WINSTON, SALEM, N.C. (AP) — A bomb cyclone over North Carolina forced NASCAR to push its preseason exhibition to Wednesday night because the snow-covered roads are too dangerous for teams and fans to get to historic Bowman-Gray Stadium.

There is an 82% probability that Winston-Salem will receive four-to-eight inches of snowfall from now until 5 a.m. Sunday, forecasts show.

The NASCAR season officially kicks off on Sunday, Feb. 15, with the 2026 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. William Byron enters as the defending Daytona 500 champion, while Kyle Larson looks to defend his NASCAR season championship.

“In year one, we hit the jackpot,” said NASCAR’s Justin Swilling, who is in charge of the Clash on behalf of the sanctioning body. “This year, I wouldn’t say we’ve lost the bet, but we rolled the dice, and unfortunately, Mother Nature didn’t want us to stay on schedule.”

NASCAR is seeing light at the end of the tunnel in what’s been a difficult week of postponements. The Cook Out Clash exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium was pushed back to Wednesday, February 4 due to winter weather rolling through Winston Salem,

Mike McClure's model reveals his picks and NASCAR props for 2026 Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Once promoted as NASCAR’s bold fix for schedule monotony, the ROVAL now exits the same way it arrived: because fans asked for something different.

Dario Franchitti is set to return to NASCAR as he'll compete for TRICON Garage in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series street race at St. Petersburg.