Elliott dominates The Clash in Cup Series return to Bowman Gray

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Pole winner Chase Elliott held off a dramatic charge from Ryan Blaney to win Sunday night’s Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in front of a teeming, vociferous sellout crowd at the historic quarter-mile.

Adroitly working lapped traffic in the closing stages of the 200-lap season-opening exhibition race, Elliott crossed the finish line 1.333 seconds ahead of Blaney, who started last among the 23 competitors on a driver points provisional.

Elliott claimed his first victory in The Clash, which came to Bowman Gray after a three-year stint at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet reveled in the NASCAR Cup Series’ return to the iconic short track after an absence of 54 years.

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“This environment is special,” said Elliott, who led 171 laps, including the first 96, before surrendering the lead to eventual third-place finisher Denny Hamlin. “This is a place that has a deep history in NASCAR. I think they deserve this event, truthfully.

“I hope we didn’t disappoint. It was fun for me at least, and we’ll hopefully come back here one day.”

Hamlin led twice for 28 laps but faded after Elliott retook the top spot from him on Lap 126. And when Blaney slipped past Hamlin’s Toyota on Lap 147, it became a two-driver race.

But Blaney’s car tightened up in the late going, preventing the No. 12 Team Penske Ford driver from challenging for the win. Blaney thought better of making an overly aggressive move on the series’ seven-time Most Popular Driver Award winner.

“I’m not going to bulldog into him and get chased out of here with pitchforks,” Blaney quipped. “… I just didn’t quite have enough right rear at the end to make a move on him.”

WATCH: Elliott discusses Clash victory | Elliott on how “experience” makes Bowman Gray win all the more special

Joey Logano finished fourth, followed by Bubba Wallace, who advanced from his 14th-place starting position. Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick, Shane van Gisbergen and Chris Buescher completed the top 10.

The Cup Series will officially kick off the 2025 regular season at Daytona International Speedway for the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 16 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)..

Read full story at NASCAR.com.