Defending series champion Kyle Larson topped the leaderboard in Wednesday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session to claim the pole position for the 2026 Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium at 63.663 mph in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. The two-time NASCAR Cup Series title winner will lead the field to green in the main event at 6 p.m. ET on FOX, HBO Max, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Right behind him was Hendrick stablemate William Byron in the No. 24 Chevrolet at 63.645 mph.
Rounding out the top five were Ty Gibbs in the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Chase Briscoe in the No. 19 JGR Toyota and Christopher Bell in the No. 20 JGR entry. Rookie Connor Zilisch qualified for the main event in the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, placing 19th on the board. The points provisional went to No. 48 Hendrick driver Alex Bowman, who can still race his way in via the Last Chance Qualifier.
No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell posted the fastest lap in cumulative practice sessions that preceded qualifying with a best speed of 63.411 mph. No. 12 Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney was second on the board at 63.295 mph.
The practice and qualifying sessions marked the first official on-track activity since the 2025 season finale at Phoenix Raceway, after The Clash was initially scheduled for Feb. 1 but was postponed several days due to historic North Carolina snowfall.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Denny Hamlin disclosed Wednesday that he recently aggravated a shoulder ailment and that he plans to weather the injury as the start of the NASCAR Cup Series season draws near.
Hamlin’s remarks came in a Wednesday afternoon news conference, hours before the snow-plagued Cook Out Clash preseason exhibition was set to begin at Bowman Gray Stadium (6 p.m. ET, FOX, HBO Max, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The 45-year-old driver’s health update comes after he experienced both personal tragedy and professional heartbreak in the final two months of last year.
An elusive first NASCAR Cup Series championship slipped away in the painful closing laps of the Nov. 2 season finale, a race he’d hoped to win for his father, Dennis, who had been in declining health. Dennis Hamlin died Dec. 28 in a house fire, a blaze that also injured his wife, Mary Lou, Denny’s mother.
Hamlin said he had recently fallen as he sifted through his parents’ belongings in the debris left by the fire, but added that the pain in his right shoulder, which he’d had surgically repaired in November 2023, had been lingering before that spill. He noted that the window for potential surgery and months-long recovery for this new injury before the dawn of the Cup Series season has closed.
“So I’m gonna have to go the rest of the season the way I was before there,” Hamlin said. “I don’t think that it ever healed properly. Just noticed some issues, really kind of right after the season. It just was nagging me a little bit. Took a little fall at my mom’s house, going through all the rubble and stuff and just didn’t feel right. Got it re-scanned and re-tore it again.”
Hamlin said that managing the shoulder ailment could present a challenge through the season, and that he’ll be taking care to keep as healthy as possible until he can potentially have surgery after the 2026 campaign.
“If you can look into a crystal ball, I would think as the year goes on, it just kind of depends on making sure I’m doing the things out of the car, working, keeping the range good, keeping the strength good to kind of get to that November date where I can work on it and get it fixed again,” Hamlin said. “Limiting, honestly, the things I love to do. That’s not going to be a priority during the season, unfortunately. So I’m just going to miss out on a lot of the fun things, but I can’t do some things I like to do, simply because that aggravates it, and it certainly causes the tear to get worse. It’s kind of hanging on. It’s torn, but it’s still got a little few parts and pieces hanging on that I need to keep intact for the full year.”
Hamlin had said days after the disappointment from the season-ending event at Phoenix Raceway that “I don’t even think about the race car right now. Just yeah, I’m gonna need some time on this one.” He was back at the track Wednesday with his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team for The Clash, a non-points event he’s won four times.
“Like I said, it’s just gonna take a little while to kind of get back in the swing of things,” Hamlin said. “… You know, it certainly has not been an easy offseason by any means, and I’m sure I’m probably in a different headspace than most of the competitors that have been rip-roaring, ready to go racing the last month or so. I’m probably in a different spot than that. I would certainly appreciate a few more months, but I don’t have that. But we’ll just kind of see how it goes.”
The senior-most driver on the circuit says he’s emerged with perspective as he gets set for his 21st full season in NASCAR’s top tour. Hamlin said that his mother, Mary Lou, had been in improving health in the weeks since the fire and that he’s been quick to note his blessings as he navigates the recent round of hardships.
