After multiple postponements due to a winter storm, the NASCAR Clash is set for Wednesday night at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C. The season-opening exhibition, originally scheduled for Sunday, was pushed to Monday before again being pushed out two days later.
Justin Swilling, NASCAR’s project manager for the Clash, said Tuesday that all parking lots are clear and the racetrack is ready to host fans, per Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. With temperatures still expected to be in the 30s, Swilling is urging fans who make their way to Bowman Gray to come prepared.
“NASCAR’s Justin Swilling says the concession stands will have hot food and beverages, but fans need to 1) dress very warmly and 2) watch their step,” Gluck wrote on X. “While he feels very confident the facility is safe, there’s still a chance for spots of ice. He urges people to be mindful of that.”
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Along with the cold temperatures, there is a 70% chance of snow Wednesday night in Winston-Salem, according to The Weather Channel. Swilling is confident in NASCAR’s ability to work around Mother Nature.
“If we’ve overcome the last two weekends, our team is ready to take anything on,” he said.
Practice and qualifying for the Clash will start at 1:30 p.m. ET, followed by the last chance qualifier at 4:30 p.m. and the main event at 6 p.m. Wednesday was chosen as the day to run the Clash as opposed to Tuesday, where the weather in Winston-Salem has been favorable. Swilling said the decision to go Wednesday over Tuesday was out of an “abundance of caution.”
“I just think it was out of an abundance of caution,” Swilling said, via Matt Weaver of Motorsport. “We wanted to be prudent, responsible to the city, right? I mean, Winston-Salem very rarely gets a winter storm of the magnitude, much less two back-to-back like we’ve seen in the past two weekends. I think we wanted to make sure we just gave the community time to, hopefully, get some ice and snow thawed, be able to get out of their neighborhoods and residential streets and be able to come safely over here.”