For the most part, everyone in the NASCAR Cup Series appears to be excited that the Busch Clash will take place at Bowman Gray Stadium next month, even if that means they’re all likely to get flipped off at some point.

They’re looking forward to that, even.

The first time at Ryan Blaney raced there was actually before he was even a teenager and he was getting shown the bird even then.

“I’ve raced there twice, in a bandolero and legend car, and my one vivid memory, I won in a bandolero when I was like 9 or 10,” Blaney said. “My one vivid memory was that there was a kid, younger than me, flip me off over the barrier when I was 10 and he was 7, and he was just doing what his parents did.

“I don’t think he didn’t like me or anything. It was just, this is what we do. I vividly remember that going down the frontstretch. I hope we get to see a few more going back there for the Clash. I bet we will.”

Say what you will in the Los Angeles Coliseum to Bowman Gray Stadium transition but this is certainly going to be a more active audience.  

As William Byron alluded too, this is one of the top NASCAR television markets, and frequently its biggest.

“A more intimate setting, a lot of fans yelling at you,” Byron said. “The Coliseum was great but the fans were just watching the cars and wondering what’s happening. These fans know what’s happening and will be into it.”

Kyle Larson raced there in the old K&N Pro Series but the most memorable experience was going into those stands.

“I don’t remember much about the race but I remember I went into the stands to watch the Modifieds afterwards and that was my first time just being a fan there and it was everything I was hoping it would be,” Larson said. “I had watched the Madhouse documentary thing and the crowd was rowdy. We went back once or twice since then but the crowd was really crazy that night so I hope it’s like that.”

Alex Bowman raced with Larson in that series and had a similar experience.

“I went to a race there one day, the year we ran K&N, I just wanted to go see it the weekend before,” Bowman said. “I had never seen a pace car driver get flipped off until Bowman Gray. It was pretty cool.”

Daniel Suarez was also in those races.

“The fans are very passionate, like a college football game,” Suarez said. “The fan base is different.”

The logistics

As short track purist Chase Elliott says, ‘Bowman Gray is a little too short tracky for my tastes’ but …

“But look, if we’re going to have an event like that, if we need to fulfill television partner obligations, I’d rather it be in Winston-Salem than Los Angeles just from a logistical standpoint,” Elliott added. “I think the racing will be similar. I think the TV entertainment value will be really similar but it will be a heck of a lot closer for all the teams in the Southeast.”

Winston-Salem is just an hour to 90 minutes away from most race shops and driver homes and Charlotte native Byron appreciates that.

“The Clash was alright but LA was a long flight,” Byron said. “Bowman Gray, I can get in my car and get there. I’m excited.”

Ditto Austin Cindric.

“For me, I do like that we’re at home,” Cindric said. “When I think of short track racing, I think more about Winston-Salem than I do Los Angeles. I do think the fanbase that is very passionate at that place will appreciate having Cup cars at their place more than any other. I can’t wait to see the turnout and to try to figure it out.”

The racing

Ultimately, the racing will be a little narrower than what it was at The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for better and worse.

“I have no idea,” says Christopher Bell. “I have no idea. I’m grateful for a change because LA wasn’t kind to me but I’m looking forward to something different. It’s going to be tight but LA was tight too.”

Byron used the same words, ‘tight and narrow,’ but also ‘it should be good for the fans so I’m excited.’ He added a ‘let’s do it,’ with the kind of wry chuckle that indicates it’s going to be something.

Bowman points out that it’s going to be even narrower now with the addition of a SAFER Barrier.

“You know, I’m actually excited,” Bowman said. “I think it will be a great race. I don’t remember it being a bad race with the K&N cars. It’s obviously way easier to move someone out of the way in one of those cars than the cup car. Those were basically the old-style Cup cars.

“So back then it was just as easy lifting someone’s rear tires up. I thought it was a cool place for sure.”

Cindric expects a very similar race from the previous three years.

“We’re going to hit each other for sure,” he said. “The amount of incidental contact we had at the Clash is all you need to know. It’s hard with that many cars on the track not to.”

Suarez just hopes it’s not a complete disaster from a competition standpoint.

“It’s very tight,” he said. “The race track is different because there’s no curbs. The track almost goes like downhill. Its like a cheaper Coliseum track for lack of a better word. I don’t mean that the way it sounds. It’s just a tiny tricky little old track.

“I just hope we can put on a good show and its not a wreck fest. When I went there before, it was a little messy.”

Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.