How he reacts, he said, will go a long way toward telling the story of the No. 11 team’s season.
“The easy thing to say is ‘poor me,’ but it’s like, I still have a fantastic life, a great family,” Hamlin said. “A lot of people go through tragedies. I mean, I can’t tell you — while what happened with my family in the offseason was highly publicized, there’s probably tons of those stories of crew members that happen in their family this offseason, that happens to them during the season that no one really knows about. So everyone has their times where they have to go through tough moments, and I think that those are really kind of building moments of your character. It’s how you respond to it.
“I think certainly that this season for me could certainly go one of two ways, and I think there’s not much of a middle road. It’s going to go really one way or really the other way, and it’s up to me which way I decide to turn. So I think that right now, my focus is keeping this thing on the right track and making sure I spend these last couple years accomplishing everything that I want to before my career is over.”
The NASCAR Cup Series hits the track for the first time in 2026 in exhibition fashion with a return to Bowman Gray Stadium for the Cook Out Clash. Bookmark this page and come back often for your race-week essentials — from links to the entry list, average practice speeds, results and more.
Race day: Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET on FOX. The categories listed below will be populated with links as information becomes available.
Tires: Five sets for the event, including one set for practice and one set for qualifying. The practice and qualifying sets transfer into the race. Four total wet-weather sets will additionally be available to each team as needed. Update: Heat races were canceled due to winter weather.
NASCAR Cup Series drivers took to the track at Bowman Gray Stadium for two 8-minute practice sessions, followed by a group qualifying session on Wednesday (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports App, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Drivers had four minutes to set a qualifying time, running as many laps as they wanted during this time window.
With the heat races canceled due to winter weather, the top 20 fastest drivers from qualifying automatically advanced to Wednesday’s 200-lap main event, the Cook Out Clash (6 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, HBO Max, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The top two finishers in the 75-lap Last Chance Qualifier Race (4:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) also transferred to the main event, making up starting positions 21st and 22nd, respectively. The 23rd and final starter went to the highest driver in the 2025 final standings who did not transfer from the LCQ finishing position.
For the first time since 2017, NASCAR’s fall weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway will return to the oval in 2026.
Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith confirmed Tuesday on the “Dale Jr. Download” podcast that the classic 1.5-mile oval will host the NASCAR Cup Series, O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series Oct. 9-11, shifting away from the Charlotte Roval after eight seasons on the road course-oval combination. The news was first reported by The Athletic.
Charlotte has hosted NASCAR at least twice annually since the facility opened in 1960, featuring the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day Weekend in May in addition to a fall weekend in October. For 57 years, all of those events were held on the 1.5-mile oval until the Roval debuted on the sport’s calendar in 2018.
In a year earmarked for a return toward NASCAR’s roots as the sport returns to The Chase, Smith and his team determined the time was right to retire the Roval and return to the oval.
“Charlotte Motor Speedway has always been about innovations and opportunity,” Marcus Smith, president and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, said in a release. “The Roval delivered dramatic racing when many fans were calling for a road course in the playoffs. Now there’s an energy around the return of The Chase and fans are seeing the excitement that oval racing continues to generate on mile-and-a-half tracks. This feels like the time to bring the fall race back to the legendary oval at a place where NASCAR history is made every year.”
The Bank of America 400 on Sunday, Oct. 11 will be the site of the Cup Series’ sixth race in The Chase, a return to the championship format that will determine the series’ title winner by points accumulated over the final 10 races of the season. The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ Blue Cross NC 250 on Oct. 10 and the Truck Series’ EcoSave 250 on Oct. 9 will also serve as events in the respective series’ championship Chase.
The Roval event debuted in 2018, using most of the oval-track configuration with portions of the infield road-course layout that had been used in sports-car competition. The 2.32-mile circuit arrived during a road-racing boom for NASCAR’s top series, and the Roval became a fixture as an elimination race each year under the previous postseason format.
The 2022 debut of the Next Gen car that’s currently used in the Cup Series, however, brought newfound vibrance to the racing on intermediate-sized ovals such as Charlotte. That sentiment led to NASCAR competition officials working with Speedway Motorsports to adjust the 2026 schedule.
