Ryan Preece outlasted sleek conditions and numerous on-track chaos to win the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Wednesday, February 4.
The 35-year-old Preece from Berlin, Connecticut, led twice for 46 of 200 laps in an exhibition event starting in 18th place. He then battled through numerous on-track chaos while steadily working his way to the front. Preece cracked the top-10 mark following the event’s first half. But he and his fellow competitors were challenged as they navigated through the Clash’s second half on wet-weather tires amid slick conditions on the track.
Despite spinning at the start of the second half, Preece continued his march to the front and he managed to lead for the first time with 57 laps remaining. After losing the lead to Shane van Gisbergen over the next 12 laps, Preece assumed the lead for a second and final time with 44 laps remaining. Preece’s progress was stalled four times due to cautions amid on-track chaos. But he maintained the top spot during each restart and he checked out from William Byron and the field to record his first victory in a NASCAR Cup Series entry.
Earlier on Wednesday and prior to the Clash, two eight-minute practice sessions followed by a qualifying session with split groups (three total) amongst the 38-car field occurred. During this format, each of the 38 competitors had four minutes to record a qualifying time. The top-20 fastest competitors were then locked into the Clash.
At the conclusion of the practice and qualifying sessions, the following names that include Kyle Larson, William Byron, Ty Gibbs, Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, Carson Hocevar, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney, Shane van Gisbergen, Ryan Preece, rookie Connor Zilisch and Daniel Suarez secured top-20 spots, respectively, with Larson qualifying on pole position.
Afterwards, a Last Chance Qualifying Race spanning 75 laps occurred and featured the remaining 18 competitors who did not transfer from practice and qualifying. From the Last Chance Qualifying Race, the top two finishers would transfer to the Clash. In addition, the Clash’s 23rd and final starting position was reserved for the highest-ranked competitor in the 2025 Cup Series points standings who has yet to qualify.
Following the Last Chance Qualifying Race, Josh Berry and Austin Cindric transferred after finishing first and second, respectively. Alex Bowman, who was in 17th place during the Last Chance Qualifying Race, was awarded the 23rd and final starting spot to the Clash by being the highest-finishing competitor in the 2025 standings.
The remaining competitors that included Corey LaJoie, AJ Allmendinger, John Hunter Nemechek, Zane Smith, Noah Gragson, Ty Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Erik Jones, Michael McDowell, Cole Custer, Chad Finchum, Burt Myers, Cody Ware, Riley Herbst and Todd Gilliland did not qualify for the Clash.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Kyle Larson, who started on the outside lane, quickly bolted ahead and in front of teammate William Byron through the first turn. Larson proceeded to cycle his way around the 0.25-mile short track venue and lead the first lap ahead of Byron and Chase Briscoe while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs and Denny Hamlin battled dead even for fourth place. As Larson led through the fifth lap mark, Gibbs muscled ahead to fourth place while Hamlin was being pressured by Chris Buescher and teammate Christopher Bell for fifth place.
Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Larson led by more than half a second over Byron. Briscoe, Gibbs, Hamlin, Bell, Buescher, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick and Ross Chastain were scored in the top 10, respectively. Behind, Carson Hocevar muscled into 11th place ahead of Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Ryan Preece, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Shane van Gisbergen and Alex Bowman, respectively, while Josh Berry, Connor Zilisch and Austin Cindric rounded out the 23-car field.
Fifteen laps later, Larson stabilized his lead to seven-tenths of a second over Byron and Briscoe trailed in third place by nearly two seconds while Briscoe’s teammates, Gibbs, Hamlin and Bell, trailed by three seconds from fourth through sixth, respectively. By then, Chastain, Hocevar and Elliott battled for the final top-10 spot in front of Logano and Blaney while Suarez drifted back to last place in 23rd place behind Cindric and Zilisch.
On Lap 40, the event’s first caution flew when debris was spotted on the track. Before the caution, Larson had caught the tail end of the field as he had last-place competitors Zilisch and van Gisbergen in front of him.
The event’s restart on Lap 40 featured teammates Larson and Byron dueling for the lead through the first two turns until Larson managed to muscle ahead exiting the backstretch and move in front of Byron entering Turn 3. Larson proceeded to lead the next lap and through the Lap 45 mark while Toyota competitors Briscoe, Gibbs, Bell, Hamlin and Wallace followed suit, respectively. Buescher, who restarted seventh but dropped to eighth, would moved up to sixth place and both Reddick and Hocevar trailed in the top 10. Meanwhile, Briscoe moved Byron for the runner-up spot as Larson led by half a second by Lap 50.
