Fans react as NASCAR Clash at Bowman Gray turns into a nightmare amid heavy snowfall 

Once again, the unofficial start of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season has been rescheduled. The Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium has been postponed to Wednesday, Feb. 4, due to constant heavy snowfall. However, fans were not impressed by the rescheduling and called out the governing body in the comments.

The Winston-Salem-based track has been facing heavy snowfall for the past few days. The race was initially scheduled for Sunday and then moved to Monday. Previously, NASCAR scheduled the practice and qualifying sessions at 11 a.m. ET, followed by the LCQ at 4:30 p.m. and the main event at 8 p.m. ET.

However, the snowstorm hasn’t stopped yet, and to keep the event safe for the fans, the stock car association postponed the 200-lap race. Following that, the governing body shared an X post and wrote:

NEWS: Due to winter weather across the North Carolina region, NASCAR announces the @nascarclash will be held on Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET on FOX.

Reflecting on that, the fans called out NASCAR in the comments and suggested changing the venue from Bowman Gray to Daytona, with one fan sharing his frustration over the rescheduling:

“sh*ts been rescheduled 11 times…”

Another made a playful comment and wrote:

“Maybe we should think of a warmer climate to host this thing next year.”

Here are some more reactions to the news:

“Nascar starting the season in the most nascar way. Mid day in a work week. Like what are we doing and why arnt we racing the clash in Daytona,” an X user stated.

“You know there’s this track in Daytona where you held the race for decades with absolutely no issues whatsoever,” a fan suggested.

“Bring it back to Daytona,” another supported the statement.

“Let’s race it on @iRacing and be done with it,” stated a motorsports enthusiast.

The new schedule features the practice and qualifying session at 1:30 p.m. ET on the FOX Sports App. Meanwhile, the Last Chance Qualifier (75-lap race) will be held at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX. The 200-lap main event will be covered live by FOX, HBO Max, MRN, and SiriusXM at 6 p.m. ET.

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Full entry list of drivers competing in the NASCAR Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium qualifiers

Ahead of the 200-lap main event, NASCAR issued the full list of the Cup Series drivers set to compete in the initial qualifying race on Wednesday. The 38 drivers will compete in the first race to fill 20 spots, and the remaining two will be filled by the top two cars from the LCQ race.

Here’s the list of the drivers competing at Bowman Gray Stadium:

1. #1 – Ross Chastain
2. #2 – Austin Cindric
3. #3 – Austin Dillon
4. #4 – Noah Gragson
5. #5 – Kyle Larson
6. #6 – Corey LaJoie [6]
7. #7 – Daniel Suárez
8. #8 – Kyle Busch
9. #9 – Chase Elliott
10. #10 – Ty Dillon
11. #11 – Denny Hamlin
12. #12 – Ryan Blaney
13. #16 – A. J. Allmendinger
14. #17 – Chris Buescher
15. #19 – Chase Briscoe
16. #20 – Christopher Bell
17. #21 – Josh Berry
18. #22 – Joey Logano
19. #23 – Bubba Wallace
20. #24 – William Byron
21. #34 – Todd Gilliland
22. #35 – Riley Herbst
23. #38 – Zane Smith
24. #41 – Cole Custer
25. #42 – John Hunter Nemechek
26. #43 – Erik Jones
27. #45 – Tyler Reddick
28. #47 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
29. #48 – Alex Bowman
30. #50 – Burt Myers
31. #51 – Cody Ware
32. #54 – Ty Gibbs
33. #60 – Ryan Preece
34. #66 – Chad Finchum
35. #71 – Michael McDowell
36. #77 – Carson Hocevar
37. #88 – Connor Zilisch (R)
38. #97 – Shane van Gisbergen

Last season, Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott won the event after beginning the race from the pole position. He led 171 laps in the 200-lap race and shared the podium with Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin.