FOX Sports' 2025 NASCAR Season Gets Underway With Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium The short-track venue's history with NASCAR dates to 1949 By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Friday, January 31, 2025 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
While much of the FOX Sports team is already in New Orleans preparing for Super Bowl LIX, the broadcaster's NASCAR production team will be at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC, this weekend, firing up its 2025 season with Sunday's 2025 Cook Out Clash at the .25-mile oval track, which holds only 17,000 race fans.
When they announced that the race would be at Bowman Gray Oval, says George Grill, field technical producer, FOX Sports, we didn't know what kind of facilities we're going to have and how much NASCAR was going to have to put into it to get the facility ready. But they put some money into it and have done a lot of upgrades for things like lighting, which was a big concern for the broadcast.
Fox Sports and NASCAR kicks off the 2025 season with short-track racing at Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina this weekend.
The three previous editions of The Clash had been held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. A short-track race, it is always intense, and, although the crowd may be smaller this year, it is sold out, and its overall feel will be more intimate because the track won't be swimming inside a massive stadium. Game Creek Video Cleatus mobile unit is onsite to handle production duties, as it does for all FOX Sports NASCAR races.
In L.A., says Grill, we were out in the parking lot, and you had to cross a lot of things to get in there. Here, things like fiber aren't a big deal because the distances aren't that long. The one thing that is challenging is the TV booth, because it's more like a PA booth for high school football.
The Fox NASCAR compound is located right next to the stadium for this weekend's NASCAR race.
The track at Bowman Gray Stadium is unique in that it is an oval and the grandstands on one end extend onto the track a bit. That promises some more excitement with respect to the racing and, in turn, more fun for fans in the stands.
Making turns at the far side of the track, cars will encounter pinch points because the stands reach out onto the track.
NASCAR has a long history of races at the track. The first NASCAR race there was in 1949, and it is the longest-standing track to hold weekly NASCAR-sanctioned races (the last time a Cup race was there, however, was 1971, which is why this race is so highly anticipated in racing circles).
They've had car races here since 1949, which is right after NASCAR [was founded], adds Grill. A lot of the backbone of NASCAR was formed in North Carolina. So there is a lot of history here.
Another advantage of having The Clash in North Carolina is that a majority of the production crew for NASCAR races live there, making travel and logistics a bit more efficient. It's easier for a lot of the folks, notes Grill.
After The Clash, the team will turn its attention to the Daytona 500, which will be held the weekend of Feb. 15 (trucks are expected to arrive in Daytona next Wednesday).
Beyond that, Grill sees the biggest change with respect to a race at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, TX: The track is being shortened for NASCAR, and the laps will be 90 seconds shorter, which will be great for the broadcast because, previously, it was 2 minutes and 30 seconds per lap. There will also be higher speeds because they won't have to go into a turn where they have to slow down to 35 mph.
More from Sports Video Group
12/09/2025
College Football Kickoff 2025: Fox Sports Ups Look as Canon, Sony Power Shallow ...
12/09/2025
ABC/ESPN Excited For WNBA Postseason Coverage In Revamped FormatThe Finals moves to a best-of-seven series in 2025By Mark J Burns, SVG Contributor
Friday, Sep...
11/09/2025
Report: Busy Live Sports Streaming Execs Have Low-hanging Fruit' in Front o...
11/09/2025
Inside Game Creek Video's Big Week as Ovation, Flagship Make NFL DebutsBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Thursday, September 11, 2025 - 7:00 am
Pr...
11/09/2025
NFL Kickoff 2025: Prime Sports Starts New Season at Lambeau Field; Sets Sights o...
11/09/2025
College Football Kickoff 2025: NBC Sports Pushes HDR Image Quality, Aerial Drone...
10/09/2025
Fox Sports Ups College Football Look as Canon, Sony Power Shallow Focus CoverageBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Wednesday, September 10, 2025 - 8:00 a...
10/09/2025
SAVE THE DATE: SVG College Summit Returns to Atlanta, May 27-28, 2026By SVG Staff
Wednesday, September 10, 2025 - 10:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
St...
10/09/2025
SVG Students to Watch: Chloe Gosk, Monmouth UniversityThe New Jersey native is honing her skills as a replay operatorBy Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Wed...
10/09/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Alex Souza, Assistant AD for Broadcast and Technology, ...
09/09/2025
Canon EOS C50 is Canon's Smallest, Lightest Cinema Camera EverBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, September 9, 2025 - 9:00 am
Print This St...
09/09/2025
ReachTV Elevates Its Game To Bring Live Sports to TravelersThe company is redefining sports distribution across airports, hotels, digital platformsBy Brandon Co...
09/09/2025
SVG All-Stars: Rusty West, Coordinating Producer of Live Events Technology, NBC ...
09/09/2025
AWS Elemental at 10: A Steady Stream of Cloud-based Video Processing Innovation ...
