a safety standpoint, Harvick believes concerns were overblown. He dismissed arguments about spray and visibility, noting how slow the cars were traveling and emphasizing that standing water was never an issue.
“There’s really not that much to be nervous about,” he explained. “If we’re going to be in the rain business, we’ve got to be committed to it. We can’t be one foot in.”
Moreover, Harvick also highlighted a competitive problem that emerged once the race finally resumed. With drivers lacking experience on wet-weather tires in traffic, restarts quickly devolved into chaos.
He pointed to Ty Gibbs sliding up the track immediately on a restart as a clear example of the learning curve drivers were forced to navigate in real time: “They don’t know how far to drive it in the corner. They don’t know where to run,” Harvick said. “The middle lane was like ice with the rubber.”
Ultimately, Harvick said the situation boiled over into what he described bluntly: “This particular situation turned into a shitshow,” he claimed. “The drivers lost their minds and started bulldozing people because you’re just constantly getting run into.”
Alas, Harvick compared the scene to Bowman Gray Stadium-style racing, but without the finesse that usually defines wet-weather competition: “There was nothing wrong with the tires. Nothing wrong with the track,” he said. “Guys were just tired of getting run over.”
For Harvick, the takeaway is simple. If NASCAR is going to embrace wet-weather racing, especially in marquee events like The Clash, it must do so decisively, with clearer protocols and better preparation. We’ll see if that’s the case the next time a situation like this arises.