The Seattle Seahawks are Super Bowl champions. Lewis Hamilton was at the game. Dale Coyne Racing’s second entry is still not officially filled. Prema’s 2026 season still looks woeful. There will be some IndyCar testing at Sebring. Indy Lights will be testing in Miami. The Asian Le Mans Series season ended. Ryan Preece won the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium through weather delays and sleet. The events of Wednesday night did inspire part of this weekend's musings, but there is quite a lot going on, and it has led to a lot more than I initially anticipated for this weekend.
Busy February
The Super Bowl is behind us, the Olympics are ahead of us, it is a busy February, and so much so, it is tough to focus on one thing to write about. There are also a ew big motorsports events around the corner. To fill the middle of February, let's hit a few topics that fit the moment, starting with a race that is this weekend, but arguably may should occur earlier.
Move the Daytona 500 Up
Last week, NASCAR's season opening event, though it is an exhibition race, was moved from a Sunday night to a Wednesday night due to winter weather hitting North Carolina. Even with the delay, the weather was not kind to the Winston-Salem-area. Sleet still hit Bowman Gray Stadium as the Clash took place. It will now hold a place in NASCAR history for being memorable for simultaneously good and bad reasons.
North Carolina received record snowfall. Not every opening weekend in February is like this, but why even place the event in such a precarious spot. The first weekend in February is not the best spot for a night race in North Carolina. It really isn't a great spot for a night race outside of Florida, Southern California and maybe Arizona. NASCAR wanted to bring the Clash back to NASCAR's root and put a Cup event at Bowman Gray Stadium. Fine, but maybe put it in a better spot for success.
While the Clash didn't take place, this weekend was fairly open in the American sports calendar. It is the weekend before the Super Bowl, and it is a little more open as the Pro Bowl has moved to a Tuesday night. If the Pro Bowl is going to be on a weeknight, I think the door is open for NASCAR to move its biggest race to the weekend before the Super Bowl.
One, the NFL season is bound to expand and add another week in the next five years. If that happens, there is a good chance the Super Bowl will fall on President's Day weekend on a regular basis, the current spot for the Daytona 500. Next year, the Super Bowl will be on President’s Day weekend because of how the calendar falls. NASCAR has no firepower to hold off the invasion, but there are alternatives to fighting.
I don't know if the week after the Super Bowl is better than the week prior, but it could be good to get an early start on it. It is a wide-open weekend, and it would be the biggest event by far. It would come seven days after the 24 Hours of Daytona, but maybe that isn't a bad thing for motorsports fans. You have a great ten-day slate with one of the biggest sports car races in the world leading to one of the biggest races in the United States.
People complain about Speedweeks not being Speedweeks anymore. Imagine a three-week stretch where you have the Roar Before the 24, the 24 Hours of Daytona and then the Daytona 500. Use the 24 Hours of Daytona to promote the Daytona 500! It might be better than the Clash. There would be nearly non-stop action at the track. It would be a great ticket.
As for what would happen next? Take Super Bowl weekend off. Who cares? Don't try to run a race Saturday night. Don't try to run Sunday afternoon before the game. Run a race, take a week off and then have the second race of the season the week after that. Ease into the season.
As for the Clash and Bowman Gray Stadium, I have an idea but will share at a later date.
The IndyCar Scheduling Note You Missed
While an additional race in Washington, D.C. rightfully took a significant amount of attention, there is a note about IndyCar schedule that you likely missed. It isn't official, but confirmed scheduling for one sporting event hints at when an IndyCar race will take place.
Last week, Fox released its broadcast schedule for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and after the FIFA World Cup Final on Sunday July 19, Fox has confirmed it will have a one-hour post-game show beginning at 5:30 p.m. Eastern.
Well, IndyCar has scheduled a race to follow the World Cup Final in Nashville, and at the earliest it appears it will begin at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, which is 5:30 p.m. local.
There is one other issue. NASCAR has a race scheduled for that night at North Wilkesboro for a 7:00 p.m. Eastern start.
No matter what, these races are going to clash, the question is how close do they clash?
Does IndyCar get going immediately at 6:30 p.m. Eastern? Does it have a mini teaser for the race before a 6:45 p.m. start? Does it just start at 7:00 p.m.?
Either way, this is not going to be a night race, and waiting for it to be a night race is foolish. If you want to keep people watching from the World Cup Final, you aren't going to wait any longer than 15 or 20 minutes to start the race. Sunset isn't going to be until 9:00 p.m. local in Nashville. In all likelihood, none of this race will be at night, but if you are hoping to catch a wave of viewership off a bigger event, you take what you can get. Beggars can't be choosers.
We have an idea when the Nashville race will be. It really feels like this race should get right underway. Set up the storylines right after the toss from the post-game show, but by 6:45 p.m. Eastern, this race should be green.
In case you are wondering about the doomsday outcome. It is a thunderstorm delaying this match or interrupting this match. Another good idea from IndyCar could be washed out, and then we will be left wondering what could have been.
Be prepared, and treat it as a comedy should the worst happen.
It is Only Testing
Some were upset when Formula One's first test session was held behind closed doors without much media presence and no fans allowed into the Circuit de Catalunya.
Formula One has made everything into an event of late. Testing, races, the Thursday nights before race weekends begin, whatever it is, Formula One added pomp to it. This was the first outing for teams with these new cars based on the new regulations. It is fine if we didn't get to see everything.
It is only testing, and the first test is pretty misleading. Just because the first test goes a certain way does not mean this is how it will be for the entire season. Also, Formula One is going to be showing more from its later two test sessions from Bahrain. The final hour of each of the first three days will be shown from February 11-13. All three days over February 18-20 will be live in its entirety.
We can live with some things remaining secret for a little longer. There was enough to come up from reports at the Barcelona test to whet your whistle. It just wasn't instantaneous. It wasn't a broadcast and it wasn't creating social media highlights.
That is fine. We will have enough of that once the races begin. It is ok if things are moving a little slower in January and February. It might be better for our expectations, keeping them more even than inflating or deflating unnecessarily.
Champions From the Weekend
The #4 CrowdStrike by APR Oreca-Gibson of Louis Delétraz, Malthe Jakobsen and George Kurtz clinched the Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 championship with a first and eight in Abu Dhabi.
The #17 CLX Motorsport Ligier-Toyota of Alexander Jacoby, Paul Lanchère and Kévin Rabin clinched the ALMS LMP3 championship with a first and a retirement in Abu Dhabi.
The #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Dustin Blattner, Chris Lulham and Dennis Marshall clinched the ALMS LMP3 championship with finishes of third and ninth in Abu Dhabi.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Ryan Preece, but did you know...
The #69 Team WRT BMW of Dan Harper, Anthony McIntosh and Parker Thompson won in GT in the first 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi.
The #3 DKR Engineering Oreca-Gibson of Alexander Mattschull, Mathias Beche and Griffin Peebles won the second 4 Hours of Dubai. The #23 23Events Racing Ligier-Toyota of Isaac Barashi, Matteo Quintarelli and Louis Stern won in LMP3. The #56 Écurie Écosse Blackthorn Aston Martin of Jonathan Adam, Kobe Pauwels and Giacomo Petrobelli won in GT.
Ken Roczen won the Supercross race from Glendale. Haiden Deegan won the 250cc race, his fourth consecutive victory.
Coming Up This Weekend
68th Daytona 500
24th Bathurst 12 Hour
73rd Rally Sweden
Supercross makes an early trip to Seattle