08/09/2025
Behind The Mic: John Fanta Finalizes Move to NBC; ESPN Gears Up for Fall of Foot...
08/09/2025
Powered Up: Inside the Los Angeles Chargers' New Content Studio at The Bolt Chargers SVP, Brand Creative & Content Jason Lavine offers a look at the facili...
08/09/2025
NFL Kickoff 2025: YouTube Breaks Ground With First Free Global NFL Stream, Backe...
08/09/2025
Dolby Vision 2 Promises to Make HDR Viewing Even BetterBy SVG Staff
Friday, September 5, 2025 - 10:14 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Ea...
08/09/2025
BMG, Optimist Studios Combine Forces in L.A. to Give Content Creators Maximum Fi...
08/09/2025
CSI Sports/Fight Sports Announces 2026 Tyson-Mayweather Mega-Fight; Teases Strea...
08/09/2025
NFL Kickoff 2025: Fox Sports Upgrades A' Game Production with Ovation, Game...
08/09/2025
NFL Kickoff 2025: FOX Sports Launches Groundbreaking New LED-Fueled XR/AR StageThe revamp of Stage B follows in the footsteps of FOX's Stage A, which launch...
08/09/2025
NFL Kickoff 2025: CBS Sports Has Big Production Plans for Blockbuster Matchups, ...
08/09/2025
NFL Kickoff 2025: ESPN Opens Latest Era of Monday Night Football With New Trucks...
28/08/2025
The new oil is sports': Saudis share masterplan to boost esports on global stage By Adrian Pennington
Tuesday, August 26, 2025 - 08:49
Print This Story...
28/08/2025
Esports World Cup 2025: Team Falcons Defend Title as Broadcast Production Ramps ...
28/08/2025
Report: Mobile-first content has overtaken the big screen as the way fans watch ...
28/08/2025
New Era: A Pro's Guide to ESPN's Expanded College Football Playoff Graph...
28/08/2025
College Football Kickoff 2025: The CW Heads Into ACC, Pac-12 Schedule With New P...
28/08/2025
Live From US Open 2025: Tennis Channel Returns With Onsite Studio Show New set has a prime site; production is handled remotely By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial ...
28/08/2025
NBC Sports Drives Its Coverage of NASCAR Cup Series Into Postseason Key technical upgrades for 2025 include modified Peacock Pit Box By Mark J Burns, SVG Contr...
28/08/2025
College Football Kickoff 2025: TNT Sports Launches First Big 12 Campaign With On...
28/08/2025
College Football Kickoff 2025: ESPN Gears Up for 1,000+ Games With Massive Opera...
28/08/2025
F&F's GTX21, the Company's Largest Production Unit, Hits the Road for CB...
27/08/2025
US Open 2025: ESPN Aims To Bring Viewers' Ears Closer to the Net The audio team is serving up more player and coach audio, reduced latency By Dan Daley, A...
27/08/2025
Riedel Brings Flex Licensing to Simply Live; Intros RiView VAR Expanded RiMotion replay, Venue Gateway contribution offerings, and Connect API also debut By Ke...
27/08/2025
UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Heather Winn on splitting the difference in sound fo...
27/08/2025
Cosm, NFL Ink New Deal for 2025 Season; Includes Post-Season, Super Bowl LX Thursday Night Football, Sunday Night Football also on tap for fans hungry to immers...
27/08/2025
Taking steps for sound: Warner Bros. Discovery Sports on how it is ramping up au...
26/08/2025
Former Sony and Broadcast Industry Tech Leader Alec Shapiro Dead at 72 For more than 40 years he changed the industry while leading Sony, Panasonic, Chyron, and...
26/08/2025
TCL Team Boxing League Prepares To Wrap Third Season Young league focuses on team aspect, deploys REMI production model By Mark J Burns, SVG Contributor
Tues...
26/08/2025
Banana Ballin': Fan First Entertainment Conveys Savannah Bananas Magic via R...
26/08/2025
Broadcast Industry Tech Leader Alec Shapiro Dead at 72 For more than 40 years he changed the industry while leading Sony, Panasonic, Chyron, and the industry at...
25/08/2025
IBC 2025: Grass Valley's Adam Marshall on IBC Intros, Partnerships, and Gen ...
25/08/2025
How XR and AR Are Changing Everything: An SVG Australia Summit Panel Discussion Leaders from ARL, Champion Data, Nine Entertainment, and Vizrt break down the im...
22/08/2025
Little League Baseball World Series: As Championship Weekend Approaches, ESPN Re...
21/08/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spolight: MyCaseBuilder's Steve Holand on Creating Custom Ca...
21/08/2025
Building From the Back: Will AI Benefit European Football Production and Distrib...
21/08/2025
Ratings Roundup: NBC Sports Starts EPL Season With Most-Watched Opening Weekend;...
FOX Sports' 2025 NASCAR Season Gets Underway With Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium The short-track venue's history with NASCAR dates to 1949 By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