“The voice of the passionate NASCAR fan is the starting point of every decision we make, and Marcus, Speedway Motorsports and NASCAR heard them loud and clear – with the return of The Chase, let’s return to the oval at Charlotte Motor Speedway,” Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR president, said in a release. “As The Chase returns, we are putting a spotlight on performance while honoring the tracks and traditions that have defined championship moments. Charlotte Motor Speedway’s historic oval has played a central role in some of the sport’s most memorable races, so bringing The Chase back to the 1.5-mile configuration for our fans simply felt right.”
Those feelings are reciprocated by the competitors themselves. Brad Keselowski (2013) and Joey Logano (2015) are the only two active drivers who have won a fall race on the Charlotte oval. Keselowski, the 2012 Cup Series title winner, championed the move back to the 1.5-mile oval.
“Moving the fall Charlotte race back to the oval really brings the sport back to its roots,” said Keselowski, the 2020 Coca-Cola 600 winner. “That race has so much history, and winning there is a big deal that I’ve been fortunate to do. The racing with the Next Gen car at Charlotte has been some of the best we’ve seen anywhere, and I think putting it back on the oval is going to create an incredible show. It’s the kind of race our fans expect and deserve.”
Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson each won two Cup Series races during the eight-year run for the Roval layout. Shane van Gisbergen was the most recent Cup winner, where he roared to victory by a whopping 15.160 seconds over Larson.
AJ Allmendinger savored the most national-series success during the Roval era, winning four times in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and notching the most recent of his three Cup Series wins in 2023.
Tickets for the fall NASCAR weekend are available now. According to a track press release, fans looking for the best value can purchase NASCAR season ticket packages which include both the Coca-Cola 600 and Bank of America 400 tripleheader race weekends with discounted tickets, free preferred parking, gift shop discounts and free O’Reilly Auto Parts Series tickets to the Blue Cross NC 250.
Fans who have already purchased fall race weekend tickets and have further questions should contact the ticket office by calling 800-455-FANS (3267). For ticket information, schedule updates and more, visit www.charlottemotorspeedway.com.
For the fifth consecutive season, the stars and cars of NASCAR’s oldest division will travel south to New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, to launch a new season of racing with the running of the New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 (7:30 p.m. ET on FloRacing) as part of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing.
The half-mile asphalt oval hosted the Modified Tour for the first time in 2022, when Matt Hirschman led 112 of 200 laps en route to an impressive victory. Ron Silk followed with back-to-back wins in 2023 and 2024, and Patrick Emerling triumphed one season ago.
Tickets to Saturday’s New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 are available here. Below is everything you need to know about the first race of the 2026 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season.
For the fifth consecutive season, New Smyrna Speedway will host the Modified Tour season opener. (Photo: Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 at New Smyrna Speedway
The battle for the 2026 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship begins Saturday night when a stacked field of competitors take to New Smyrna Speedway for the fifth annual New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200.
Headlining the list of entries are no fewer than four Modified Tour champions. Austin Beers, the reigning and defending series champion, will look to begin his title defense in style aboard the No. 64 KLM Motorsports Modified. Four-time Tour champion Justin Bonsignore is also back in the Ken Massa Motorsports No. 51; and two-time champion Ron Silk and 2022 champion Jon McKennedy return full-time to the series after their respective hiatuses.
Joining that quartet is a full contingent of drivers looking to add their names to the list of Modified Tour champions. Among them is Matt Hirschman, who will contest the full schedule aboard the No. 60 for PeeDee Motorsports. Craig Lutz is back in the Goodie Racing No. 46 after a two-win campaign last year, and Patrick Emerling is aboard the No. 1 again this year thanks to a new partnership with USNEPower.
Tyler Rypkema is back for his second full season in the Ole Blue No. 3, and 2025 Rookie of the Year Stephen Kopcik returns for his second season in the No. 21 for team owner Thomas Wanick. Kyle Bonsignore, Tommy and Trevor Catalano and Rookie of the Year contenders Teddy Hodgdon and Mike Christopher Jr. are also entered for Saturday’s race at New Smyrna.
In addition to the expected contingent of full timers, several additional familiar faces will be joining the field Saturday at New Smyrna. Headlining that list is NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Preece, who will pilot his own No. 40 in Saturday’s opener.
