Story By: Hal Jack
Photos By: Hal Jack
Winston Salem, NC–
There is no doubt in my mind that after the week of weather and the race we saw at Bowman Grey this past week, NASCAR has to be looking at the fan feedback about bringing this first race of the season back to Daytona after this race. I must say, seeing the snow in the Carolinas and it falling after the conclusion of the race seemed a big magical… however very very few of us actually want to see a race like this again.
The idea of racing in an iconic spot like Bowman Grey, certainly had a lot of NASCAR fans pumped up then the CLASH at the Coliseum in L.A. So many people said NASCAR had forgotten about its roots, so they gave it to them, but no one expected sledding as part of this year’s race.
While walking around this historic venue, it’s still sort of surreal to believe that there is actually a modern-day race at this track. It gives off weekend racer types of vibes that will bring anything out of the garage for a chance for racing type of track.
Most of the racing we saw reminded us of a of shorter version of Martinsville, because this race was so tight and perhaps the set up fo the cars was a bit different than normal due to the cold all around. The switch to road tires on a cold track was a new one for me and quite a few of the pit crew folks we spoke with said this was one of stranger set of scenarios that have happened during a race.
Now, we move on to Daytona and get into the real part of the 2026 schedule and see who makes it to the end of the season and the new playoff format. Should be a great couple of weeks coming up including the race at Martinsville, where we will get more of that short track racing sooner than we think.
Daytona International Speedway gets in on the action starting on Feb. 15. Before that, the drivers will compete in the America 250 Florida Duel at Daytona on Feb. 12. After the Daytona 500, NASCAR will head to Atlanta for the Autotrader 400 at Echopark Speedway on Feb. 22.
