NASCAR announced Wednesday that the Cook Out Clash will return to Bowman Gray to open the 2026 season.
The exhibition race will be held Sunday, Feb. 1.
The Clash was held at the historic quarter-mile track this year. Chase Elliott won the event.
“We wrote a new chapter in the storied history of motorsports at Bowman Gray Stadium with the Cook Out Clash this year,” said Joey Dennewitz, Managing Director, NASCAR Regional, in. a statement. “As NASCAR’s first weekly racetrack, we are proud to bring the 2026 Cook Out Clash back to the original home to grassroots racing. Thanks to the City of Winston-Salem and Winston-Salem State University for their continued partnership at ‘The Madhouse’.”
Bowman Gray Stadium is the longest-running weekly track in NASCAR. NASCAR Founder Bill France Sr. and Alvin Hawkins brought motorsports to the track in 1949. In 2024, NASCAR took over the long-term management of racing operations at Bowman Gray Stadium in partnership with the city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The track hosted the Cup Series from 1958-71. This year’s Clash was the first Cup race at the track since 1971.