1979 Busch Clash laid the groundwork for NASCAR's modern exhibition races

Before specialty exhibition races became a constant on the NASCAR calendar, the original Busch Clash at Daytona laid the foundation. 

Nowadays, two exhibition races are guaranteed to be on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule every season. The Clash, which serves as a season-opening exhibition race, and the NASCAR All-Star Race, which has traditionally been held in May, the weekend before the World 600 at Charlotte. 

Six years before the All-Star Race became a reality, however, NASCAR's fastest drivers were thrown onto the high banks of the Daytona International Speedway for a 20-lap shootout to unofficially open the Winston Cup season. 

The first iteration of the race — dubbed the "Busch Clash of '79" — was called by CBS' Ken Squier and David Hobbs. Squier described the race as the "richest race per mile of any in the history of automobile racing, $50,000 for 18 minutes of work." A week before Squier and Hobbs helped bring perhaps the most important race in NASCAR history — the 1979 Daytona 500 — to life, a 50-mile event was set to be an appetizer. 

The original format for the race was incredibly simple, especially when compared to today. The race would be comprised of 20 circuits around the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway. These 20 laps would be competed by Winston Cup pole winners from the previous season, meaning the number of cars entered in the event each year could fluctuate greatly. Nine drivers — Neil Bonnett, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, David Pearson, Benny Parsons, Buddy Baker, Lennie Pond, J.D. McDuffie and Darrell Waltrip were the drivers who took part in the race. 

Baker and Waltrip were the two drivers who separated themselves from the pack early, and despite Waltrip's best efforts, Baker held off the future three-time champ. In a way only Squier could relay information to race fans, the final corner of the race was eloquently described to the audience as one in which Baker "vetoed" Waltrip's final charge. 

Waltrip still took home $18,000 for running second, but it paled in comparison to the $50,000 payday for Baker. Ironically, Waltrip would also place second in the Daytona 500 a week later, attempting a desperate move in the tri-oval as Richard Petty captured his sixth Daytona 500 victory. 

Today, the Clash looks nothing like its 1979 counterpart. The race moved to the Daytona Road Course in 2021, then to the LA Coliseum in 2022 before settling at Bowman Gray Stadium in 2025. The race has been through many format changes over the years, and rather than a 20-lap shootout, the modern Clash is a full race weekend comprised of practice, qualifying, heat races, a last-chance qualifier and the main 200-lap event on Sunday night. 

While it's true that the modern Clash no longer resembles the "Clash of '79," the first Clash laid the groundwork for a season-opening exhibition event, as well as exhibition events in NASCAR as a whole.