NASCAR Clash at Bowman Gray results: Chase Elliott kicks off 2025 with his first Clash victory​on February 3, 2025 at 4:26 am

Chase Elliott claimed NASCAR’s first checkered flag of 2025 on Sunday night in Winston-Salem, winning the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium for his first victory in the Cup Series’ preseason event. In winning the Clash, Elliott earned the special distinction of winning at Bowman Gray, NASCAR’s original asphalt oval, which hosted a Cup Series race for the first time since 1971.

After winning his Heat race on Saturday night to earn the pole for the main event, Elliott led most of the opening 100 laps of the race before losing the lead to Denny Hamlin just prior to the halfway break. Elliott eventually regained the lead in the second half, then held off Ryan Blaney in the closing laps — managing lapped traffic efficiently and also receiving an aid when Blaney missed the entry to turn 1 — to cap off a night where he led 171 of 200 laps.

With his first win in the Clash, Elliott joins his father Bill Elliott in having won the event, as the elder Elliott won the race in 1987 when it was held at the Daytona International Speedway. The Elliotts are now the second father-son pair to win the Clash, joining Dale Earnhardt (1980, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2003, 2008).

“I know it’s not a points race, but it is nice to win for sure. Just really proud of our team for continuing to keep our heads down and push forward,” Elliott told Fox Sports. “… Ryan kept me honest there at the end. Denny was really good there in the second half. I just felt like he was kind of riding, and I was afraid to lose control of the race and not be able to get it back.

“Fortunately it worked out. Great way to start the season.”

After three years out west at a purpose-built track within the Los Angeles Coliseum, the 2025 Clash saw the event come to the legendary quarter-mile “Madhouse” of Bowman Gray, one of the oldest short tracks in the country and a venue central to the history of NASCAR. The highest level of stock car racing took on a decidedly grassroots flair, as the two days of racing featured the highly physical style of racing that has made Bowman Gray famous.

The Clash at Bowman Gray also featured two legendary drivers from the track’s weekly racing circuit, as track champions Tim Brown and Burt Myers were both given dream opportunities to race along the best in Cup. Brown — normally a full-time suspension and drivetrain specialist at Rick Ware Racing — drove the No. 15 RWR Ford to a 10th place finish in the Last Chance Qualifier, while Myers ended up seeing his glass slipper break when he pounded the turn 1 wall after contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the LCQ.

With the Clash now in the books, the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season will officially begin in two weeks with the sport’s biggest and most prestigious race, the 67th annual Daytona 500 on Sun. Feb. 16.

1. #9 – Chase Elliott
2. #12 – Ryan Blaney
3. #11 – Denny Hamlin
4. #22 – Joey Logano
5. #23 – Bubba Wallace
6. #1 – Ross Chastain
7. #2 – Austin Cindric
8. #45 – Tyler Reddick
9. #88 – Shane van Gisbergen (R)
10. #17 – Chris Buescher
11. #60 – Ryan Preece
12. #20 – Christopher Bell
13. #21 – Josh Berry
14. #34 – Todd Gilliland
15. #8 – Kyle Busch
16. #77 – Carson Hocevar
17. #5 – Kyle Larson
18. #24 – William Byron
19. #48 – Alex Bowman
20. #4 – Noah Gragson
21. #6 – Brad Keselowski
22. #99 – Daniel Suarez
23. #19 – Chase Briscoe — DNF