The 2027 NASCAR Cup Series schedule has not yet been announced, even though several tracks have already confirmed their race dates for next year.
What has also been confirmed is that at least one track that was on both the 2025 and 2026 schedules will not be on the 2027 calendar.
The 2025 and 2026 seasons got underway with the Clash exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium, which had not previously hosted a Cup Series race of any kind since 1971.
The four-turn, 0.25-mile (0.402-kilometer) Winston-Salem, North Carolina oval replaced Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as the host of the Clash after the home of the USC Trojans hosted the season-opening exhibition race each year from 2022 to 2024.
But after this year's Clash was postponed twice for a total of three days due to heavy snowfall, NASCAR will not be returning to Bowman Gray Stadium in 2027.
Instead, the Clash is set to return to its original home: Daytona International Speedway.
Eligibility for the Clash has not yet been announced, but the race is scheduled to take place on the night of Saturday, February 13, the day before Super Bowl LXI and eight days before the official season-opening Daytona 500 at the same four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval.
The Clash was first held at Daytona in 1979, and it was contested at the same track for 42 consecutive years. The race remained at the venue in 2021, but it was contested on the track's interior road course, rather than the superspeedway layout, before the move to Los Angeles.
With the Clash scheduled to take place eight days before the 69th running of the "Great American Race", Daytona 500 qualifying scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 17, and the Duel qualifying races scheduled to take place on Thursday, February 18, the 2027 season is set to mark the first time since 2016 with Cup Series racing action at Daytona stretching more than one week to open up the season.
The Clash, then known as the Sprint Unlimited, was contested on Saturday night in 2016, also eight days before the Daytona 500. It was scheduled to take place eight days prior to the Daytona 500 in 2017 as well, but it was postponed to Sunday due to rain.
At least when it comes to Daytona, NASCAR won't have to worry about snow.
The Clash is set to begin Fox Sports' 14-race season-opening portion of the 2027 broadcast schedule, which is set to feature six races on Fox, including the Daytona 500, and eight on Fox Sports 1.
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