Chase Elliott Won the NASCAR Clash at Bowman-Gray Stadium

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WINSTON-SALEM, NC – RIS – Chase Elliott cruised to a victory in the exhibition NASCAR Clash on Saturday night at Bowman Gray Stadium, the quarter-mile football stadium that is rich in NASCAR history.   Elliott won the pole and led the first 96 laps of the NASCAR Clash; however, Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick passed him before the competition caution. Then, a slew of cautions occurred in the last 100 laps, giving Elliott the lead once again. However, could he hold on this time?

It was Elliott’s  first unofficial victory of the year. Elliott held off Ryan Blaney as the two drivers had a healthy gap over third place. At the end of the day, Blaney didn't have enough pace to catch the No. 9 car.

While Elliott's win at the Clash doesn't count toward the regular season, it is a good start to the year. The driver of the No. 9 car will look to carry momentum into the 2025 NASCAR regular season, with the Daytona 500 up first. If Elliott can continue his success going into Daytona, he could be looking at his first win in the Great American Race.

Elliott started Sunday night’s Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on the pole and dominated the race. He drove away from Ryan Blaney over the last 20 laps as just 12 of the 23 cars that started the main event finished on the lead lap.

Blaney made an impressive drive up from starting last but wasn’t able to make a pass on Elliott in the waning laps. Elliott led 171 of the race’s 200 laps, including the first 97 and the final 75.

Denny Hamlin finished third and led 28 laps. Tyler Reddick led one lap. That's it. That's how good Elliott and the No. 9 Chevrolet team were.

The 200-lap feature had a halfway break and featured six cautions for crashes. But the last crash came on lap 120 as the rest of the race ran caution-free and Elliott picked his way through lapped traffic to keep the lead and secure the win.

Blaney, who took the points provisional and started last, charged through the 23-car field all night long to score a runner-up finish.

Blaney, who took the points provisional and started last, charged through the 23-car field all night long to score a runner-up finish. Hamlin, 2024 Cup champion Joey Logano and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top five. Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick, Shane van Gisbergen and Chris Buescher completed the top 10.

Elliott concluded the night with a passionate burnout and then a shoutout to the fans, who were loud and passionate throughout the weekend in the NASCAR Cup Series return to the .25-mile track.

The Cup Series will officially kick off the 2025 regular season at Daytona International Speedway for the Daytona 500 February 16, 2025.

Results: Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray, February 2, 2025 - Winston-Salem, NC - 0.25 - Mile Paved
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, Status, Tms Led, Laps Led
1) 1, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 200, Running, 2, 171
2) 23, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Great Lakes Flooring Ford, 200, Running, ,
3) 3, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota, 200, Running, 2, 28
4) 7, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 200, Running, ,
5) 14, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Leidos Toyota, 200, Running, ,
6) 17, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Chevrolet, 200, Running, ,
7) 16, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Freightliner Ford, 200, Running, ,
8) 4, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota, 200, Running, 1, 1
9) 10, Shane Van Gisbergen #, No. 88 Trackhouse Chevrolet, 200, Running, ,
10) 2, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Kroger/Tree Top Ford, 200, Running, ,
11) 12, Ryan Preece, No. 60 Fastenal Ford, 200, Running, ,
12) 8, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota, 199, Running, ,
13) 22, Josh Berry, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 199, Running, ,
14) 20, Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Long John Silver's Ford, 199, Running, ,
15) 13, Kyle Busch, No. 8 zone Chevrolet, 199, Running, ,
16) 15, Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Delaware Life Chevrolet, 199, Running, ,
17) 21, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 199, Running, ,
18) 11, William Byron, No. 24 Liberty Univeristy Chevrolet, 199, Running, ,
19) 19, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 199, Running, ,
20) 9, Noah Gragson, No. 4 TrueTimber Ford, 199, Running, ,
21) 5, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford, 199, Running, ,
22) 18, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, 198, Running, ,
23) 6, Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 120, Steering, ,
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie
Race Length: 200 Laps, 50 miles
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 13 Mins, 15 Secs.
Average Speed: 40.956 MPH
Margin of Victory: 1.333 Seconds
Comments: Chase Elliott has won the NASCAR Cup Series annual exhibition event, the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, his first win
in the season-opening race.
Failed to Qualify: (16) 3 Austin Dillon, 42 John Hunter Nemechek, 71 Michael McDowell, 38 Zane Smith, 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 7 Justin
Haley, 10 Ty Dillon, 15 Tim Brown, 51 Cody Ware, 41 Cole Custer, 66 Garrett Smithley(i), 54 Ty Gibbs, 16 AJ Allmendinger, 43 Erik Jones,
35 Riley Herbst #, 50 Burt Myers.
Cautions: 7 for 0 laps;

Laps: 20-20 (No. 99, 4, 8 Incident Turn 3 [None]);
78-78 (No. 24, 34 Incident Frontstretch [4]);
100-100 (Halfway Break [24]);
102-102 (No. 2, 5, 19 Incident Turn 1 [8]);
108-108 (No. 77, 20, 22 Incident Turn 3 [8]);
115-115 (No. 24, 5, 77, 19 Incident Turn 2 [None]);
120-120 (No. 23, 6 Incident Turn 1 [None]).
Lead Changes: 4 among 3 drivers;
C. Elliott 1-96;
D. Hamlin 97-115;
T. Reddick 116;
D. Hamlin 117-125;
C. Elliott 126-200.
Leaders
Car, Times Led, Laps Led
Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 2 Laps, 172 Laps
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota, 2 Laps, 28 Laps

 

Ronald Fleshman and John Davison

Ron Fleshman  and John Davison are Editors at ris-news.com

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Volume 2025, Issue 2, Posted 11:19 PM, 02.02.2025