The 2026 Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium was supposed to kick off NASCAR’s season with energy and pageantry. Instead, it delivered a week of pure chaos. A winter storm dumped relentless snow and ice across Winston-Salem, forcing NASCAR to first condense the entire weekend into a single Sunday schedule, then postpone the event to Monday… and then again to Wednesday. Fans have spent days refreshing updates, watching snowplows circle the quarter-mile track, and hoping Mother Nature might finally blink. But in the middle of all the uncertainty, frustration, and schedule juggling, something unexpected resurfaced. And it was something that instantly pulled fans back into a different era entirely…
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Fans relive a forgotten era
As the Clash NASCAR race postponement saga dragged on, NASCAR fans found themselves unexpectedly transported back in time thanks to a viral post from motorsports historian nascarman. He shared a throwback clip from SPEED Channel’s 2007 Budweiser Shootout Selection Show, instantly igniting a wave of nostalgia across social media.
The video captured everything fans once adored about the event. A beer-soaked bar atmosphere, a roaring Daytona crowd, and drivers laughing their way through a wonderfully chaotic format. Hosted by the always-electric Kenny Wallace, the show featured stars like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, and Ken Schrader stepping up to a bar counter lined with Budweiser bottles.
Each bottle hid a starting position, meaning the lineup was determined not by lap times or engineering precision, but by pure luck and the occasional dramatic pause. It was messy, unpredictable, and absolutely peak NASCAR entertainment. That clip hit especially hard, given the current situation at Bowman Gray.
The Budweiser Shootout selection show on SPEED pic.twitter.com/rq3JcUOGcz
— nascarman (@nascarman_rr) February 1, 2026
The Clash, originally born in 1979 as the Busch Clash, later rebranded as the Bud Shootout (1998) and Budweiser Shootout (2001), has reinvented itself many times over the decades. From the Sprint Unlimited to the Busch Light Clash, and now the Cook Out Clash, the format and identity continue to evolve with each new sponsor and era.
And now, as the 2026 edition sits buried under snow, delayed from Sunday to Monday and eventually to Wednesday, the contrast between those carefree Shootout nights and today’s storm-plagued chaos has become impossible to ignore. Which leads directly into what came next.
The fan reactions, and why this old clip reopened wounds many thought had healed…
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A reminder of what the Clash used to be
The resurfaced Budweiser Shootout clip reopened a floodgate of emotions among longtime NASCAR fans. With the 2026 Cook Out Clash buried under snow and delayed multiple times, comparisons to the past became unavoidable, and social media lit up with reactions that were equal parts humorous, frustrated, and heartfelt.
One of the most biting comments came early: “More people showed up to the selection show than will be at Bowman Gray Stadium.”
And given the situation, fans might be right. Even with the race still scheduled to run, the North Carolina Department of Transportation urged residents to stay home as snow-covered interstates like I-40 and I-540 became dangerously slick. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol’s report of 750 collisions in one day only added to the chaos. Many fans suspect attendance on Wednesday (should the race even happen) could be sparse.
Another fan lamented what NASCAR has lost: “It felt like the true lead up to our ‘Super Bowl’ something NASCAR and the suits have completely forgot about.”
The Daytona 500, long considered NASCAR’s version of the Super Bowl, once had a multi-week buildup of fanfare, hype shows, big-ticket events, and memorable TV specials. The Budweiser Shootout selection show was part of that tradition. Today, with and without the condensed schedules and weather-forced shuffling, that grandeur feels distant.
Someone else pointed to the numbers: “2007 Bud Shootout: 8.44 million viewers on FOX.” The comment was a harsh yet needful reminder of NASCAR’s mid-2000s golden era. In comparison, the 2025 Cook Out Clash averaged just 3.08 million viewers. Yes, it’s still strong, but undeniably a different world.
Fans also laughed, remembering how strict the show actually was: “I loved how the guys that weren’t 21 had to have their crew chiefs draw for them…” Because the minimum legal drinking age in the U.S. is 21, underage drivers couldn’t even pull a bottle with a starting position inside, providing a perfect snapshot of the era’s charm.
Finally, one comment summed up the night perfectly: “Fun night… I asked Schrader for a beer. Told him I turn 21 next week 😂 We need to bring back events like this.” The Budweiser Shootout selection show wasn’t just a lineup draw. As anyone who has witnessed it will swear that it was a party, a fanfest, and a tradition that made NASCAR feel big, bold, and alive.
And as snow delays mount and the modern Clash battles both weather and waning hype, fans are left asking the same question: Why did NASCAR ever let moments like that slip away?
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