Chase Elliott capped off a strong weekend in NASCAR’s pre-season return to its racing roots by scoring a dominant victory in the 2025 Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, from pole position on Sunday, February 2.
The 2020 Cup Series champion from Dawsonville, Georgia, led twice for a race-high 171 of 200-scheduled laps in an exhibition event where he took care of business early by winning the first of four qualifying Heat Races on Saturday, February 1, that enabled him to start on the pole position for the overall Clash.
During the main event, Elliott led the first 96 laps and withstood two restarts and early caution periods until he was overtaken by the reigning four-time Clash champion Denny Hamlin as Hamlin led through the event’s intermission period on Lap 100. Amid three additional restarts due to on-track carnages at the start of the Clash’s second half, Elliott used the final restart period with 79 laps remaining to muscle his way back atop the leaderboard, which he did so with 73 laps remaining after bumping and dueling with Hamlin.
With the lead back to his possession, Elliott spent the remainder of the event navigating his way through lapped traffic and fending off a late challenge from Ryan Blaney to win the Clash for the first time in his career and kickstart a new season of NASCAR competition with early momentum.
The starting lineup for the Clash was determined through four 25-lap qualifying Heat Races that occurred on Saturday. This was followed by a 75-lap Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) event that followed suit on Sunday, the latter of which occurred before the Clash. Through the pair of qualifying events, only 23 of 39-entered competitors would achieve starting spots for the Clash.
During Saturday’s Heat Races, Chase Elliott, Chris Buescher, Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick each claimed a Heat victory, but Elliott achieved the pole position for the Clash by winning the first Heat Race. Elliott, Buescher, Hamlin and Reddick were among four of 20 competitors who transferred to the Clash based on finishing in the top five from Saturday’s four Heat Races.
Among others who also transferred included Brad Keselowski, Chase Briscoe, Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Noah Gragson, rookie Shane van Gisbergen, William Byron, Ryan Preece, Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace, Carson Hocevar, Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez, Alex Bowman and Todd Gilliland.
Sunday’s LCQ event featured the remaining 19 competitors who initially did not transfer to the Clash through the Heat Races, where only three would round out the final three spots to the Clash. During the LCQ event, Kyle Larson and Josh Berry finished first and second as both transferred to the Clash. Lastly, Ryan Blaney was awarded the 23rd and final starting spot to the Clash based on a provisional and for having the highest ranking in the 2024 driver’s standings, where he finished in second place during the previous season’s standings.
As a result, Austin Dillon, John Hunter Nemechek, Michael McDowell, Zane Smith, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Justin Haley, Ty Dillon, Tim Brown, Cody Ware, Cole Custer, Garrett Smithley, Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, Erik Jones, rookie Riley Herbst and Burt Myers were the remaining 16 competitors who did not qualify for the Clash.
When the green flag waved and the Clash commenced, Elliott muscled his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet ahead of Buescher from the inside lane through the first two turns and he managed to retain the top spot over the next two turns as he led the first lap. With Elliott leading, Buescher fended off Tyler Reddick for the runner-up spot as Reddick, who was briefly trapped on the outside lane, was able to transition his No. 45 Jordan Toyota Camry XSE back to the inside lane and retain third place over Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski. As a bevy of competitors behind jumbled up and battled for early spots through every turn and straightaway, Elliott retained the lead through the fifth lap mark.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Elliott continued to lead ahead of Buescher, Reddick, Hamlin and Keselowski while Chase Briscoe, Joey Logano, Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, rookie Shane van Gisbergen and Ryan Preece were all trailing in the top 10. Noah Gragson, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Kyle Busch, Carson Hocevar, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez, Todd Gilliland, Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney and Josh Berry all followed suit within the 23-car field. Meanwhile, Elliott extended his advantage to more than a second over Buescher just past the Lap 15 mark.
Then on Lap 20, the Clash’s first caution flew when Busch, who was battling both Gragson and Suarez for 15th place, got bumped by Gragson, who got bumped by Suarez amid a domino effect, in Turn 3 as Busch spun towards the outside wall and plummeted below the leaderboard. Following the incident, Busch took his No. 8 zone Chevrolet off the track for repairs and fresh tires before he returned to the track. In the process, however, he lost a lap to the leaders.
When the Clash resumed under green on Lap 21, Elliott briefly dueled with Buescher through the first two turns until the former muscled ahead of the latter entering Turn 3. Both Elliott and Buescher along with Reddick and Hamlin then quickly filed in single-line formation entering the frontstretch as Elliott led the next lap while Briscoe and Keselowski battled for fifth place in front of van Gisbergen, Bell, Logano and Preece. As both Bell and van Gisbergen overtook Briscoe to move into the top-seven mark on the track, Elliott led through the Lap 25 mark.
