It honestly seems quite fitting that, after a year featuring no weather-related postponements in NASCAR’s National Series, the first race on the docket for the new season is looking like it’ll be impacted by a major snowstorm.
While nothing has been cancelled or postponed just yet, the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium looks to be in jeopardy, with a major winter weather system coming to bear down on Winston-Salem, North Carolina, heading into the weekend.
As a precautionary measure, NASCAR has already chosen to shift the schedule around for the weekend, putting all on-track activity originally scheduled for Saturday, January 31 to Sunday, February 1.
Now, NASCAR Cup Series teams will hit the track for the first time at 2:00 PM ET for practice, with the Last Chance Qualifier later that evening at 6:00 PM ET, and the 200-lap main event kicking off around 8:00 PM ET. All of that is, of course, weather permitting.
John Probst, NASCAR Executive Vice President & Chief Racing Development Officer, spoke to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 on Friday (January 30) about the situation for this weekend’s event at the famed Bowman Gray Stadium, and NASCAR’s view of the incoming weather and its potential impact on the event.
“A lot goes into it,” Probst explained. “We’re talking to the engine shops, we’re talking with Xtrac on the transaxle side, we’re talking to the teams, we’re talking to the broadcast, we’re listening to the fans. We’re listening to the city.”
“We held out as long as we could on the forecast, just hoping against hope that it was going to change, and it wasn’t. We’re still in the wait-and-see, show me, I want to see it start to snow. We’ve all lived it, right?”
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a Winter Storm Warning for Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which goes into effect on Friday at 4:00 PM ET and extends into the early hours of Sunday morning. The storm warning cites heavy snowfall, accumulating between four and seven inches.
“We wait as long as we can to make the best decision we can, with the data we have at the moment,” Probst added.
At this point, there’s no telling exactly what the decision is going to be, as far as when the Cook Out Clash happens. However, any decision to postpone the event to the middle of the coming week, or even the next weekend, likely wouldn’t come until a snowflake hits the ground in Winston-Salem.
Sure, it might be an optimistic strategy, especially given the forecast NASCAR has been dealt this weekend. But, if it puts cars on track on Sunday, then maybe it’ll all be worth it.
