After several delays and an industry-wide effort, the Cook Out Clash finally took place a couple of days behind schedule at Bowman Gray Stadium. In a NASCAR Cup Series exhibition that became a game of halves, it was Ryan Preece who navigated the wet conditions en route to his maiden win with RFK Racing.
Preece scored his first Cup checkered flag, albeit he still lacks a victory in a Cup points-paying event.
“I don’t even know what to say,” a passionate Preece told FOX Sports. “It’s been years and years of grinding and I’m just super thankful.”
William Byron finished second, followed by Ryan Blaney in third, Daniel Suarez in fourth, and Denny Hamlin in fifth.
Reigning champion Kyle Larson led the field to green, staying unchallenged at the point for the first 40 laps or so as Byron came on strong from behind.
Byron, Briscoe and Ty Gibbs were some of the biggest movers through the field early, as they all tried to hunt down Larson over the next 25 laps. As the leaders caught up to the back of the field, the first caution came out for debris.
On the next green flag restart, Bubba Wallace found himself on the outside lane, going backward with every succeeding turn. Wallace found a gap just behind Chase Elliott as everyone was taking some form of contact, before getting spun off the hood of Ross Chastain and Blaney.
Byron took a crack and got the lead, moving Larson to the outside where he became the latest victim of the train at Bowman Gray. It didn’t last long for the Joe Gibbs Racing duo of Briscoe and Gibbs to find their way behind Byron.
By the halfway break, Gibbs held the lead and NASCAR held the cars longer due to more weather. Winston-Salem became the victim of sleet, grinding the Clash to a halt.
It certainly didn’t stop the theatrics from the drivers. Wallace and Suarez mixed it up under caution, expressing frustration with the No. 23 team.
After the weather shower, NASCAR mandated a change to the wet tires for the final half of the Clash.
One set of turns later, the field was back under yellow as Hamlin, Larson and Preece spun on the first lap in the wet. As Briscoe took the lead and pulled away from his teammate, the Ford trio of Josh Berry, Austin Cindric and Blaney all suffered damage in various spins.
Carson Hocevar made his way to the front during the series of restarts, pacing the pack as they came up on lap traffic, where Hamlin and Blaney got deadlocked in turn 3. In a race full of comers and goers, Shane van Gisbergen announced himself to the party and took the lead over Hocevar with 60 laps to go, not be outdone by Preece, who muscled his way back to the front as cautions flew aplenty.
Preece held his own as the field flew apart, starting his 2026 on the right foot with the first checkered flag of the season.
Clash Results
The Cup Series heads to Daytona International Speedway for the 68th Daytona 500. The Great American Race will take place on Sunday, Feb. 15, at 2:30 p.m. ET with TV coverage provided by FOX.
Thomas is in his second year covering NASCAR at Frontstretch. A Bay Area NASCAR fan for over 15+ years, he found his love for the sport through Jeff Gordon. He helps manage the 2-Headed Monster Column.
Thomas has enjoyed several trips to Sonoma Raceway in his time and currently covers college athletics in the Bay Area, writing about the California Golden Bears and doing play by play broadcasting.
I personally thought the racing was great–beating, banging, door-slamming, waiting for the next twist and turn. It was much better than plate racing at Daytona or the thing in California. The weather did get in the way. The biggest disappointment for me was Fox cutting away for some stupid singing competition show.
That was another indication of the esteem the networks hold for NA$CAR’s “Product”!