DAYTONA BEACH — NASCAR will hold the Clash at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 13, 2027. The event returns to the oval track at the Florida venue, ending a seven-year period during which the race rotated through other locations.

The 2027 Clash will be held on the oval track at Daytona International Speedway. This scheduling decision restores the exhibition race to its traditional home within Speedweeks, the annual series of events leading up to the season opener. Wheatley American Vodka serves as the title sponsor of the Clash under a multiyear deal with NASCAR.

Daytona hosted the Clash from 1979 to 2021. The Clash was last run on the Daytona oval in 2020. The following year, the 2021 Clash at Daytona was competed on the road course configuration rather than the high-banked superspeedway oval.

NASCAR held the Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum from 2022 to 2024. The organization then moved the event to Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina for the 2025 and 2026 editions. Bowman Gray Stadium is an asphalt flat oval short track and longstanding football stadium.

The 2026 Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium was postponed for three days due to a snowstorm. Ryan Preece won the 2026 Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium after the weather delay. The Clash is an invitation-only event that does not count for championship points.

Eligibility requirements for the 2027 Clash have not been determined. NASCAR has not released details regarding which drivers will receive invitations to compete in the February exhibition. The organization typically bases entry on prior season performance or special criteria, but those specifics remain undefined for the upcoming return to Daytona.

NASCAR driver Ryan Preece expressed support for the schedule change. "I’m a fan of Speedweeks. For us coming in on Wednesday and racing Sunday, being a purist and loving NASCAR — I’m happy that we.. end up going early and kind of making it the whole Speedweeks vibe again," Preece said.

He added that the move helps both the track and the short-track community. "Because that doesn’t only help Daytona, but I think it also helps the short-track side of things," he said.

Brad Keselowski, a NASCAR driver and team co-owner, offered a different perspective on the venue rotation. "From an RFK perspective, we’ll race wherever they put the Clash.. [and] we have a lot of reason to think we’d be successful in either one of the two tracks," Keselowski said. His comments reflected a readiness to compete regardless of whether the event remained at a short track or returned to the superspeedway.

The return to Daytona integrates the Clash into a busy week of racing activities. The 2027 Daytona 500 is scheduled for Feb. 21, 2027.

NASCAR Cup Series qualifying for the Daytona 500 is scheduled for Feb. 17, 2027. The Duel at Daytona is scheduled for Feb. 18, 2027.

Supporting series events fill the remaining days before the 500. A NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race is scheduled at Daytona on Feb. 19, 2027.

NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and ARCA Menards Series races are scheduled at Daytona on Feb. 20, 2027. These races serve as undercards to the premier Cup Series events.

The 2027 NASCAR Cup Series schedule will consist of 38 events. Broadcast rights for the season are divided among multiple networks. FOX Sports will broadcast the first 14 Cup Series events of the 2027 season. Prime Video will broadcast five Cup Series events in the 2027 season.

USA Sports will broadcast the final 14 Cup Series events of the 2027 season. This distribution ensures national coverage across the full slate of races, including the Clash return to Daytona.

The relocation of the Clash back to Daytona International Speedway marks the end of a multi-year experiment with alternative venues. From 2022 to 2024, the race took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, bringing NASCAR to a major urban market outside its traditional Southeastern base. The subsequent move to Bowman Gray Stadium in 2025 and 2026 shifted the event to a historic short track, altering the competitive dynamic from superspeedway drafting to tight-quarter racing.

Restoring the event to the Daytona oval re-aligns the Clash with its historical roots and the broader Speedweeks ecosystem. The event now serves as a direct precursor to the Daytona 500, creating a continuous block of racing activity at the same facility. This consolidation affects logistics for teams, broadcasters, and fans, who can now attend all pre-season and opening races at a single location. The decision also resolves uncertainty regarding the event's format, returning it to the high-speed pack racing characteristic of Daytona rather than the short-track style seen in recent years.

Why It Matters

Returning the Clash to the Daytona oval in 2027 ends a seven-year rotation through alternative venues like the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and Bowman Gray Stadium. This move reintegrates the exhibition into the traditional Speedweeks schedule just days before qualifying for the season-opening Daytona 500. The shift restores the event to its historic superspeedway configuration for the first time since 2020, altering the competitive environment for invited drivers ahead of the 38-race Cup Series season.