With NASCAR pushing the Cook Out Clash to Monday night, the Cup Series has officially experienced its first weather postponement since the 2024 season. That's just the price you pay when you roll the dice.
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Heavy snowfall in North Carolina disrupted the schedule for the annual exhibition event. The threat of snow first forced NASCAR to move all of Saturday's planned activities at Bowman Gray Stadium to Sunday. Heavy snowfall then forced the sanctioning body to change the schedule yet again while moving all activity to Monday.
This marked a major change from last season's exhibition event, which took place with temperatures in the mid-50s. It also showed trying to plan around North Carolina's weather can be quite the gamble.
"Certainly recognize that when we put the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on this date, in this event weekend, that weather could impact us, right?" Justin Swilling, NASCAR senior director of marketing services, told media members on Saturday.
"Last year, it rained all Friday before the event weekend, but Saturday and Sunday were absolutely beautiful from a February standpoint in North Carolina, right?
"So we rolled the dice in year one, we hit the jackpot. We won the bet. And this year I wouldn't say we've lost the bet, but we rolled the dice and unfortunately, Mother Nature didn't want us to stay on schedule."
NASCAR has been in an interesting situation with the weather forecast and the location of the exhibition event. The forecast called for winter storms in the area, which caused some potential issues with logistics.
After all, Bowman Gray Stadium sits smack dab in the heart of Winston-Salem. It's not a NASCAR-owned track located miles away from a city. The city officials have a much larger say in whether events take place on schedule or if delays upset the schedule.
The city officials and emergency services have to worry about residents driving around to grocery stores, churches, or other locations on Sunday. Accounting for race fans adds another stress.
"We just sanction NASCAR racing at Bowman Gray Stadium — or a lease tenant to a city-owned facility," Swilling added. "And any decision we make, the city has to be in lockstep with us. And I feel very confident telling you, if you spoke with any city official, they would feel very good about how we continue to communicate and align and collaborate as best we can.
"And I feel really good about the decisions we've made, they've been very supportive of and they're supportive of us getting this event in, in the best way, shape, or form possible.
"I think one thing we always have to keep in mind too, is we've just got a venue to look after, right? They've got an entire community, and the community that's reeling still in some ways from this past weekend storm and the current storm that we're facing here. So we always want to be very responsible and prudent."
Moving the Clash to another location has not been an option. The exhibition event uses the 750-horsepower package, which NASCAR will only use at oval tracks under 1.5 miles and at road courses. Additionally, the superspeedway engines are allocated for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15 and the trip to EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta) that immediately follows.
So NASCAR's best option, at this point, is to just move forward with cleanup efforts at Bowman Gray Stadium and hope that the weather cooperates on Monday.
"The staff is already out here blowing off the snow from the racing surface, and now they're even moving on to the football field," Swilling said. "We'll continue to be here throughout the day, and when Mother Nature lets up, and even if it's just for a pocket of time, we're going to go ahead and try to move as much snow as we can, and just at least, if nothing else, keep it moving for right now until it completely stops and we can get it completely removed.
"But we are gonna stay here today. We'll be here overnight. I have no intentions of going back to my home or my hotel room, nor does the rest of the operation staff, fortunately or unfortunately. I hope they know that by now. But we'll continue to stay here and fight the good fight."
