What was initially set to be a two-day event on Saturday and Sunday at Bowman Gray Stadium has now been completely moved to Monday due to snow, and with a couple of modifications.
At first, NASCAR simply moved Saturday's Cook Out Clash practice and qualifying sessions to Sunday while canceling the four 25-lap heat races around the four-turn, 0.25-mile (0.402-kilometer) Winston-Salem, North Carolina oval completely.
But with Sunday's action, which was also supposed to include a 75-lap Last Chance Qualifier as well as the 200-lap main event, all shifted to Monday, again due to snow, NASCAR has slightly modified the qualifying format.
NASCAR changes Clash qualifying format
The initial plan was for the top five drivers in each heat race to advance to the main event, while the others would be relegated to the Last Chance Qualifier. With the heat races scrapped, main event qualifying is now based strictly on qualifying speed, with the top 20 locking themselves in.
But the was the case even before the recent postponement to Monday. The changes didn't stop there.
The qualifying groups were initially set to be based on the owner standings from a year ago. First place would be in the first group, second would be in the second group, third would be in the third group, fourth would be in the fourth group, and then it would loop back around with fifth place being in the first group, and so on.
Now, however, NASCAR is simply taking the top 12 and inserting them into the third and final group, while the next 13 are slotted into the second group, and the remaining (bottom) 13 are slotted into the first group.
This change has been made because of the fact that the combined results of these sessions are set to be used to determine the top 20. With qualifying later being viewed as advantageous, the top finishers, rather than the bottom finishers, from the 2025 standings have been awarded that advantage.
A full qualifying order can be found here.
Tune in to Fox Sports 2 at 11:00 a.m. ET on Monday, February 2 for qualifying, and tune in to Fox at 4:30 p.m. ET for the Last Chance Qualifier and at 6:00 p.m. ET for the Cook Out Clash itself. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and catch all of the action from Bowman Gray Stadium!