The two-day event was set to begin on Sunday with practice, qualifying, and heat races before continuing into Monday with the last-chance qualifier and feature race.
However, persistent snowfall in Winston-Salem, North Carolina has precluded NASCAR from racing. The event will instead take place on Thursday (AEDT).
The event will begin with practice and qualifying at 5:30am AEDT before the last-chance qualifier at 8:30am AEDT. The feature race is scheduled for 10am AEDT.
NASCAR said it could not put the event on knowing the risks to spectators travelling to and from Bowman Gray Stadium.
“This event is for the fans, and the fans at The Madhouse are some of the most passionate fans in all of sports,” said Clash project leader Justin Swilling.
“Moving the Cook Out Clash gives us the best opportunity to hold this event with fans at Bowman Gray Stadium while allowing the City of Winston-Salem to dedicate all of their resources to respond to the needs created by this historic weather event.
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“At the end of the day, this decision is made again in an abundance of caution for the fans and the competitors that are traveling to the venue.”
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— Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium (@nascarclash) February 1, 2026
Swilling said discussions with NASCAR executives as well as Winston-Salem and North Carolina officials led to the call.
Winston-Salem recorded upwards of 10 inches of snowfall while North Carolina, where most NASCAR teams are based, received 11 inches.
“We explored all scenarios, but at the end of the day, we’re here for the fans,” Swilling said.
“And we want to make sure that they’re a critical piece. Any time anybody’s come to ‘The Madhouse” for an event, it’s just as much the fans as it is the competitors that makes it a show.
“So we explored all scenarios, but at the end of the day, we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time.
“We wanted to give the community plenty of time as well to get over the most recent storms that we’ve had, and we felt that Wednesday was the safest time to have everybody ascend.
“It’s mission critical that we get everyone here safely,” he added.
“And all of those different stakeholders — the race car drivers, the teams and, most importantly, the fans — all of those are perfect ingredients for an incredible event.
“We don’t feel we can have one without the other, of course.
“So it made a ton of sense for us to make this move and also give ourselves some additional time early in the week to ensure that all of the wintry mix between snow and ice and sleet and everything in between was cleared off all areas of the property.”
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