After over six inches of snow fell over Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Bowman Gray Stadium, NASCAR has been forced to postpone the annual Cook Out Clash event once again.

Giving time for clean up, NASCAR has moved The Clash to Wednesday, February 4 with events scheduled to begin at 1:30pm.

In northern climes where snow levels are sometimes measured in feet, six to 12 inches of snow is little more than a minor convenience; but for southern areas like the Carolinas, snow is a seldom seen event and just a few centimeters can be a major catastrophe.  Several inches of snow is a disaster of epic proportions!

Project Lead, Cook Out Clash Justin Swilling issued a statement saying, “this event is for the fans, and the fans at The Madhouse are some of the most passionate fans in all of sports.  Moving the Cook Out Clash to Wednesday, February 4, 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.”

Practice and qualifying is set to begin at 1:30pm with the Last Chance Qualifier race will begin at 4:30pm.  The main event 200 lap race is set for a 6pm start.  While practice and qualifying can only be seen on the FOX Sports App, the LCQ and Feature event will air on FOX.

Thirty-eight drivers will be pared down to 23 racers for the Main Feature race.

Swilling added, “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.  It’s mission critical that we get everyone here safely. 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.

NASCAR has been working diligently to clear the track of the snow and ice.  So far they have dumped over 40 dump trucks of snow away from Bowman Gray Stadium.

Swilling continue, “it’s just the amount of water you’re moving, right, and the weight behind it and the mass behind it.  And we’re not talking about just an inch of snow. We’re talking about eight to 12 inches of snow, depending on where you are at in the region. That’s a lot of snow, and that’s something that most NASCAR events don’t have to deal with. And again, a huge thanks to our operations team. They quickly informed leadership that like, ‘Hey, this is not like a rain-impacted race. This is much different, and we need to plan accordingly for such.’ And they’ve done a great job at that.”

Emphasizing the importance of fans in attendance, Swilling said, “we explored all scenarios, but at the end of the day, we’re here for the fans.  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, 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 on Bowman Gray Stadium.”

Swilling reminded fans to dress appropriately for the cold and frigid weather when attending The Clash, “folks certainly need to come bundled up and warmed and dressed for the elements.  We’ll certainly have some elements within our control that we can try to offer up to them if they seem to be struggling with cold weather. But I have a feeling that they’ll be quickly distracted when cars get on track and coldness won’t be a factor whatsoever. But if you are coming out, take a few layers with you.”

Parking lots will be open at 11:30am ET, track gates opening at 12:30pm ET.  An off-site shuttle service will begin at noon.

Those who are unable to attend The Clash due to the weather can receive a 100% refund or a 120% credit that is equal to the value of their  purchase order.

More details and information are available for ticketholders at http://www.nascarclash.com/weather or by calling 855-525-7223.