Now that it has been officially postponed until Monday, February 2 the question is, can NASCAR get The Clash in after more snow and freezing temperatures continue?
Saturday’s on-track action for a practice/qualifying session, heats and a Last Chance Qualifier race was already postponed on Thursday. The updated schedule then called for that and The Clash 200-lap race to all take place Sunday. Mother Nature ended that with an additional snowfall that started on Saturday morning.
The goal now is to get the practice/qualifying session, LCQ and The Clash events all completed on Monday.
Freezing Temps still in Forecast
As of Saturday afternoon, the weather for Sunday and Monday shows some promise. Bowman Gray Stadium, located in Winston-Salem, NC, will have continued snow until 10 p.m. Saturday for a total accumulation of four inches.
Temperatures will remain in the teens until 10 a.m. Sunday where, despite sunny skies during the day, the high will be 28 degrees. Remaining in the teens overnight again, the forecast on Monday shows sunny skies all day with a high of 37 degrees. That will be the first time since Friday it will be above freezing.
From the official postponement announcement on Saturday, a NASCAR executive said they are keeping important factors in mind regarding decisions
“The number one concern is always the safety of our competitors and our fans getting to and from the track,” said Justin Swilling, NASCAR’s senior director of marketing services and overseer of The Clash at the 0.25-mile oval of BGS. “And, in consulting with the North Carolina Department of Transportation this morning and the City of Winston-Salem, we didn’t feel that a Sunday schedule was best suited anymore just given what the storm had developed thus far this morning, which is the reason for our decision.”
Race Time Temps on Monday
The updated schedule calls for the practice and qualifying session to run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. It will consist of three timed groups to determine the starting line-up for The Clash and who has to run the LCQ to get in.
The forecast calls for 30 degrees at 11 a.m. and 34 at 1 p.m. under sunny skies. When the green flag drops at 4 p.m. for the 75-lap LCQ, the daytime high of 37 degrees will be taking place.
Slated for 6 p.m., instead of the original 8 p.m., is the 200-lap The Clash to be scored under green for 23 drivers with no caution flag laps counted. Temps dip back below freezing with the forecast showing 29 degrees with light winds.
Looking at the “feels like” for the final event start shows 27 degrees.
Clearing the Track and Highways in Time
On Friday, NASCAR executive Ben Kennedy showed a lot of heavy equipment already on site at BGS via his X account. The following day, the official The Clash at BGS X account showing snow clearing in process.
However, the larger picture is being able to make sure the pit area, the stands and area highways are cleared in time to get the teams and fans to BGS. That takes a massive amount of effort and resources between NASCAR and the local highway departments.
“We have a tremendous amount of equipment here,” Swilling said. “We have already started to mobilize that to see how we can best clear the property as soon as the winter weather dissipates, hopefully later this afternoon or into the evening.
“As soon as that happens, we are going to go to work. We have an incredible staff here that’s helping to manage all the equipment and helping to prioritize what needs to be taken care of first versus second versus third.
“I feel very confident telling you if you spoke with any city official, they would feel very good about how we’ve continued to communicate and align and collaborate as best we can. They’re supportive of us getting this event in in the best way, shape or form possible. I think one thing we always have to keep in mind too is we’ve just a venue to look after, right?
“They’ve got an entire community, and a community that’s reeling still in some ways from this past weekend’s storm and the current storm that we’re facing here. So we always want to be very responsible and prudent.”
The practice and qualifying session can be seen Monday on FS2-TV, the LCQ and The Clash are set to air on FOX-TV and heard via MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
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