DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Busch Clash, NASCAR’s annual exhibition race spotlighting pole winners from the previous season, will undergo its biggest change ever next year.
NASCAR and Daytona Int’l Speedway officials confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the 43rd annual Busch Clash will take place not on the 2.5-mile oval layout at Daytona Int’l Speedway, but on the track’s 3.56-mile, 12-turn road course configuration.
The race will be a mid-week, prime time spectacle, set for Tuesday, Feb. 9 under the lights as the kickoff to Speedweeks presented by Advent Health.
It will mark the first time that full-bodied stock cars have competed on the Daytona road course, which has a rich history both in endurance racing – with the annual Rolex 24 at Daytona for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – and in motorcycle racing, as the Daytona 200 is held annually on the Daytona road course during Bike Week in March.
“We continue to look for opportunities to differentiate the Busch Clash from the Daytona 500 and obviously everything we do around Speedweeks presented by Advent Health is about building toward the 500,” Wile said. “This is about how we can continue to push and elevate the Busch Clash to be something different. And we’ve done that with a lot of new initiatives the first weekend.
“We’ve seen growth year over year with the Busch Clash and that weekend, but to see the resurgence in road-course racing and the excitement around it from the fans, we thought, why can’t we do this.”
Next year’s Busch Clash will add a third, never-before-seen dimension to the Daytona road-racing legacy, as NASCAR inks a new chapter in the historic course’s legendary tale.
The reimagined Busch Clash will utilize roughly three-quarters of the 2.5-mile tri-oval, along with the infield portion of the road course as well.
“The famed road course at Daytona has a long and storied history with sports cars and motorcycles and now we can write a new chapter on it with stock cars,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s Vice President of Racing Development. “Fans coming to the track will get to see six consecutive days of exciting NASCAR action, with no days being the same.”
Wednesday’s change comes after increased fan conversation surrounding road course racing in NASCAR and additional interest in the often-thrilling style of racing.
“NASCAR fans have asked for more road-course competition, and the industry is listening,” Wile said. “With the talent level the Busch Clash brings to the table, the race will now clearly have its own look and feel during Speedweeks in 2021.
“The new placement on the Speedweeks schedule also adds to the anticipation. That switch will make for a fuller Speedweeks calendar. Fans also will have the opportunity to engage in a festive infield atmosphere similar to the Rolex 24 at Daytona.”
Current NASCAR on FOX analyst and four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon is a past winner on Daytona’s road-course layout, triumphing in the 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona as a co-driver for Wayne Taylor Racing in the No. 10 Cadillac DPi.
“Having driven on the road course at Daytona in the Rolex 24, I know how difficult the circuit can be,” said Gordon. “It will present a real challenge to the drivers and teams, and I’m looking forward to calling what I believe will be a lot of action from the booth.”
NASCAR’s stars will tackle a course in 2021 that includes a high-speed entrance into turn one, coming left off the frontstretch to begin the twists and turns of the infield section, including the east and west Horseshoe turns and the backstretch ‘bus stop’ chicane.
“We know how passionate our viewers are about both Daytona International Speedway and road course racing,” said Brad Zager, FOX Sports Executive Producer and EVP/Head of Production & Operations. “Additionally, fans have been craving mid-week races. These changes to the 2021 opening slate of races will provide new and unique story-telling opportunities when we kick off the season on FOX Sports.”
The movement of and changes to the Busch Clash were part of a wider change to Speedweeks for 2021, which includes a condensed, six-day schedule culminating with the 63rd annual Daytona 500 on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.
To read more about the full schedule for next year’s NASCAR Speedweeks, click here.