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Many of NASCAR’s top drivers were asked if NASCAR should return to Bowman Gray Stadium for The Clash<\/p>\n
The start of the 2026 NASCAR<\/a> Cup Series season was plagued by winter weather. The season-opening Cook Out Clash exhibition at Bowman Gray Stadium was pushed from Sunday to Wednesday due to the snowy conditions.<\/p>\n When the cars finally hit the track on Wednesday evening, February 4, Mother Nature popped back up during the second half of the 200-lap race, forcing the teams to switch to wet-weather tires for a portion of the event.<\/p>\n Ultimately, the race reached the finish with Ryan Preece leaving with the checkered flag<\/a>. Following the race, a number of drivers were asked if The Clash should return to Bowman Gray Stadium next year.<\/p>\n Drivers Voice Opinions on The Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium<\/p>\n Ryan Blaney, who finished third in Wednesday night\u2019s race, was asked if he\u2019d like to return to Bowman Gray Stadium for The Clash<\/a>. Despite the weather circumstances, the driver of the #12 believes it shouldn\u2019t dictate if NASCAR returns to the track.<\/p>\n \u201cI think this race last year and the first half of this race, it puts on a good race. You had a lot of comers and goers, even in that first half. The weather\u2019s the weather. It just is what it is,\u201d Blaney said.<\/p>\n Based on the weather conditions, Denny Hamlin joked that there\u2019s a reason why many outdoor sports don\u2019t play at this time of year. The driver of the #11, who finished fifth on Wednesday, believes Daytona is the ideal place for The Clash<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m an old school person. As a car owner, I hate The Clash at Daytona, but I can tell you as a competitor and I think for the sport, the best place is to have it at Daytona to build some excitement for the [Daytona] 500,\u201d Hamlin said.<\/p>\n However, the 60-time Cup Series winner said he doesn\u2019t mind it being at Bowman Gray Stadium if it\u2019s entertaining. He also acknowledged some positives of having the event at the North Carolina short track.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s positives to this, too. Certainly, it\u2019s a track that\u2019s been around a long time,\u201d Hamlin said.<\/p>\n Ryan Preece, Wednesday night\u2019s winner, expressed his appreciation for the dedication of the fans. Despite the race being on Wednesday in cold, rainy weather, the fans still made it out to the race.<\/p>\n If it were up to Preece, he would bring The Clash to Florida<\/a>. However, the driver of the #60 doesn\u2019t mean Daytona, but rather New Smyrna Raceway.<\/p>\n \u201cMe personally, I\u2019d love to see it back in Florida, but I\u2019d love to see it at New Smyrna. If we\u2019re going to keep doing what we did here, which was renovating this facility. \u2026 New Smyrna is such a phenomenal short track,\u201d Preece said.<\/p>\n Daytona 500 Next for Cup Series Field<\/p>\n With the debate regarding the Cook Out Clash ongoing, the NASCAR Cup Series circuit turns its attention to the Daytona 500. The running of the 68th annual 200-lap event is scheduled for Sunday, February 15.<\/p>\n In the lead-up to the race, the Duel at Daytona takes place on Thursday night, February 12. The Daytona 500 green flag is scheduled for February 15 at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time. The race can be watched on FOX or listened to on the Motor Racing Network.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tJohn Breeden<\/a> John Breeden is a NASCAR contributor at Heavy Sports. He has five years of sports journalism experience. He graduated from James Madison University in May of 2022 with a degree in media arts and design. John is also a sports reporter for the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Previously, John was a sports writer for JMU’s The Breeze and a NASCAR content writer for Sportskeeda. More about John Breeden<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on NASCAR\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Many of NASCAR’s top drivers were asked if NASCAR should return to Bowman Gray Stadium for The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-461488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}