Day: February 4, 2026

BOWMAN GRAY STADIUM (WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.) — A snow-delayed race that featured rain and sleet had drivers spinning out as they battled each other and their rain tires Wednesday night in NASCAR’s preseason exhibition Clash. So maybe it was appropriate that Ryan Preece, a short-track modified standout from the Northeast who had not won a Cup points event, captured the marathon that took 2 hours, 20 minutes on the historic quarter-mile at Bowman Gray Stadium. “I’m a quarter-mile killer,” Preece said. “When it comes to this style of racing, it’s what I grew up doing. … It’s not a points race, but winning means everything. Man, I’m just speechless.” Here are my takeaways: 1. Big Win For Preece Preece often wears his emotions, and his excitement after the victory was obvious. He has 223 Cup starts with seven top-five finishes, and he enters his second year with his best Cup opportunity competing for RFK Racing. How he intended to celebrate tells everything about the 35-year-old Preece. After the win, he planned on driving seven hours to Florida to compete in some short-track events at New Smyrna Speedway, just about 30 minutes south of Daytona, before getting in his Cup car next Wednesday. Preece will race in both a late model and modified that he and his family own. He obviously thought he would have more time to get to New Smyrna until the race ,originally scheduled for Sunday, was postponed to Wednesday because of a weekend snowstorm. “I’ll celebrate in New Smyrna,” Preece said. “I race, man. It’s what it’s about. This is going to make that drive a hell of a lot better because seven hours, I figure I’ll get to … New Smyrna about 7 a.m. “We’ll just grind it out.” Just like he did to win the Clash in leading the final 45 laps. 2. Denny Hamlin Perseveres Hamlin persevered to a fifth-place finish, following Preece, William Byron, Ryan Blaney and Daniel Suarez across the finish line. Among those five, Hamlin was involved in the most cautions, finding himself turned at least a few times during the race. Considering his last few months — losing the Cup title in the final laps at Phoenix, his 23XI Racing team pretty much winning its antitrust trial against NASCAR and his father dying in a house fire that also severely injured his mother — Hamlin had hoped to find a little bit of normalcy by getting back in a race car. “It was a good preseason [race], but I think once we get to Daytona, things will start to get a little bit more normal, things will be a little more serious. And you’ll know the stakes are going to get high here in 10 days [with the Daytona 500],” Hamlin said. 3. Fuel Call Controversy With the exhibition race not counting caution laps and the caution flying 17 times, NASCAR opted after a few drivers ran out of fuel to allow all cars to pit for fuel. The thing is, at least Chase Briscoe’s team felt they had filled up their tank full prior to the race just for such a scenario. Briscoe, who led 35 laps, ended up sixth, and his crew chief James Small was less than pleased. “I didn’t know all the circumstances that were going on, but I know James was not thrilled with the situation,” Briscoe said. “It definitely after that, it kind of killed me. And a lot of guys were doing adjustments, and you weren’t supposed to be doing adjustments. … Kind of frustrating a little bit.” NASCAR also let William Byron, who ran out of fuel to bring out the caution where NASCAR opted to allow everyone to refuel, to regain his position. Considering it was an exhibition event, there likely will be discussions over how it was handled, but hard feelings should subside quickly. 4. Daniel Suarez Shines Suarez, in his first outing for Spire Motorsports after spending the last five years at Trackhouse Racing, posted a solid result. He was his typical fiery self, and it appeared at times that he raced his former Trackhosue teammates harder than others. “I race people the same way they race me,” Suarez said. “I love everyone. If they give me love, I give love. If they give me hate, I give hate.” 4 ½: What’s Next The Cup Series heads to Daytona, but the discussion will be whether this event continues at Bowman Gray Stadium. It’s a historic venue — owned by the city of Winston-Salem with the facility doubling as the football stadium for Winston-Salem State University — and NASCAR has staged the Clash there the last two years to generate excitement of going back to its roots. As this event showed, racing in February can be a challenge. The area had a rare significant snowstorm — more than eight inches fell Saturday — and the race was run in frigid temperatures that included at one point ice pellets falling from the sky. It resulted in the final half of the race being run in the wet with rain tires – and 13 times NASCAR waved the caution flag for spins or wrecks. “I don’t think you can judge a race or a track off of that weird weather circumstance,” said Ryan Blaney, the 2023 Cup Series champion. “I think this place, honestly, judging off the first half, put on a good show. “Just the way [in the rain], calamity as it would be with anyplace. I appreciate the fans sticking around all night. I bet that was brutal in those aluminum grandstands. Cold asses up there.”​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

