The 'Clash' is back.

dpkimmel2001

dpkimmel2001

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Field, Format Set for ‘The Clash’ At Daytona

Daytona International Speedway and NASCAR announced today that ’The Clash’, formerly known as the Sprint Unlimited, will kick off the 2017 NASCAR Premier Series season on Saturday, February 18th.

The annual season-opening event will be broadcast live on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio at 8 p.m. ET. The 75-lap race again will be split into two segments with a competition caution at lap 25 separating the segments.

“What better way to kick off the 2017 season than the sport’s brightest stars under the lights at Daytona International Speedway” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer. “Coming off a thrilling season finale at Homestead-Miami, we’re looking forward to continuing that momentum into Daytona. With bragging rights and no points on the line, the Clash will set the tone for what should be a season full of great racing and tough competition.”

“We’re bringing back The Clash at Daytona,” said Chip Wile, Daytona International Speedway president. “The Clash was a race name that has always been popular among both the competitors and race fans. We’re looking forward to bringing it back and building on the rich history of this thrilling and always unpredictable event that kicks off the NASCAR season.”

Unlike previous years, the starting field for the 2017 Clash at Daytona will not be a predetermined number of cars; rather, the field is limited to drivers who meet more exclusive criteria. Only drivers who were 2016 Pole Award winners, former Clash race winners, former Daytona 500 pole winners who competed full-time in 2016, and drivers who qualified for the 2016 Chase are eligible.


Eligible drivers are:

2016 Pole Awards winners (14)
· Greg Biffle, Alex Bowman, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Carl Edwards, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr.

Former Clash Race Winners (2)
· Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart

Former DAYTONA 500 Pole Award winners (1)
· Danica Patrick

2016 Chase drivers (3)
· Chris Buescher, Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray

http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASC...ield-Format-Set-for-The-Clash-At-Daytona.aspx
 
ChexOrWrex said:
Lol so in other words

"Yall we dont have a sponsor for this either! Quick, name it something!"
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I'm not big on tradition or nostalgia, but I always thought this was the best selection criteria. Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing the 'Previous D500 pole winners' dropped, but this is certainly more understandable than any of the more recent formats.
 
sloggie said:
So is this going to be a glorified testing session?

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
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It always has been. Earn your way to the only plate-race practice session that's held under actual race conditions.
 
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The field is gonna be small without Smoke, most likely Biffle, and possibly Bowman
 
It has been so many different names, I plum forgot it was the Shootout. Wait.. which race is this? o_O
 
This is a small step in the right direction. I would rather have the field set by previous year's pole winners previous winners of the Clash (within a certain time frame such as 5 years). Then just have 1 segment of 50 laps.
 
The fifteen most recent pole winners of active drivers. The small field won't matter, they're good drivers with good equipment and they're gonna be in a plate-choked knot anyway.

75 laps. No segments nor pre-called competition cautions. No helium balloon cautions. Stops for fuel and tires have to be under green.

Have at it, boys.
 
So new name( yay for Clash), almost the same as 2016 minus the NASCAR SCS Championship Driver Points drivers.
 
AdoubleU24 said:
That's been one of the qualifiers for at least 3 or 4 years now.

I'm trying to figure out what they changed from last year to this year.
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This was 2016's criteria

25 cars , this year, no min/max
2015 Coors Light Pole Awards winners

Former Sprint Unlimited Race Winners

Former DAYTONA 500 Coors Light Pole Award winners

2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers:

2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship driver points:
 
AdoubleU24 said:
That's been one of the qualifiers for at least 3 or 4 years now.

I'm trying to figure out what they changed from last year to this year.
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Last year they were adding drivers based on final points standings to bring the field up to a minimum number (20?).

The worst incarnation was when they took the top drivers from each manufacturer.
 
Just make the silly thing the Clash Invitational and they can invite who they want and stop working backwards from a list of drivers they want to appear and creating criteria to include them. I wish they'd just scrap it, hold the 500 a week earlier, and do something else with that week on the schedule.
 
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