At the Lap 35 mark, Elliott maintained a steady lead over Buescher, Reddick, Hamlin and Bell while Keselowski, van Gisbergen, Briscoe, Logano and Wallace followed suit in the top 10. Behind, Preece, whose No. 60 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse made multiple contacts with the outside wall, dropped to 12th place behind Hocevar as Suarez, Cindric and Byron trailed in the top 15.
Ten laps later, Elliott retained the lead by more than a second over Buescher as Reddick, Hamlin and Bell continued to follow suit in the top five. As Elliott maintained the lead to more than a second by the Lap 50 mark, he also started to catch the tail end of the field, which included Kyle Busch as Busch was still mired a lap down.
By Lap 60, Elliott, who lapped a few laps earlier, kept leading by more than a second over both Buescher and Reddick while top-five competitors Hamlin and Bell trailed by more than two seconds. By then, sixth-place Keselowski trailed by more than three seconds as Briscoe, Logano, Hocevar and Wallace were scored in the top 10.
Fifteen laps later, Elliott, who lapped Busch a second time two laps earlier and after spending the previous several laps trying to lap Busch, continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Buescher. Behind, Hamlin challenged Reddick from the outside lane for third place and the former would prevail two laps earlier through the backstretch while Bell closed in from fifth place.
On Lap 78, the Clash’s second caution flew when William Byron, who was battling Todd Gilliland for 20th place, got squeezed towards the frontstretch’s outside wall by Gilliland’s No. 34 Long John Silver’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse. As both made contact, Byron, who also hit the wall, got sideways and spun his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet through the frontstretch while also hitting the wall. Amid Byron’s incident, he was dodged by the field, including Elliott as Elliott was about to lap both teammate Byron and Gilliland. While Byron was able to continue, he was lapped by Elliott.
The start of the ensuing restart on Lap 79 featured Elliott barely fending off Hamlin to lead the ensuing lap as the field behind jumbled up amid two tight lanes. With the field behind also slowly fanning out to three lanes, Hamlin ignited his challenge on Elliott for the lead from the outside lane, starting on Lap 80. Elliott then made light contact with Hamlin in Turn 3 on Lap 81, but the latter maintained his momentum and remained nearly even with Elliott for the lead until Elliott cleared Hamlin entering the backstretch on Lap 82. As Elliott muscled away, Reddick started to close in on Hamlin for the runner-up spot while Buescher and Keselowski trailed in the top five.
At the Lap 90 mark, Elliott remained ahead of both Hamlin and Reddick as Hamlin made repeated attempts to navigate his way around Elliott for the top spot. Six laps later, Hamlin seized an opportunity exiting the backstretch as he made a move beneath Elliott entering Turn 3. With both Hamlin and Elliott making contact entering the frontstretch, Hamlin managed to lead the Lap 97 mark by a hair and he would muscle his No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry XSE ahead of Elliott through the backstretch.
When the event reached its halfway mark on Lap 100 followed by an eight-minute intermission period, Hamlin was scored the leader and Reddick was up to second place after he overtook Elliott for the spot two laps earlier. Meanwhile, Buescher and Keselowski were in the top five while Bell, Hocevar, Logano, Wallace and Ryan Blaney were scored in the top 10 ahead of van Gisbergen, Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Larson, Suarez, Chastain, Berry, Bowman, Preece and Gilliland. Meanwhile, Gragson was scored the last competitor on the lead lap in 21st place while Byron and Busch, both of whom were one lap and two laps down, respectively, rounded out the 23-car field.
Following the intermission period, the Clash commenced its second-half segment with 100 laps remaining. At the start, Hamlin dueled with his 23XI Racing driver Reddick for a full lap as the former managed to lead the following lap. Hamlin then managed to muscle ahead and clear Reddick entering the backstretch as Elliott, Buescher and Bell followed suit. The caution, however, would return with 98 laps remaining after Cindric sent Larson spinning sideways from the frontstretch. Amid his spin, Larson, who spun in the infield grass, then slid back up the track and ran into van Gisbergen, where van Gisbergen sent Briscoe for a spin while Larson was both hit and spun by Cindric for a second time, both of which occurred through Turns 1 and 2.
The start of the next restart period with 97 laps remaining featured Hamlin fending off Reddick for a full lap as he led the following lap. With Hamlin clearing Reddick with 96 laps remaining, Elliott dueled with Reddick for the runner-up spot as Buescher, Keselowski, Bell and Hocevar followed suit. Then as Elliott cleared Reddick for the runner-up spot, Hocevar, who had made contact with Bell earlier for sixth place, got turned by Bell, who was also bumped by Logano, exiting the backstretch. As a result of getting turned, Hocevar was sent against the outside wall entering Turn 3 as the caution returned with 92 laps remaining.
For the ensuing restart that occurred with 91 laps remaining, Hamlin and Reddick dueled for the lead as the former led the following lap by a nose. Hamlin would then clear Reddick with 90 laps remaining as both along with Elliott, Buescher and Keselowski lined up in single-line formation. Behind, Logano navigated his way up to sixth place while teammate Blaney dueled with Bell for seventh place in front of Wallace and van Gisbergen. Then as the on-track battles continued to slowly intensify, the caution returned when Briscoe ignited a domino effect as he bumped Hocevar into Larson who proceeded to make contact with teammate Byron sending the latter two spinning in between Turns 2 and 3.
When the race restarted under green with 84 laps remaining, Reddick challenged Hamlin for the lead from the outside lane. Despite dueling dead even with Hamlin for nearly a full lap, Hamlin used the inside lane to muscle ahead. Hamlin would then clear Reddick with 83 laps remaining through the frontstretch as Reddick was being intimidated by Elliott and Buescher for the runner-up spot. Elliott would proceed to claim second place and Buescher would follow suit, which dropped Reddick to fourth as Hamlin led with 80 laps remaining. Just behind him, the caution returned as Keselowski was turned by Wallace entering the first two turns while both were battling for sixth place. Amid the carnage, a stack-up ensued as Bowman and Hocevar were both sent spinning separately while Blaney carved his way up into the top five.
The start of the next restart period with 79 laps remaining featured Buescher challenging Hamlin from the outside lane through the backstretch until Hamlin muscled ahead from the inside lane as he led the following lap. Then with 78 laps remaining, Hamlin slid up the track to stall Buescher, which allowed Elliott to make his move beneath Hamlin for the lead. As Blaney muscled his way up to challenge Buescher for third place, Elliott then gave Hamlin a bump in Turn 1 with 76 laps remaining in an attempt for the lead. Hamlin, however, maintained his momentum from the outside lane and dueled with Elliott until the latter muscled ahead of Hamlin with 73 laps remaining. With Elliott leading Hamlin, Blaney started to close from third place while Wallace battled Buescher for fourth place in front of Reddick and Logano.
Down to the final 60 laps of the Clash, Elliott was leading by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Hamlin while Blaney trailed in third place by six-tenths of a second. Behind, Wallace was up to fourth place ahead of Buescher and Logano while Chastain dueled with Reddick and teammate van Gisbergen for seventh place. As Cindric occupied 10th place, Preece, Bell, Suarez, Berry and Gilliland trailed in the top 15 while Kyle Busch, Larson, Gragson, Byron and Bowman were mired in the top 20.
Ten laps later, Elliott retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Blaney, who bumped and overtook Hamlin for the runner-up spot three laps earlier. Meanwhile, Wallace started to close in on Hamlin for third place as Blaney started to intimidate Elliott with the front bumper through every turn and straightaway.
With 40 laps remaining, Elliott, who lapped Daniel Suarez a few laps earlier and was starting to catch the competitors racing at the rear of the leaderboard, maintained the lead by half a second over Blaney while third-place Hamlin trailed by more than two seconds. Over the next five laps, Elliott lapped Keselowski as Blaney reeled his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse back in to Elliott’s rear bumper. Despite having Blaney bump into the rear bumper over the following five laps, Elliott would maintain the lead as he proceeded to lap Gragson and teammate Bowman.
Down to the final 25 laps of the Clash, Elliott stabilized his steady advantage to four-tenths of a second over Blaney. Behind, Hamlin trailed in third place by more than three seconds and both Wallace and Logano trailed by more than four seconds in the top five. With Chastain up to sixth place and Buescher maintaining seventh place in front of Reddick, Cindric and van Gisbergen, Elliott’s lead grew slightly to half a second with 20 laps remaining.
With 10 laps remaining, Elliott, who was still catching more competitors to lap, including Kyle Busch, continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Blaney, who made contact with Busch and slipped up the track while trying to muscle away from Busch a lap earlier. Despite having more lapped traffic mired in front of him, Elliott maintained the lead in his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet by seven-tenths of a second over Blaney.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Elliott, who lapped Berry, Bell and Suarez four laps prior, remained in the lead by eight-tenths of a second over Blaney. With Blaney unable to reel Elliott back in nor get close to his rear bumper, Elliott was able to smoothly cycle his way around Bowman Gray for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch victorious and he claimed the checkered flag by more than a second over Blaney.