The countdown to the 2026 FIFA World Cup continues, and we’re just months away from seeing the world’s biggest sporting event hit the shores of North America. The U.S. men’s national team take on Paraguay in its opener on June 12 in Los Angeles, so that leaves plenty of time to talk about who will be in the starting XI for Mauricio Pochettino’s squad. We all have our thoughts, but let’s turn to FOX Sports soccer analyst Stu Holden on how he thinks the USA could line up for the World Cup: Matt Freese has solidified his spot as the starting goalkeeper since last summer after a stellar showing at the 2025 Gold Cup. The NYCFC keeper looks to be the favorite for Pochettino and has the inside track over 2022 World Cup starter Matt Turner or other veteran options. But what about the defensive backline? That’s where things get interesting amid debate about whether the team is better suited with three defenders or a more traditional four-man look. Holden predicts a three-man lineup with Alex Freeman (newly signed to Spanish side Villarreal), Crystal Palace center-back Chris Richards, and 38-year-old Tim Ream. “If you look at my back three, the thing I love about this lineup is it has a lot of flexibility. We’ve seen Pochettino play with four in the back, three in the back. He likes to build out with four. … But don’t get lost in the semantics of how the formation looks because that changes in and out of possession,” Holden said. Flanking those three as wing-backs are Antonee “Jedi” Robinson and Tim Weah. It’s been encouraging for USA supporters to see Jedi return to Fulham amid a knee injury that kept him out for most of the season. Opposite to him is Weah, whose versatility may give him the inside edge over Sergiño Dest at the moment. “Antonee Robinson is back and healthy, so great to see. I’m going to have him in the left wing-back position,” Holden said. “And then on the other side is Tim Weah, who’s been playing really well for Marseille. I like that he can get up, get back defensively. But also, with his speed, he’s a threat for opponents.” Who does Pochettino lean on in the midfield? That will depend on if Tyler Adams, who has been out of action for his club Bournemouth due to an MCL injury, can get back into the mix. If so, Holden has him paired up with Lyon’s Tanner Tessmann, a surprising choice over all-everything midfielder Weston McKennie. “[Midfield] is where it gets a little bit iffy. Tyler Adams, if we get him back and healthy, I love him in the middle of the field. But next to Tanner Tessmann – I love his size, his passing from that position. And maybe I thought about putting McKennie there, but if you’ve watched McKennie recently, man, the guy’s playing like a striker, scoring goals, assisting.” That means Holden has McKennie, who has been in incredible form for Juventus, further up in the attack alongside scoring threats Christian Pulisic and Folarin Balogun. “I love that little triangle the three of them can form. But also I’ve seen with McKennie, a little bit of flexibility, a little bit of freedom. You’re starting to see the best of him and man, the guy can score some goals and make some stuff happen.” Pulisic has battled some lingering injuries with AC Milan of late, but he’ll be a surefire starter in the summer for the USA. Balogun, now in his second full season at Monaco, will have some stiff competition from PSV’s Ricardo Pepi, currently nursing a broken arm and was on the verge of a move to Fulham. And don’t sleep on a pair of English Championship strikers in Patrick Agyemang (Derby County) and Haji Wright (Conventry City) who have been on fire lately. “Balogun is still up front. And then Christian Pulisic, I like him being on the left, cutting inside, can also get in and out,” Holden said. “This formation, for me, is a team that I would feel really confident about rolling out game one against Paraguay and getting the win.”​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports