NASCAR Clash at Bowman Gray postponed: Snow in area forces change of plans originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Cup Series calendar kicks off in earnest with the Daytona 500, the first points-earning race of the season, held every Presidents’ Day weekend.

Advertisement

Fans are introduced to the new drivers, wily veterans and color schemes that masquerade as eyesores two weeks earlier, though. The Clash serves as NASCAR’s preseason, an exhibition that can act as a launching pad for upstarts and standouts alike. This year, however, fans will have to wait a bit to see the on-track action.

NASCAR has decided to move the race from Sunday, Feb. 1, to Monday, Feb. 2, after snow and ice in the Winston-Salem, North Carolina made the conditions unsafe. 

MORE: Ranking the best (and worst) racing movies ever made

NASCAR clash at Bowman Gray weather updatesSaturday, Jan. 31

NASCAR has preemptively postponed the Clash at Bowman Gray. Practice and qualifying will be held at 11 a.m. ET on FS2, last chance qualifying is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET on Fox, with the race set to start at 6 p.m. ET, also on Fox.

Advertisement

Friday, Jan. 30

The National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Warning ahead of this weekend’s race. The warning will go into effect starting at 4 p.m. ET on Friday and last until 7 a.m. ET on Sunday.

Fox Weather is forecasting anywhere from three to five inches of snow to accumulate in Winston-Salem throughout Saturday. With temperatures comfortably sitting below freezing, that could jeopardize Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions.

Advertisement

Thursday, Jan. 29

Winston-Salem, like much of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, is set to be covered in a sheet of snow this weekend. Current projections indicate that the triangle could face anywhere from 3-15 inches of now, per AccuWeather. Winston-Salem, meanwhile, is expected to see between 4 and 12 inches of snow, with AccuWeather projecting that 4-8 inches of snow will fall upon the Central City over the weekend.

Those totals figure to cause mayhem to NASCAR’s plans. It’s hard to envision a situation where The Clash is able to run if snow accumulates on the ground. Bowman Gray Stadium doesn’t have a roof, leaving it susceptible to any and all harsh elements that come its way. Snow has already traipsed atop the surface before, taking hold of the coliseum over the weekend.

Advertisement

With more on the forecast, the odds are stacked against race organizers if they wanted the slate of races across the weekend to kick off without a hitch.

Snow crews worked to clear the track and garage area of its wintery sheet, per Motorsport. The infield and grandstands are a bit more finicky, with below-freezing temperatures limiting the crews’ ability to bring the stadium to its pre-snow storm glory. Plows, meanwhile, are being employed to the roads around the track in the hope of making the hallowed racing ground accessible to fans.

Advertisement

Mike Joy, Fox’s play-by-play announcer, provided an update on the track’s outlook on Wednesday.

“Progress made today at the stadium. Main St is now cleared, but most side roads are still unplowed packed snow,” Joy said. “Temp hit 40 today, that and the sun helped. The FOX trucks are in place, and TV setup continues. Looks like we are racing at BGS this weekend, IF there’s no more snow.”

National Weather Service predicted 3-7 inches of snow will fall upon Winston-Salem on Saturday night. That would likely affect qualifying (6:10 p.m. ET-8 p.m. ET). There’s a chance the snow could linger into Saturday night. With temperatures only expected to hit a high of 27°F on Sunday, it’s hard to imagine the snow and sleet dissipating in time for racing to be conducted.

Advertisement

NASCAR could push the event back to Monday. Temperatures are expected to climb past freezing during the day time before hitting a low of 17°F in the night. Still, that would be somewhat contingent on the city of Winston-Salem’s ability to clear out thoroughfares in time to accommodate the festivities.

All of that is to say, postponement seems a real possibility come Sunday night. NASCAR is likely to have contingency plans in place to handle a snow delay. It will be interesting to see if those strategies will come into effect as a result of inclement weather.

Will NASCAR clash at Bowman Gray be cancelled?

NASCAR has postponed the Clash at Bowman Gray until Monday, Feb. 2. The race is currently scheduled to start at 6 p.m. ET.