On Lap 53, the event’s second caution flew when Bubba Wallace, who was racing in 10th place, got bumped by Blaney, the latter of whom got bumped by Chastain, entering Turn 3. The bump caused Wallace to run into the rear of Elliott before the latter spun and was hit by Blaney through Turns 3 and 4. Amid the chaos, all competitors proceeded.
The next restart on Lap 53 featured Briscoe and Larson dueling for the lead for a full lap as Briscoe used the outside lane to draw even with Larson through the turns and short straightaways. Using the outside lane, Briscoe led the next three laps before Larson muscled ahead on Lap 57. Using the inside lane, he slightly moved Briscoe up the track in Turn 1. This caused Briscoe to engage in a battle with Byron and teammate Ty Gibbs for the runner-up spot. As Briscoe dropped to third behind Byron by Lap 60, Larson continued to lead.
On Lap 70, Byron, who had been reeling in teammate Larson, used the inside lane and some contact with Larson through the first two turns to emerge as the leader for the first time by the following lap. As Byron muscled ahead, Briscoe followed suit in second, along with Gibbs, while Larson dropped to fourth in front of Hamlin.
After the caution flew on Lap 76 due to Austin Cindric spinning in Turn 4, the next restart featured Byron out-dueling Briscoe to maintain the lead. While Byron continued to lead through the Lap 80 mark over Briscoe and Gibbs, a fierce four-car battle for fourth place ignited between Hocevar, Larson, Hamlin and Blaney.
On Lap 85, Briscoe assumed the lead from Byron for the first time. Ten laps later, however, Gibbs, who navigated his way into the runner-up spot, assumed the top spot through the backstretch.
At the event’s halfway mark on Lap 100, a competition caution flew and the event entered an intermission period. Gibbs was scored as the leader ahead of Briscoe, Byron, Blaney, Hocevar, Bell, Hamlin, Logano, Preece and Larson. Elliott, Zilisch, Berry, Chastain, van Gisbergen, Buescher, Wallace, Suarez, Reddick, Kyle Busch, Bowman, Austin Dillon and Cindric followed in the top-23 spots, respectively.
Near the conclusion of the intermission period and as the field prepared to start the second half of the Clash, the event was further delayed multiple times due to sleet falling on the track. During the first delay period, NASCAR declared the event a wet-weather event and gave the teams the green light to install wet-weather tires on the cars.
Following extensive weather delays, the Clash’s second half commenced with 99 laps remaining. At the start, the field fanned out through the first turn amid the slick conditions. The leader Gibbs also slid, which caused Hocevar to peek beneath Gibbs as Briscoe rocketed with the lead through the backstretch. Shortly after, the caution returned when Hamlin slid in Turn 3 amid contact from Connor Zilisch and collected Larson, which sent Larson backwards into the outside wall in Turn 4. Ryan Preece also spun as the rest of the field racing just outside of the top-10 mark scattered to avoid the incidents.
The next restart with 99 laps remaining lasted for 18 laps before the caution returned as Josh Berry, who had made contact with the wall earlier, parked his car on the backstretch and towards the infield grass. When the field attempted to restart with 81 laps remaining, the caution returned during the next lap amid a stack-up in Turn 4 that involved Cindric, Blaney, Larson, Hamlin and Wallace.
During the next restart with 79 laps remaining, Hocevar navigated his way into the lead over Briscoe for the first time. Amid multiple on-track chaos within the field, including a spin by Ty Gibbs through Turns 3 and 4 after contact from Elliott, the event remained under green flag conditions and Hocevar proceeded to lead Briscoe. The caution would return with 62 laps remaining due to Hamlin spinning in Turn 4 and Blaney hitting Hamlin’s stalled entry.
The next two restarts were short. The first one, with 61 laps remaining, only lasted a single lap before the caution quickly returned due to Austin Dillon spinning in Turn 4 amid contact from Hamlin. The next one lasted two laps before Elliott got bumped and sent for a spin in Turn 4. Amid the chaos, van Gisbergen assumed the lead from Hocevar after Hocevar slipped through the first two turns during the latest restart.
During the next restart with 58 laps remaining, Hamlin, Logano and Elliott crashed in Turn 4 as Preece managed to muscle ahead of van Gisbergen to lead for the first time. Van Gisbergen reassumed the lead during the next restart with 56 laps remaining. He maintained the lead under green flag conditions through two turns. However, the caution returned as a stack-up caused by Gibbs, who was bumped and sent for a spin by Zilisch, ignited in Turn 2.
Van Gisbergen maintained the lead during the next restart with 56 laps remaining and he continued to lead with 50 laps remaining. Two laps later, however, the caution flew as Larson stalled on the track after he reported running out of fuel. Then, during the next restart with 48 laps remaining, van Gisbergen retained the lead until Preece, who bounced off the wall earlier, assumed the lead with 44 laps remaining. Preece proceeded to lead by half a second with 40 laps remaining as van Gisbergen, Briscoe, Suarez and Byron trailed in the top five.
