Probst Says NASCAR Will Wait Before Making Clash Weather Decision

With the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium scheduled to go green at 8 PM ET on Sunday, February 1, a winter weather storm seems poised to hit Winston-Salem and surrounding areas of North Carolina beginning on Friday afternoon, and into Saturday.

While NASCAR went ahead and proactively postponed Saturday’s on-track activity out of an abundance of caution, the sanctioning body has refused to make a call about calling off Sunday’s Clash Main Event.

On Friday, John Probst, NASCAR Executive Vice President & Chief Racing Development Officer, stopped by SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s The Morning Drive to talk about what is on everyone’s minds — the weather — and NASCAR’s mindset on a timeline for making a decision.

Probst says when making a decision about weather a lot more factors go into things than people realize. In addition to the potential snowfall, every sector of the industry has skin in the game when it comes to the decisions made, from fans, to teams, to the broadcast partners, and everyone in between.

“Just a lot goes into it. Again, we’re talking to the engine shops, we’re talking with Xtrac on the transaxle side, we’re talking to the teams, we’re talking to the broadcast, we’re listening to the fans. You know, we’re listening to the city,” Probst explained. “So, just lots of data coming in. Again, we held out as long as we can on the forecast, just hoping against hope that it was going to change, and it wasn’t [changing]. We’re still in the wait-and-see, show me, I want to see it start to snow. We’ve all lived it, right?”

Probst says that while a decision looms in the near future for NASCAR that the sanctioning body will wait as long as they can to ensure that they make the best call for the Cook Out Clash.

“We wait as long as we can to make the best decision we can, with the data we have at the moment,” Probst said.

Many have questioned why NASCAR couldn’t simply call an audible and run The Clash at Daytona International Speedway, where the event was held annually from 1979 to 2021. According to Probst, it would be a large undertaking to have cars that are setup for a 0.250-mile short track turn around and instead compete at a 2.5-mile superspeedway.

For those wondering why the Daytona International Speedway Road Course couldn’t be used instead, Probst says that’s also a tough ask of Daytona International Speedway, which has prepared its facility to use the oval layout for the upcoming Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 15.

It’s not as simple as plug and play.

After Probst’s appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Justin Swilling, NASCAR Senior Director of Marketing Services spoke on the NASCAR podcast ‘Hauler Talk’ about the situation.

Swilling says that the crew on hand at Bowman Gray Stadium will work during the expected snowstorm on Saturday in an effort to keep the track surface, pit area and garage area as clear as possible to make final clean up as easy as possible when the snow stops falling in Winston-Salem.

While the forecast looks unfavorable, Swilling feels optimistic that NASCAR can clear the snow faster than the mix of ice and snow from last week’s winter storms in North Carolina.

As of now, Swilling says the plan is to move cars and equipment from the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds at 9 AM ET on Sunday, February 1, to Bowman Gray Stadium, but if the roads to and from the track aren’t in good enough shape, it could delay that timeline.

Best case scenario is that the Cook Out Clash continues with it’s current schedule on Sunday, but the race will run whenever the track is ready and roads leading into the facility are safe for competitors and fans to drive in, whether that be Monday, or Tuesday or whenever is necessary to run the race.

It remains to be seen if The Clash will actually run on Sunday, but it seems, based on Probst’s interview on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and Swilling’s spot on ‘Hauler Talk’, that NASCAR wants to at least wait until they see snow falling from the skies in Winston-Salem before making a decision to postpone the date for the event.