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NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Clash at Bowman Gray Feb 2, 2025 WInston-Salem, North Carolina, USA NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliot 9 and NASCAR Cup Series driver Chris Buescher 17 lead the field during the Clash at Bowman Gray at Bowman Gray Stadium. WInston-Salem Bowman Gray Stadium North Carolina USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xPeterxCaseyx 20250203_pjc_bc1_318
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NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Clash at Bowman Gray Feb 2, 2025 WInston-Salem, North Carolina, USA NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliot 9 and NASCAR Cup Series driver Chris Buescher 17 lead the field during the Clash at Bowman Gray at Bowman Gray Stadium. WInston-Salem Bowman Gray Stadium North Carolina USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xPeterxCaseyx 20250203_pjc_bc1_318
The long-delayed Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium finally roared to life on Wednesday night after snow, ice, and two postponements turned a simple preseason exhibition into a three-day saga. For a track nicknamed “the Madhouse,” the opening laps were surprisingly tame. No chaos, no tempers, just drivers eager to shake off the winter. But that calm didn’t last. One flashpoint changed everything, igniting the first major feud of the 2026 season as two former teammates erupted in a fiery exchange that stunned fans and instantly stole the night’s headlines.
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Former teammates turn instant rivals at the Cook Out Clash
If the 2026 Cook Out Clash needed drama, it wasn’t up at the front but midpack, where Daniel Suárez and Shane van Gisbergen delivered it in about the loudest way possible. Tensions boiled over when Suárez exploded on the radio after contact with SVG, firing off the now-viral line: “I’m going to kick his f***ing a–. Tell 97 I’m coming for him.” Moments later, SVG fired back in his own interview, saying he’d been “run over” repeatedly and taking a pointed jab at Suárez: “I guess he’s excited he’s not my teammate. He can hit me now.”
It was pure, unfiltered NASCAR and a textbook case of friends turned foes!
SVG and Suárez spent a couple of years as Trackhouse Racing teammates before the organization made its defining decision in 2025: extending SVG’s contract due to his rising success, road-course mastery, and international star power. However, at the same time, the team nudged Suárez out, creating a natural fissure between the once-tight teammates. Suárez then signed on with Spire Motorsports to pilot the No. 7 Chevrolet for the 2026 season.
@shanevg97 : “Is the 7 beefing with everyone?”@Daniel_SuarezG is HEATED at SVG.
On the radio: “I’m going to kick his fing a**. Tell 97 I’m coming for him.”*SVG’s:
“I guess he’s excited he’s not my teammate. He can hit me now.” 💀🏁 #NASCARClash https://t.co/LSFN40EXPT— Lucky Dog On Track (@LuckyDogOnTrack) February 5, 2026
While both (Trackhouse and Suárez) insisted they left on “good terms,” Wednesday night at Bowman Gray suggested otherwise. The Cook Out Clash’s tight bullring layout magnified every bump, shove, and door slam, and it didn’t take long for competitive tension to erupt into something far more personal.
What might’ve been dismissed as normal short-track rubbing turned explosive the moment old history entered the equation. Now, with both drivers starting fresh at new organizations and with this feud officially ignited, fans may be witnessing the birth of one of NASCAR’s next talked-about rivalries.
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Tensions boil over through the mid-race chaos
By the time the field reached Lap 97, patience was wearing thin, and so were the fenders. “Those two have gotten into each other all night,” Austin Cindric’s spotter remarked as cameras caught Daniel Suárez and Shane van Gisbergen leaning on each other (again), trading doors like it was a Saturday night street fight.
The tension in the Cindric camp, however, had started earlier, around Lap 77, when Austin Cindric spun following contact from SVG while both were mired near the back of the pack. With track position at a premium on Bowman Gray’s tiny quarter-mile oval, any incident risked trapping drivers a lap down. And desperation began creeping into everyone’s moves.
Tempers elsewhere were flaring just as hot. On Lap 54, a caution flew for Bubba Wallace after he lost several spots and was then spun by Ryan Blaney entering Turn 3. Under that same caution, Suárez had his own moment of fury, this time with Wallace, snapping over the radio: “Go tell the spotter of the 23 if he does that one more time, I’m gonna kick his f*ing ass.”** The radio room lit up, and suddenly the field had not one, but two volatile storylines unfolding simultaneously.
Spotter and media chatter confirmed what was visible on track. As Toby Christie posted: “Keep an eye on SVG and Suarez for the remainder of the night. Those two seem to have some animosity flowing between them.” At that point, the race was barely halfway, roughly 100 laps still to go, and the temperature was rising with every restart.
With half the race left and emotions already spilling over, the Madhouse seemed poised to finally live up to its infamous name. The calm early laps are gone. Now it was survival, grudges, and raw short-track combat.
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