WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — At a track that oozes history, it was two drivers who could steer NASCAR’s future dueling for the lead late in Sunday night’s Cook Out Clash.
Chase Elliott, the sport’s most popular driver each of the past seven years, and his close friend Ryan Blaney, ran 1-2 with less than 25 laps laps before Elliott pulled away to win the first Cup race at Bowman Gray Stadium since 1971.
Clash results
Last Chance Qualifier results
Blaney, who started last in the 23-car field, finished second. Denny Hamlin was third, followed by Joey Logano and Bubba Wallace.
NASCAR first raced at this quarter-mile track around a football field in 1949. The Wood Brothers scored their first Cup victory at this track. Richard Petty’s 100th Cup win came here. Bobby Allison won the last Cup race here.
“We had some history to live up to,” Ross Chastain said after his sixth-place finish.
NASCAR was at Bowman Gray Stadium — known as the “Madhouse” for its conflicts on and off the track — after opening the previous three seasons at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a venue that has hosted the Olympics, Super Bowl and World Series and is home to the University of Southern California football team.
“I just feel like if we’re going to race on a football field, this is probably as good of a place as any to do it,” Elliott said of Bowman Gray.
Sunday’s Clash had its moments of bumping, beating and wrecking, but the race went caution-free the final 75 laps.
As Blaney challenged Elliott for the lead, the two raced clean. Blaney’s car then faded.
“I think we were pretty evenly matched, but when I started to go, I just didn’t have enough right rear,” Blaney said. “I was not going to make that pass and (I) couldn’t just bulldog into him and get chased out of here with pitchforks, so when it was time to go, I just didn’t quite have enough.”
Drivers said the atmosphere was special at a place that held around 17,000 and featured fans from 44 states and five countries. Elliott basked in the moment when he exited his car after winning.
“It was an extremely special moment and I think the people in the crowd made it that,” Elliott said. “A moment that I’ll never forget.”
Elliott’s victory completed a weekend that saw him post the fastest lap in qualifying, lead all 25 laps to win his heat race and lead 171 of 200 laps to claim the checkered flag in the Clash.
The 29-year-old Elliott, who won the 2020 series title, has provided many memorable moments for his fans, who have seen Bill Elliott’s son grow over the past decade and be more open to sharing his opinions about the sport’s path.
Asked Saturday about where he would like to see the Clash go, Elliott said: “I know we’re kind of testing the waters a little bit with the (inaugural) Mexico City (Cup) race this year, but I think the real test would be going overseas, and I think this race would be a good opportunity to do something like that … where it wouldn’t be committing to a points race somewhere that’s a long ways away. I like the idea of using it as a potential stepping stone to help grow the sport.”
The 31-year-old Blaney, who won the 2023 Cup title, also likes the idea of rotating sites for the Clash, which was held at Daytona from 1979-2021 before moving to Los Angeles and to Bowman Gray this year.
“This is a perfect race that you have a chance to move it around and go to different parts of the country and maybe even outside of the USA to give a different part of an area and a fan base something to watch – NASCAR and Cup cars in general,” he said.
The event’s future will be one of the key points for a sport that is spending this year to examine its playoff system — “I’m not sure there’s a more important decision that we can make in just how we crown our champion every year,” Elliott said — has hinted at moving the championship race to different sites and held its first race on the streets of Chicago in 2023 and will be in Mexico City in June.
“I think that the leadership group at NASCAR right now has been open to more change over the past three or four years than I think it probably ever changed, in the prior 30 years before that,” Elliott said Saturday.
“So I think that there’s got to be some appreciation for the willingness that they’ve had to go and try new things. And also, with that being said, does that mean all of those things are going to be good? No, they’re not. And I think as long as we’re willing to say that some of the stuff hasn’t been good, then it’s fine. I think we can move forward and grow from it.”
This weekend, the sport stepped back into its past but by Sunday night, the focus was on the future.