Bobby Labonte, the 2000 NASCAR Cup Series champion, is entered in the No. 38 for PSR Racing, and 2008 Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman will pilot the No. 4 Mystic Missile entry for car owner Tim Connolly.
One notable returning driver is Jimmy Blewett, who is back to compete with the Modified Tour following a recovery following an illness. He will drive the No. 2 entry fielded by Gershow Motorsports.
Carson Loftin is scheduled to pilot the No. 73 entry fielded by the Hartwig family in place of Paulie Hartwig III, who isn’t yet old enough to join the Modified Tour field.
Additional entries expected for Saturday’s opener include Eric Goodale, Luke Baldwin, Timmy Solomito, Andrew Krause, Dave Sapienza, Conner Jones, Jeremy Gerstner and Luke Fleming, among others.
The complete entry list for Saturday’s New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 is available here.
Ron Silk has won two of the four Modified Tour events held at New Smyrna Speedway since 2022. (Photo: Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
SCHEDULE: Saturday, Feb. 7: Practice from 1 – 2:15 p.m. ET … Final Practice from 3 – 3:45 p.m. ET … American Racer Pole Award qualifying at 5:30 p.m. ET … Start of the New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 at 7:30 p.m. ET (200 Laps / 100 Miles)
QUALIFYING: Two consecutive qualifying laps. Faster lap determines qualifying position. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on the vehicle after the vehicle has taken the green flag at the start/finish line. NASCAR reserves the right to have more than one vehicle engage in qualifying runs at the same time. Starting field for the New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 is limited to 32 starters including Provisional Positions.
TIRE ALLOTMENT: The maximum tire allotment available for this event is twelve (12) tires per team. All tires used for qualifying and the race must be purchased at the track and scanned by NASCAR Officials, unless otherwise approved in advance by the Series Director. Four (4) tires must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. All qualifying tires must remain in impound until released by NASCAR Officials. Four (4) tires of the allotment may be used for change tires. The tire change rule is two (2) tires, per stop. The remaining tire allotment may be used for practice tires during the event.
The Christopher name is one of the most recognizable not only in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour history, but across the entire Modified industry.
Ted Christopher is widely regarded as one of the greatest to ever drive a Modified, with his Whelen Modified Tour resume alone comprising of 42 victories and the 2008 championship. His brother Mike Christopher was also highly regarded during his career, earning plenty of local wins at tracks like Stafford Motor Speedway and Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
No member of the Christopher family has been full-time on the Modified Tour since 2014, but Mike’s son, Mike Christopher Jr., will change that trend this season. Christopher Jr. is set to pilot the No. 31 owned by Alan Dering, a car that was previously driven by another seasoned veteran in Matt Hirschman.
Just a few months ago, Christopher Jr. had no idea whether he would be making any starts on the Modified Tour this year. Now he looks forward to chasing a series championship just like his father and late uncle did many years ago.
“The whole deal came together pretty quick,” Christopher Jr. said. “Alan Dering called me in December and said he wanted me to drive his car. He’s very excited for it, his crew is very excited for it, but I also get to bring some of my crew from Stafford, so I think this is going to be really great all together.
“There will be some learning curves along the way, but as long as we get over those humps as soon as possible, we’ll be good to go.”
By embodying the characteristics of his father Mike Christopher and his late uncle Ted Christopher, Mike Christopher Jr. is ready to create his own legacy on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. (Photo: Rachel O’Driscoll/NASCAR)
Christopher Jr. understands how important his name is to race fans in the northeast. He has long been familiar with the stories surrounding Ted and Mike but also considers himself fortunate that he got to witness their on-track efficiency firsthand during his childhood.
Legacy was something Christopher Jr. pondered only occasionally during his youth. He was more focused on enjoying the moment and celebrating with either Mike or Ted in Victory Lane rather than studying how one of them applied their own driving style to set up a pass.
Now that he’s fully embedded into the Modified discipline, Christopher Jr. has had plenty of moments to ascertain how he is going to carry on the family name. He considers himself his own, independent driver but admits he finds himself applying his father’s advice.
“I’d say I definitely race like my dad more,” Christopher Jr. said. “Ted [was] aggressive; I’ve seen that, and a lot of other people have seen that. My dad has always been touted as methodical, a little less aggressive, but he has his moments. I feel like I race like my own person. I try to be really smart behind the wheel and plan stuff out. That’s what my dad taught me.”
Respect has been crucial toward Christopher Jr. finding sustainability and recognition in Modifieds. The blue collar, no-nonsense culture embodied by many drivers in the discipline requires him to be courteous around others on track. That philosophy has resulted in more trips to Victory Lane, this time as a driver.
Mike Christopher Jr. earned his lone Modified Tour win in 2022 after passing Tyler Rypkema for the win late at Jennerstown Speedway. (Photo: Nate Smallwood/NASCAR)
Piloting Tommy Baldwin Jr.’s iconic No. 7NY Modified, Christopher Jr. patiently worked his way up from the eighth starting position to challenge Tyler Rypkema for the win. Christopher Jr. put relentless pressure on Rypkema during the closing stages before making the race-winning maneuver with 11 laps remaining.
Christopher Jr. never imagined he could defeat drivers like series champions Justin Bonsignore and Ron Silk with only minimal Modified Tour experience to his name. Even though he was driving one of the strongest cars in the field that night, he felt his victory proved he could excel on the Modified Tour just like Ted and Mike.
“It came as a surprise, not only to me but to everyone else, too,” Christopher Jr. said. “I didn’t race the Tour. That was my third start, but we go out there and won. I owe most of that credit to Tommy [Baldwin] and his team for putting together a really good race car. If I put my sister in that car, who doesn’t drive at all, she’d probably finish in the top 10.
“I was happy to be the monkey behind the wheel.”
Despite the strong performance, Christopher Jr. made just two more starts on the Modified Tour that season and did not secure a ride in 2023 or 2024. He didn’t let the circumstances deter him, as he went back to driving Modifieds at Stafford and other northeast tracks, building upon the family legacy in his own way.
When he found his way back to the Modified Tour last season, he capitalized on his limited starts. Along with a top-10 finish in the season finale at Martinsville Speedway, Christopher Jr. nearly won the prestigious Mohegan Sun 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in his family-owned car before losing an engine on an overtime restart.
The outcome was disappointing, but it also reinforced Christopher Jr.’s belief that he could thrive against the best in the discipline as someone who can be both patient and aggressive.
An equal balance between Mike and Ted.
The late Ted Christopher scored 42 Whelen Modified Tour wins, fourth most all-time. (Photo: Mike Stobe/Getty Images/NASCAR)
Now Christopher Jr. has the perfect chance to showcase those qualities with a successful Modified Tour program in Dering’s Elite Racing. Nothing is going to come easy against stout competition, but he is going to rely upon everything he knows about Modifieds to validate Dering’s faith.
“You need all [the experience] to go Modified Tour racing,” Christopher Jr. said. “You’ve got to be good on the long run knowing you have 150 laps to complete before the checkered flag. I learned how to get to the finish in a long race from the few starts that I have along with the open Modified racing I’ve done [in the northeast].
“You also have to be aggressive at times, and Stafford has definitely taught me that.”
Christopher Jr.’s maiden full-time venture on the Modified Tour is not just about putting together consistent results. He’s carrying on the legacy of a proud motorsports family, one defined by victories and garnering respect.
Dering’s previous track record as a Modified owner has Christopher Jr. convinced he can add onto his small-but-solid resume on the Modified Tour. He would love to earn a championship, as well, but he emphasized 2026 is about establishing his own identity in the series while reminding fans and drivers why the Christopher name is so prestigious.
“I expect to win races,” Christopher Jr. said. “Alan [Dering] is going full steam ahead; that’s how he is as a person. He wants to go out and compete for wins. It’s up to executing on race day, and a lot goes into that with the pit crew and setup, but we have really good help behind us.
“If we roll out the box at New Smyrna and we’re fast in practice, I expect to run up front and compete for the win.”
Christopher Jr. knows he is not his father Mike Christopher or his uncle Ted Christopher, two drivers who have left an indelible mark on Modified racing culture. But he can be Mike Christopher Jr., a stalwart, focused competitor who is eager to keep writing his own history in the discipline.
Tricon Garage announced Tuesday that four-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti will compete for the organization when the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debuts in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Saturday, Feb. 28 (Noon ET, FOX, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Franchitti will pilot the No. 1 Toyota for Tricon in partnership between the team, Jimmie Johnson and Legacy Motor Club. Dollar Tree will serve as primary sponsor for the No. 1 truck.
The 52-year-old Scot has a decorated racing resume, with three wins in the Indianapolis 500 and a victory in the 2008 Rolex 24 at Daytona alongside Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas.
“The thought of racing a NASCAR truck on a street circuit is really intriguing to me,” Franchitti said in a press release. “The different surfaces, the fact that part of it is on an airport, then you go into the streets, the different bumps, all those things you got to try and master. This was just the chance to race on a circuit that I love, and a chance to do something fun. This all stemmed from a conversation with Jimmie Johnson. For me, with the opportunity to race the truck, it was really him, it was the whole team that he has there [at LMC] that made it all happen. His relationship with Toyota, Dollar Tree coming on a sponsor — it’s all been through Jimmie and the team at Legacy MC. If it goes well, great. If it doesn’t go well, I am going to be blaming Jimmie.”
Franchitti competed in select events across the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2007 and 2008 with Chip Ganassi Racing. He made 10 Cup starts and 18 O’Reilly starts with a top-five finish coming in the latter series at Watkins Glen International.
In his 2011 championship season in IndyCar, Franchitti won the first race of the year at St. Pete.
Since retiring from full-time action in 2013, Franchitti has remained active in racing as a broadcast analyst and adviser/driver coach at Chip Ganassi Racing.
“Dario and I had been talking for a long time about the chance to race together, so when he approached me about St. Petersburg, I knew I had to get to work,” Johnson said in a team press release. “I called him back a day later with an incredible opportunity to join a championship-winning team with Toyota and the great people at Tricon. “It’s been a lot of fun getting him integrated into the team and spending more time together, going through the process of getting him back to racing. I’m so excited it all came together and thankful that Dollar Tree is going to support. I am looking forward to sitting on the pit box alongside the team and sharing this experience with Dario.”
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Ahead of the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, race project lead Justin Swilling said NASCAR would race “come hell or high snow.”
High snow came — in historic amounts across North Carolina’s Piedmont region — and NASCAR is racing The Clash at Bowman Gray in a Wednesday night showdown (6 p.m. ET, FOX, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
To help clear the grandstands of Mother Nature’s mess, drivers Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Todd Gilliland made the Monday pilgrimage to “The Madhouse,” shovels in hand, to dump the snow and ice from what will soon be seats for thousands of rowdy race fans.
Stenhouse, the 2023 Daytona 500 champion, was first to offer his services by sending a Saturday text to NASCAR’s Joey Dennewitz, managing director of NASCAR Regional. That text, Stenhouse explained after shoving more ice out of the way, was under the guise that NASCAR might race Monday night.
“I was hoping so,” laughed Stenhouse, driver of the No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet. “I knew that they were gonna need a lot of work to get these grandstands ready. I knew they would have the track ready, so that really wasn’t a concern of mine. But as you can tell, there is a ton of snow still in the grandstand, so I think if we just bust it up enough, the sun will take care of the rest. …
“Clearly, the grandstands aren’t ready to race (Monday night), even though I know this Bowman Gray crowd, they don’t care. They would have sat right in the snow. But we’ll at least give them a few sections that are clear and dry come Wednesday night.”
Zach Sturniolo | NASCAR Digital Media
Gilliland, entering his fifth year driving for Front Row Motorsports and second in its No. 34 Ford, was happy to be back at Bowman Gray on Monday. But he admitted joining the shoveling wasn’t exactly his idea.
“I think they texted Ricky or called him last night and said they’re gonna be doing this, and then he recruited me, so I’m like secondhand,” Gilliland said. “But super fun and super cool to actually see the race track for the first time this year. It’s cool to be here.”
Born in North Carolina and the son of a West Coast racing family, Gilliland didn’t grow up experiencing true winter weather. He has quickly learned its beauties and its curses.
“I tried to shovel my yard yesterday, the first time, and it went about like this — a lot of ice, a lot of snow on top of it,” he said. “So yeah, I’d be good if there’s no more snow, to be honest. More of a warm-weather guy.”
Swilling has overseen every step of the Bowman Gray experience, from getting the track ready in 2025 for its first NASCAR Cup Series event since 1971, all the way to this year’s unexpected snow-out that has led to a midweek Wednesday feature. Swilling conceded this has been a “trying week, just trying to keep up with everything,” but the drivers’ willingness to help and the coordination between NASCAR’s leadership and that of the City of Winston-Salem have encouraged Swilling to keep going.
“Certainly, Mother Nature has not been kind to us the past two weekends, but everybody’s persevered. Everybody’s kept a positive attitude,” Swilling said, pausing to talk between his own shoveling efforts. “Couldn’t thank Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Todd Gilliland enough for literally tweeting at us and said, ‘Hey, we got our shovels. We’ll come help if you need it.’ And we took them up on that offer. I think this just shows the sense of community along the NASCAR industry, right? Everybody’s able to pitch in. There’s a lot of these people here that were supposed to work the event, but clearly are not in their working capacity right now as they’re shoveling ice and snow. But everybody’s pitched in and done everything they can, and that’s what makes this so rewarding.”
Though Stenhouse, Gilliland and Swilling will get the spotlight, they were just three among the dozens of workers on the property Monday attempting to get the facility ready for a February event. Some staff used blowtorches to melt ice, while others dumped snow into trash cans to be moved elsewhere.
“The City of Winston-Salem and the Fairgrounds staff that you see behind me, can’t thank them enough,” Swilling said. “We’ve also hired some snow-abatement contractors who know a little bit more about this than we traditionally would at a NASCAR race because we don’t have to deal with this all too often — and I am thankful for that. But no, we’ve got everybody just picking up and rallying. We’ve even got some of the janitorial staff that helps keep the place clean and pristine throughout the weekend, they’ve went out, bought shovels, and they’re out there helping too. So the RM Cleaning team, everybody’s doing an incredible job and couldn’t be more grateful to be a part of the team.”
Zach Sturniolo | NASCAR Digital Media
Ultimately, the joined forces are taking every measure to ready the facility for the sole purpose of running in front of fans. Sure, “The Madhouse” moniker fits the on-track action, but it also characterizes the passion that drives fans to its weekly races during the spring and summer.
Standing with shovel in hand in the backstretch stands, Stenhouse recalled his first brush with that enthusiasm one year ago after colliding with Burt Myers — hometown hero to some, public enemy No. 1 to others.
“The atmosphere is what makes this place so special,” Stenhouse said from the backstretch bleachers. “And last year was my first taste of Bowman Gray. I never ran anything here before, and I got the full treatment — actually, this section right here. I was parked right here after Burt and I got together, and they were coming down the grandstands letting me know what they thought. Tim Brown fans were giving me the thumbs up, but there was a lot of Burt Myers fans giving me the finger. So yeah, it was this section right here. But hopefully these people will be a lot nicer to me since I at least helped clear their grandstands.”
During teleconferences over the weekend, Swilling said all options had been considered amid the historic winter storms, including running The Clash without spectators on the property. He just couldn’t see that happening.
“I don’t think we can have a race at Bowman Gray Stadium without the fans,” Swilling said. “That’s why we wanted to postpone to Wednesday, to give ourselves some time to get this place ready for them because it’s the perfect balance of competitive drama and drama in the stands as well, and everybody feeds off of that. So it’s important to have every element of ‘The Madhouse’ to make it ‘The Madhouse.’ ”
“I mean, dude, this is one of the coolest places ever,” Gilliland said. “Like last year, we were walking around in driver intros, and I mean, this is as close as the fans will ever get to the race track. So it’s awesome to see that. Yeah, obviously, they’re well known here for being really crazy and very passionate, and I think that’s what makes NASCAR so cool in general, just the passionate fans that we have. So yeah, it’s awesome. And yeah, we’re getting a lot of seats cleared off, so all you fans better come out.”
On-track activities begin with practice and qualifying at 1:30 p.m. ET on the FOX Sports App, followed by the 75-lap Last Chance Qualifier at 4:30 p.m. on FOX. Twenty-three cars will take the grid for the 200-lap feature for the Cook Out Clash at 6 p.m. ET on FOX.
