The two got into a heated argument regarding a lot of topics during the show. In order to give drivers and their teams an extra week off during the season, Harvick made an intriguing suggestion to Kennedy: NASCAR combine The Clash and the All-Star Race into a one event.
Let’s just focus on the two special event races, The Clash and the All-Star Race, to see what happens when you go and perform. When will you ever see fit to mix those? said Harvick. “It’s not as difficult for the drivers as it is for the team guys, based on the length of the schedule that I see right now, and sometimes I feel like you think about all of those things when you talk about the logistics of what they have to do to get from Michigan to Mexico City.”
However, comparing The Clash to the All-Star Race, I see how similar they are. Have you ever considered mixing those races together to create a different weekend?
Even though it’s an implausible situation that’s at least a few seasons away, it appears that Kennedy and NASCAR’s decision-makers have discussed it.
Kennedy said, “You know, we’ve talked about it.” It makes sense, in my opinion, for The Clash to take place two weeks ahead of the Daytona 500 in many ways. This race is for exhibition. We’ve probably always told ourselves—and our fans have told us—that we want our first points race to take place at Daytona, at our biggest event of the year. Keeping that in mind, I believe we have a great opportunity to promote the Daytona 500 if you have any of these exhibition races, such as The Clash.
Up until that moment, I believe the All-Star Race has evolved in a great deal over the previous few years. We were in Charlotte. We eventually travelled to Bristol, Texas, and are currently in North Wilkesboro. Thus, another topic we discuss with Speedway Motorsports is how the All-Star Race will develop going forward. There’s a theory, in my opinion, that the All-Star Race takes place every weekend. In every one of these races, we have our biggest drivers and our largest names. It’s a distinct format that shares similarities with The Clash.
We’ve discussed a variety of ideas regarding whether or not to hold the exhibition race in the future. Do you view things differently? Although we still need to work out the specifics, I believe there may be a chance to work with SM.
Ben Kennedy and the other decision-makers would be wise to take Kevin Harvick’s suggestion under consideration, since the drivers and their crews would greatly benefit from an extra week of relaxation and the demanding Cup Series schedule is nothing to laugh at. We’ll see if the concept is ever put into practice.
