Despite all kinds of weather odds against it and Mother Nature doing everything in her power to force cancellation, the 2026 edition of the NASCAR Cook Out Clash ultimately came off with just a few hitches on Wednesday at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

And even though the week began with nearly a foot of snow, impassable roads, no snowplows or salt to melt the icy roads, NASCAR should take a bow for putting on a heck of a good race, all things considered.

Of course, once Ryan Preece took home the win, fans were already taking to social media saying that NASCAR should not return to the iconic short track, fearing they’ll have to go through the same rough conditions both on and off the track yet again for next year’s Clash.

In my opinion, that’s exactly the reason WHY the Clash should come back to Bowman Gray.

Let’s face it, what the Carolinas experienced this week was a once-in-a-century maelstrom. Sure, North Carolina does experience cold temperatures, perhaps some light snow, and occasionally icy conditions in January and February – but nothing like what we saw this past week. According to local reports, it was the worst weather the area has seen in the last 15 years.

But that doesn’t mean we’re going to see the same thing if the Clash returns to Bowman Gray next year. In fact, the weather can be so unpredictable that when the 2027 edition of the Clash rolls around, the temperatures could be in the 70s or maybe even the 80s.

NASCAR deserves credit for getting an exciting race in, regardless of the conditions

NASCAR deserves a big pat on the back for going above and beyond the call of duty to stay the course and hold the race as planned–even though the two-day event was cut to just one day, and even then, it was delayed three additional days before enough time had passed and snow and ice was able to be shoveled away to allow decent racing conditions.

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Granted, there were a record 17 caution flags due to wrecks and weather conditions around the quarter-mile oval, but when you look at the whole big picture, it was a pretty darn good race nonetheless. Wednesday’s race may have been a lot of stop-and-go action due to all the cautions, but when green flag racing was underway, there was plenty of passing, pit strategy, and action to make most NASCAR fans more than happy.

Even though the snowmageddon could easily have prompted NASCAR to cancel the abbreviated Clash or relocate it to another venue–the back-up plan was Tuesday, February 10 at Daytona International Speedway–virtually everyone wanted to see the event held at Bowman Gray. Hundreds of volunteers, including fans and even drivers like former Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Todd Gilliland, came out to help shovel the track and the grandstands so that the race could be held.

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If the NFL and other forms of racing can take part in bad weather, why not NASCAR?

A couple of things stood out to me that should be considered when it comes to thinking about returning to Bowman Gray next year–and potentially beyond that.

First, I found it rather ironic that everybody–and I mean every single one of the roughly 17,500 people that attended – was outfitted in heavy down jackets or multiple layers of clothing to stay warm. And when I saw all those fans clustered together watching the heated racing action on-track, I thought about if fans in the NFL can watch games in-person sometimes in minus-20 or lower wind chills, the fact of the matter is that compared to places like Green Bay, Wisconsin, the 31-degree temperature at the time the green flag dropped at Bowman Gray (the coldest race start in NASCAR history) was like veritable tropical conditions.

So after more than seven decades of NASCAR theory that the sport can’t run in frigid temperatures, Wednesday proved otherwise.

I’m not saying that NASCAR should have a winter season between November and February, but if football fans can sit in the stands of Green Bay’s Lambeau Field in sub-zero temperatures and be happy to be there, watching great football, maybe what we saw Wednesday could be a precursor of running occasional races in the 20s or 30s, if need be.

The other point I want to make is admittedly a bit of a stretch, but please indulge me.

Maybe NASCAR should try racing on skis instead of tires

There’s a tiny little town in far northern Wisconsin called Eagle River (population 1,681). While many of you may never have heard of the place, for more than 60 years, it played host to one of the most competitive races in the world: the World Championship Snowmobile Derby. From 1964 through 2022, typically the third weekend of January, it would play host to more than 1,000 snowmobile racers and draw over 30,000 fans.

Even with a foot or more of snow on the ground, blinding snow conditions at times, and wind chills that occasionally dipped below minus-30 degrees, it’s no wonder folks called the Derby the “Indianapolis 500 of Snowmobile Racing.”

Now, what does that have to do with NASCAR or auto racing, per se? Well, the Derby drew several big-name race car drivers, including the late F1 ace and 1974 Derby winner Gilles Villeneuve and his son Jacques (a three-time champion of the event). Current O’Reilly Auto Parts racer Natalie Decker grew up around the event as her father was the event’s owner for several years.

Former Brickyard 400 winner Paul Menard won 10 snowmobile races early in his career before seeking fame and fortune in NASCAR, while fellow Wisconsin natives Matt Kenseth, Dick Trickle and several members of the Sauter racing family never actually raced in Eagle River but took in the event numerous times as spectators (obviously, in the middle of January, if you need a racing fix, Eagle River was about the only place to go either as a racer or a fan).

Also, during the 1980s and 1990s, IndyCar greats Al Unser Sr., Al Unser Jr., and Bobby Unser were yearly regular competitors.

Even NFL greats such as Hall of Famers Bart Starr and Ray Nitschke took part a time or two.

And let’s not forget that NASCAR great Geoffrey Bodine spent several off-seasons both racing and building bobsleds, including for the U.S. Olympic team.

So if other racing greats can compete on snow ovals atop machines that run on a track thread system (similar to what you may see in military tanks) and front skis to control turning, maybe NASCAR might want to think about exploring a race on snow (with studded tires, of course!).

Even the media wants NASCAR back at Bowman Gray

Even the usually cynical NASCAR media wants the Clash to return to Bowman Gray next year, weather be damned:

* Even though it said holding a race in central North Carolina at this time of year “is playing roulette with Mother Nature” and that gambling with the weather “was a gamble NASCAR just lost,” when it posed the question whether NASCAR can afford to return to Bowman Gray next year, The Athletic heartily endorsed it, saying “a resounding yes, based on the quality of racing Bowman Gray produces when not weather-impacted,” adding that when the weather conditions “allowed it on Wednesday night, the racing was terrific.”

* Winston-Salem Journal: The hometown newspaper questioned whether the Clash will return next year, stating that there has been “nothing from NASCAR or the City of Winston-Salem about the possible return of the Cook Out Clash to Bowman Gray Stadium.” The paper also quoted an unnamed NASCAR official as saying that the “reality is it has proven the Clash can be taken to a number of tracks,” and that much was “evident, especially the way NASCAR had to work around the foot of snow that hit the area over the weekend.”

Sure, even though the Clash was delayed for several days due to weather and road conditions, NASCAR still came up with a winner nonetheless–and may have come up with a new slogan for the Clash, borrowing a famous line from the U.S. Postal Service: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”