NASCAR adjusts Clash schedule at Bowman Gray Stadium due to winter storm

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR has adjusted the schedule for this weekend’s exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem in anticipation of more ice and snow blanketing the Winston-Salem area of North Carolina.

The Clash was supposed to be a two-day event beginning Saturday with the main event held Sunday evening. But the roads in the area are not yet totally clear from last weekend’s ice storm, and more inclement weather is scheduled for the next few days with as much as 12 inches possible for Saturday and the area under a winter storm watch through 1 p.m. EST Sunday.

To adjust, NASCAR has postponed all of Saturday’s on-track activity and will run the Clash as a one-day program Sunday. The hope is to begin with practice at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

NASCAR believes even with cold temperatures, its Goodyear tires will produce enough grip on the quarter-mile Bowman Gray Stadium track to run Sunday at 6 p.m.

If the event goes off at all will depend on how much snow falls Saturday. If The Clash can’t run Sunday, NASCAR seems prepared to run the event on the next possible clear day; teams head to Daytona Beach, Florida, around Feb. 9 to begin preparations for the season-opening Daytona 500.

Because The Clash is now one day only, the format will be:

— Drivers will be split into three practice groups, and each group will get three practice sessions. Times in the final session will determine their starting lineup for the main event and the last chance qualifier.

— Saturday heat races are canceled.

— The Sunday 75-lap last-chance qualifier will offer two spots in the main event for those who didn’t finish in the top-20 in qualifying.

— The final 23rd spot in the main event will go to the driver highest in points who hasn’t made the race. Two-time NASCAR champion Kyle Larson is the only driver guaranteed a spot in the race.

— The main event will be 200 laps with a midway break at Lap 100. Only green-flag laps count.

Chase Elliott won the event last year.

___ AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing