Fox kicks end of NASCAR Clash at Bowman Gray to FS2 for ‘The Masked Singer’

Awful Announcing ^ | February 4, 2026 | Matt Yoder

[WhiteHatBobby0701]

The NASCAR season finally got underway, at least unofficially, Wednesday night with the Clash at Bowman Gray. However, fans who were hoping to watch the end of the race on Fox were not rewarded for their patience with coverage booted to the lowly FS2 for The Masked Singer.

The traditional exhibition race to open the NASCAR season is in its second year at the North Carolina short track after a stint at the Los Angeles Coliseum as the racing series looks to continue a return to its roots in the hopes of reconnecting with fans. It was originally scheduled for the weekend before much of the eastern United States was hit with a ferocious winter storm. That delayed the race all the way until Wednesday night.

And then, NASCAR’s incredibly bad luck with mother nature continued as the race was beset by rain. After delays and even the use of rain tires, cars were finally on track racing towards the finish. However, as soon as 9 p.m. ET hit, Fox chose to abandon live coverage on the broadcast network in favor of the primetime series The Masked Singer. With college basketball already airing live on FS1, that meant that the end of the Clash had to be relegated all the way to the barely-watched FS2.

Of course, coverage also continued on the Fox One and Fox Sports apps so streaming-conscious fans with access there had options. But it’s safe to say that the wide majority of NASCAR fans were out of luck when the decision was made. And they were not happy about it with fans flooding NASCAR’s mentions on social media with frustration.

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TOPICS: Sports; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: maskedsinger; munhwa; nascar; publictv; readabookinstead

[WhiteHatBobby0701]

The article fails to say the most important part: "The Masked Singer" is a production of South Korea's majority state-owned Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (70% as of 2026). Munhwa, originally a private broadcaster when founded, was taken over in 1980 by South Korean leader Chun Doo-hwan in what was a military dictatorship after Park Chung-hee's assassination.

Was Fox under the gun of the current leftist Korean government to broadcast their Korean government programme on Wednesday or face losing their licence for the programme?

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

the racing series looks to continue a return to its roots in the hopes of reconnecting with fans

Haven't watched since they bent over and embraced wokeness

The Left cannot answer the question - What is a Woman

Nascar probably cannot answer the question - What is an Earnhardt

[Adder]

I bet FOX made the calculation that the Masked Singer would get more eyeballs than an exhibition race on a Wednesday night.

NASCAR just doesn’t have the draw it once did since they screwed up racing from one winner at the end to whatever useless gumbo they concocted presently. In addition to lecturing their fans on the virtues of being woke.

Never watched it because...well because. But my sons did...operative wprd is “did”.

[WhiteHatBobby0701]

Part of this is but understanding the importance of state-run television being involved, especially with how the SoKo government has insulted religious liberty.

[humblegunner]

Programme?

You some kind of foreigner?

[The Duke]

RE:"You some kind of foreigner"

[WhiteHatBobby0701]

Steve Phelps is gone. The problem however was shown when Fox let Bubba Wallace introduce a breed at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show — Wallace won a race at the track Fox has partial ownership.

[AppyPappy]

On a horrible track

[maddog55]

Tha Masked singer is fury, drag queen show at best. A completely asinine show.

[V_TWIN]

Your exactly right, it’s about ratings just like it has been forever. Ratings = money, and money is king in this fallen world.

I saw part of that race and that track was so small I’m surprised there was any passing whatsoever. I’ve been on bigger go cart tracks at amusement parks.

When I stumbled across it while channel surfing my wife looked at me and said, and I quote “WTF is THIS supposed to be?”

I’m glad we enjoyed nascar back in the 80s and 90s before all the cars and drivers looked alike.

I dunno what nascar was trying to prove other than they can make bad decisions and IMO this was another one.

The original poster suggests the switch to the masked singer was some sort of nefarious decision....I would submit that not EVERYTHING is a conspiracy theory.

[Tallguy]

Sounds similar to the “Heidi Game” when the network cut away from an NFL overtime game. At that time the NFL was a burgeoning sport. NASCAR has been floundering in recent years, so maybe this is just recognition that NASCAR isn’t what it used to be?

[Hatteras]

Horrible venue for those cars. Ho-hum, the carnival is back in town. I tuned in late and saw them putting on the wet tires. Went back to some show about Bigfoot and forgot about the race. I would ask who won but I really don’t care.

[Lockbox]

Best comment posted at that site….

Thanks FOX. I don’t have FS2. Just wasted time watching that. Bet they don’t move football games for the masked singer.

[Biblebelter]

I remember when I was in my early teens I always loved watching demolition derby from Islip, NY on Wide World of Sports.

And I also liked to watch the King Richard Petty in the few NASCAR races that were telecast back then.

I have tried to watched NASCAR this century which is kinda cool with all HD the cameras and all the camera angles, but as far as the competitive racing goes it is usually more like demolition derby than what Richard Petty was doing.

[Codeflier]

I can’t make sense of the title of this posting at all. It’s gibberish to me.

[WhiteHatBobby0701]

Islip. Ryan Prcces has raced the Modifieds which race at Riverhead, which like the now-defunct Islip track, is a .200 mile track.

Modified guy wins a race at a track that usually hosts Modifieds.

[DesertRhino]

Fox is completely worthless anymore. And NASCAR is completely woke and ruined. The bloom is off the rose on both of them.

[1Old Pro]

And NASCAR is completely woke and ruined.

Yep, downhill slide over the past decade or so.

[libertylover]

in the hopes of reconnecting with fans

Haven't watched since they bent over and embraced wokeness

That would by my guess as well.

[DeplorableTrumpSupporter]

The race at Bowman Gray was a good race. The LCQ race was exciting, as Josh Berry, the driver of the famed Wood Brothers, the oldest NASCAR team, won and Austin Cindric, of Team Penske battled Cory LaJoie, subbing for Brad Keslowski, who's recovering from a broken ankle, and AJ Allendinger for a slot in the main race.

I'm glad Ryan Preece, aka Preece Lightning, won. Dad met both Ryan Preece and Joey Logano when they were kids. Dad, in the 1990s, had a girlfriend and her son raced quarter midgets in Connecticut against both of them.