With the victory, Elliott, who was making his ninth career Clash start, became the 26th competitor overall to win the Clash as he joined his father Bill in winning NASCAR’s pre-season exhibition event to commence a new season of competition. Elliott, whose previous-best result in the Clash was second in 2021 at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, also recorded the 22nd Clash victory for the Chevrolet nameplate and the eighth for Hendrick Motorsports, which moved the organization into second place with Richard Childress Racing for the second-most Clash victories all-time.
The 2025 Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium marked the first time where NASCAR’s premier series, the Cup division, raced at the quarter-mile short track in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, since August 1971, where the late Bobby Allison would be recently credited the victory in October 2024 after he was initially not acknowledged due to piloting a “pony car”, a 1969 Ford Mustang, that had a greater advantage compared to most Cup Series teams.
“First off, just thanks to everybody for coming out,” Elliott said on FOX. “Y’all made for a real fun environment for us. We don’t race in stadiums like this, so it’s just really cool. I appreciate y’all [for] making that momentum special for me and my team. This was awesome. I know it’s not a points race, but it is nice to win, for sure. Just really proud of our team for just continuing to keep our heads down and push forward. [I] For sure had a tough race. Ryan [Blaney] kept me honest there at the end. Denny [Hamlin] was really good there in the second half of that break. Great way to start the season. [I’m] Excited to get to Daytona. It’s a great way to start off this season.”
Amid his post-race celebration on the frontstretch with his No. 9 team and crew chief Alan Gustafson, Elliott took a moment to express his approval of having Cup Series racing return to the iconic Bowman Gray Stadium and praised the widespread support he received from the fans en route to his victory.
“Y’all [fans] deserved [this race],” Elliott added. “I hope it was a good show for you. This environment is special and this is a place that had deep history in NASCAR. I think they deserve this event truthfully. I hope we didn’t disappoint. It was a lot of fun for me, at least, and we’ll hopefully come back here one day.”
Blaney, who relied on the previous season’s points provisional to make the Clash for a second consecutive season and started at the rear of the field, notched his career-best result in the Clash with a second-place finish. Despite coming up one spot short of winning, he was also left satisfied with both his result and the overall outcome of NASCAR’s premier series returning to race at Bowman Gray Stadium.
“I had a blast,” Blaney said. “I was saying last year, we came from last to third and this year, last to second. I think I just got to start last and we might have a shot to win one of these things. That was fun, that was a blast. The car was really good, especially the first half and the second half. Being able to get to second and then race hard with Chase there. [I was] Like [thinking] who’s going to save more tire. I just didn’t quite have enough right rear [tire] at the end to make a move on him. I hope the fans enjoyed [the race]. That was a really good show, happy that we could come to Bowman Gray and put on a great race for everybody. Props to the No. 12 boys for getting better throughout the weekend and look forward to Daytona.”
Denny Hamlin, who led 28 laps, came home in third place while Joey Logano and Bubba Wallace finished in the top five. Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick, Shane van Gisbergen and Chris Buescher completed the top-10 final running order.
The Clash featured seven caution flags and four lead changes for three different leaders. In total, 11 of 23 competitors finished on the lead lap.
Race Results:
1. Chase Elliott, 171 laps led
2. Ryan Blaney
3. Denny Hamlin, 28 laps led
4. Joey Logano
5. Bubba Wallace
6. Ross Chastain
7. Austin Cindric
8. Tyler Reddick, one lap led
9. Shane van Gisbergen
10. Chris Buescher
11. Ryan Preece
12. Christopher Bell, one lap down
13. Josh Berry, one lap down
14. Todd Gilliland, one lap down
15. Kyle Busch, one lap down
16. Carson Hocevar, one lap down
17. Kyle Larson, one lap down
18. William Byron, one lap down
19. Alex Bowman, one lap down
20. Noah Gragson, one lap down
21. Brad Keselowski, one lap down
22. Daniel Suarez, two laps down
23. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Steering
The NASCAR Cup Series teams and competitors will be taking a one-week break before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the 67th running of the Daytona 500.
The Busch Light Pole Qualifying event that will determine the front row for this year’s Daytona 500 will occur on February 12 at 8:15 p.m. ET on FS1 while the rest of the lineup will be determined through the Duels on February 13 at 7 p.m. ET on FS1. The 2025 Daytona 500, which will officially launch NASCAR’s 77th season of competition, is scheduled to commence on February 16 and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
