Who… should you be talking about after the race?
Sometimes a driver cruises through a race weekend, and sometimes he has to fight tooth and nail for the win. In Sunday’s (Feb. 2) Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, Chase Elliott went through both.
Elliott set the fastest time in his qualifying group to start and win the first heat from the pole, putting him on the pole for the main event as well. Elliott led most of the first half but was passed by Denny Hamlin right before the mid-race break.
Elliott raced with Hamlin to open the second half and was able to move by him as Ryan Blaney charged into the picture. Hamlin is a master at saving equipment, but he wasn’t a factor for the win this time.
It was Blaney with the best car early in the second half, but he used up his tires trying to wrest the lead away from Elliott and had to settle for second.
Elliott did have the best car, but he had to carefully manage it with only one chance to stop for tires and adjustments. He also had to contend with lapped traffic late in the race, which is always a question mark. This time the traffic worked to Elliott’s advantage and he took the win, complete with burnouts and a slide through the open infield.
Chase Elliott wins the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium! pic.twitter.com/YiuobQMCsB
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 3, 2025
On the other hand… it was a rough weekend for Kyle Busch. Between his heat and the feature, Busch had an eventful race, spinning in the midst of a furious battle with Justin Haley in their heat and then going around in a chain reaction in the Clash.
There's trouble early for @KyleBusch! pic.twitter.com/1uroaKtLy0
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 3, 2025
It could have been worse; Busch rebounded in his heat to make the show and then again during the Clash, where he finished 15th.
The only driver representing Richard Childress Racing in the big event on Sunday, Busch is looking to bounce back in 2025 after struggling in 2024, the first winless year in his full-time Cup career.
What… does this mean for the points standings?
Absolutely nothing.
That’s why this race works. The current format assures every team gets some track time even if they don’t qualify for the main event, so it’s a bit of a warm-up for everyone, but it doesn’t give anyone an advantage as they won’t race at Bowman Gray during the regular season.
And as an exhibition, it was really fun to watch. With zero points on the line, drivers could be aggressive and take chances they normally wouldn’t.
The tight 1/4-mile Bowman Gray oval is lined with storm drains, has no inside wall, and invokes frustration as well as aggression. The racing didn’t disappoint.
The Last Chance Qualifier Race featured the kind of racing fans hoped it would, with aggressive moves but nothing egregious, local favorites Burt Myers and Tim Brown mixing it up with the Cup regulars and a race up front between the Nos. 43 and 21 cars.
The main event was a little tamer with no eliminations on the line, but there was plenty of hard racing, particularly in the second half. Tight quarters led to chain reactions, and plenty of drivers were happy to take what they could by just about any means necessary, leading to the beating and banging that fans have been clamoring for.
With today’s cars and title format, the track simply would not have been as entertaining as a longer points race. With lap speeds in the low 60 mph range, the current Cup car looks like it lumbers around a quarter mile. Points on the line mean a different race, and this one wouldn’t benefit from that.
Where… did he come from?
While winning a heat and starting up front meant a successful night with all four heat winners finishing in the top 10, it wasn’t the only way.
Blaney started 23rd — dead last — after struggling in his heat and falling back on the provisional spot for the highest driver in 2024 points who didn’t race their way in. Blaney and the No. 12 team have mastered making the most out of their cars every week, and this race was no different. Blaney was 10th by the halftime break and charged forward in the second half to get by Hamlin and race hot on Elliott’s heels for the rest of the night.
Here comes @Blaney!
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 3, 2025
He takes second away from Hamlin! pic.twitter.com/rFA6jvmuzg
Also starting outside the top 10 were Bubba Wallace, who started 14th and finished fifth, Ross Chastain who raced from 17th to sixth, and Austin Cindric, who started 16th and wound up seventh.
On a night when the race was largely in the drivers’ hands, a few of them seized the opportunity.
When… was the moment of truth?
Elliott won the race for two reasons: he managed his car well in the second half, and the race played into his needs. By making the pass for the lead early, Elliott could conserve tires more than the drivers pursuing him. The winning pass came with 75 laps to go.
The larger number of cautions in the second half also helped the No. 9 team. While his car fell off in the first 100 laps, the multiple cautions in the final 100 helped the tires last. Lapped traffic also worked in Elliott’s favor because Blaney had to use up more tires to get around them quickly. One of those cars being that of Elliott’s teammate Kyle Larson, as the No. 5 held Blaney up just a hair longer than he did Elliott.
All in all, this was a driver’s win. Elliott and his team made the right calls and the right moves on track — a necessity on a night with perfect weather where fuel and pit strategy were non-existent.
Why… should you be paying attention this week?
Most people are focused on the Super Bowl coming up next weekend, but for race fans, that means that the Daytona 500 is just around the corner.
Elliott carries a little momentum into the season after his win Sunday night. Others to watch include last year’s winner William Byron, three-time Daytona 500 winner Hamlin and defending Cup champion Joey Logano.
Enjoy one last quiet week — the engines roar to life in earnest after that.
How… did this race stack up?
This year marked the first time the Clash has been held at Bowman Gray, so there’s not much to compare it to, by the numbers or otherwise.
It was a better race than the Clashes held at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum for a couple of reasons. While both tracks’ dimensions are similar in that they surround football stadiums, Bowman Gray is a dedicated racetrack, with true straightaways and properly aged pavement.
Finally, there’s the intangible here: the LA Clashes felt like an attempt to fit in with another crowd that wasn’t really interested in that. Bowman Gray felt like coming home.
The crowd felt it too — the stands were packed full and electric, a far cry from the crowd that trickled in at the last minute and who seemed amused but not invested in an event that always seemed transient. This week’s crowd was vocal and passionate, part of something that has endured for decades.
While there has been talk of moving the race to different tracks, it fits well at Bowman Gray, with the Bobby Allison Trophy as the big prize. NASCAR’s past needs to remain a part of its future.
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.
It’s been a very long time since NASCAR produced a race that I thought “damn that was fun to watch!”. Hat tip to Bowman Gray and NASCAR.
Just taking two cars from the 75 lap LCQ was ridiculous. They should have taken four from the heats and six from the LCQ. That would have given more cars a chance to get to the 200 lap farce.
I politely disagree. The heats set the main event, so more cars should come from those races. But I do agree there should have been four from the LCQ.