NASCAR to debut electric racecar at Busch Light Clash

NASCAR is slated to debut an electric racer as the Busch Light Clash, which is a little less than two weeks away at the moment.

While it’s simply a demo run and there’s no plans to race the vehicle at the moment, it’s still a landmark moment for the way the sport could move into the future. Jeff Gluck of The Athletic shared the news on Tuesday.

“NASCAR will do a demo run of its electric vehicle (a compact utility vehicle) during the Clash race day next week. Not planning to race it or start a series at this time,” Gluck posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “It’s not of a particular make, just a generic NASCAR body. The EV has lights. David Ragan will drive.”

Alas, an electric vehicle could truly be a game-changer for NASCAR. Jerry Jordan of Kickin’ the Tires provided some further insight into the potential it holds, including putting fans who value the noise of NASCAR’s best swirling around the track at ease.

“After two years of research, development, testing and fine-tuning, sources confirm NASCAR will debut its EV racecar at the Busch Light Clash in Los Angeles but fans thinking this will be the end of the Cup Series or a transition into ‘silent runnings’ at the racetrack need not panic,” Jordan wrote. “Unlike the electric hum of EV racecars, the hue and cry of fans concerned about EVs pushing internal combustion engine (ICE) racecars out of stockcar racing have not fallen on deaf ears.

“Sources confirmed to Kickin’ the Tires, which first broke the news of the EV racing program on July 21, 2022, that NASCAR’s primary motivation for creating it is for research and development – stressing, ‘there is no plan to take the noise out of NASCAR or bring in EV racing as a replacement racing series.'”

Additionally, Jordan explained that, “NASCAR’s electric racecar resembles a small crossover-style passenger vehicle, similar to a rally car like the ones used in Travis Pastrana’s Nitrocross racing events.”

So for a weekend that already features a good amount of exciting events, NASCAR’s electric vehicle test will have eyes on it as well. Time will tell how it goes, but it’ll be fascinating to see the intention log some laps inside the Los Angeles Coliseum.