Another caution occurred with 36 laps remaining due to Elliott stalling on the track after he too ran out of fuel. Preece held the lead for the next restart until van Gisbergen was bumped and sent spinning by Briscoe from the runner-up spot during the next lap. Amid van Gisbergen’s spin, he clipped teammate Zilisch and was hit by Wallace while the field scattered to avoid the carnage.
Preece maintained the lead during the next restart with 36 laps remaining and he continued to lead before the caution flew with 20 laps remaining when Wallace sent Hocevar spinning through the first two turns as a retaliatory act from Hocevar bumping Wallace through Turns 3 and 4. Preece then maintained the top spot for the next restart with 20 laps remaining before another caution. But then, Kyle Busch, Larson and Gibbs collided due to a lack of space, which resulted in Larson getting turned backwards.
Down to the final 19 laps, the event restarted and Preece retained the lead over Blaney and Byron. Preece continued to lead with 15 laps remaining and he proceeded to stretch his lead to a second over Byron with 10 laps remaining. By then, Blaney maintained third place while Briscoe and Suarez followed in the top five.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Preece was scored as the leader by more than a second over Byron. With Byron unable to reel in to Preece’s rear bumper, Preece was able to smoothly navigate his way around the 0.25-mile Bowman Gray Stadium for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and won by more than a second.
With the victory, Preece joins Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin as the only competitors to win the Clash without having a NASCAR Cup Series points-paying victory to a resume. Preece also became the 27th competitor overall to win the Clash and the only competitor to win at Bowman Gray Stadium both in the Whelen Southern Modified Tour and the Cup Series divisions.
Preece’s Clash victory was the first ever for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing and the 11th for the Ford nameplate.
Amid the victory burnouts and salute to the crowd, Preece was emotional and overjoyed over his first win in a Cup Series event. Having previously driven for Hyak Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing, Preece was initially left without a ride following the 2024 season until he was recruited to drive the No. 60 Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, starting in 2025.
“I don’t even know what to say,” Preece said. “To be honest with you, it’s been a [expletive] long road. It’s the Clash, but man, it’s just been years and years of grinding. Two years ago, I didn’t think I was gonna have a job. I thought I was going back to Connecticut. I’m just super emotional.”
“We had a really good car,” Preece added. “I felt like we were fighting adversity all day, trying to come from the back. We got a lot of good spots. When we were putting on rain tires, man, this is as much of a mental game as it is anything. I felt pretty beat up. We had a couple of restarts go our way and then before you know it, you’re on the front two rows, and then the claws just come out.”
Byron, who led 14 laps, finished in second place while Blaney, Suarez and Hamlin battled through their shares of on-track adversities to finish in the top five. Briscoe, who led the third-most laps at 35, crossed the finish line in sixth place as Austin Dillon, Buescher, Chastain and Bowman completed the top 10 in the final running order.
Notably, Kyle Larson, who led the most laps at 67, ended up in 16th place behind Ty Gibbs and Carson Hocevar, Connor Zilisch settled in 18th place in his first Clash event, Shane van Gisbergen fell back to 20th place despite leading 15 laps and Bubba Wallace completed the final running order in 23rd place.
There were 11 lead changes for seven different leaders. The event featured a record 17 cautions. In addition, all but one of 23 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results:
1. Ryan Preece, 46 laps led
2. William Byron, 14 laps led
3. Ryan Blaney
4. Daniel Suarez
5. Denny Hamlin
6. Chase Briscoe, 35 laps led
7. Austin Dillon
8. Chris Buescher
9. Ross Chastain
10. Alex Bowman
11. Joey Logano
12. Josh Berry
13. Christopher Bell
14. Ty Gibbs, five laps led
15. Carson Hocevar, 18 laps led
16. Kyle Larson, 67 laps led
17. Chase Elliott
18. Connor Zilisch
19. Kyle Busch
20. Shane van Gisbergen, 15 laps led
21. Austin Cindric
22. Tyler Reddick
23. Bubba Wallace, one lap down
The NASCAR Cup Series’ teams and competitors will be returning to action throughout next week at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the 68th running of the Daytona 500 that is scheduled to occur on February 15 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM and HBO MAX.
The event’s pole qualifying session is scheduled to occur next Wednesday, February 11, at 8:15 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM. This session will be followed by a pair of America 250 Florida Duels that will commence next Thursday, February 12, beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Fs1, MRN, SiriusXM and HBO MAX.
