When NASCAR first announced that it was hauling its high-octane roadshow into the tight confines of the L.A. Memorial Coliseum in 2022, the sport’s purists reacted as if someone had suggested installing a Starbucks inside the Sistine Chapel. The rest of the world watched with morbid curiosity, waiting for the inevitable disaster.

NASCAR Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, featuring a historic short-track format and intense heat races, promises an action-packed weekend.