Chase Elliott leads pole winners’ sweep of Clash qualifying races
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — It was a great night for NASCAR’s most popular driver.
After setting the fastest time in the final four-minute practice session and earning the top starting spot in the first qualifying heat, Chase Elliott won that heat wire-to-wire to win the pole position for Sunday’s Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium (8 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Elliott described track position at the tight quarter-mile track as critical to success.
“It’s going to be tough to win from the third or fourth row,” said Elliott, who will share the front row with Heat 2 winner Chris Buescher, who led every lap of the qualifier and held off new Joe Gibbs Racing hire Chase Briscoe to claim the second starting spot in the 200-lap exhibition race.
“I think the first couple of rows certainly have a massive advantage on the rest of the field. Obviously, anything can happen. You all have been watching long enough to know that anything can happen, and I’m well aware of that. But I think just in a normal circumstance of people not totally crashing each other or whatever—yeah, I certainly would want to be on the first couple of rows and, fortunately, we are. We’ll try to take advantage of that.”
Heat 3 and 4 winners Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick will start from third and fourth on the grid, respectively. To underscore just how important starting position is, all four heat winners won wire-to-wire after posting the four fastest laps in the final practice sessions to earn their pole positions for the qualifiers.
The top five drivers in each heat advance to Sunday’s clash. The remaining 19 drivers will compete for two spots in a last chance qualifier that precedes Sunday’s main event. The 23rd spot in the field goes to the driver with the highest number of 2024 championship points not otherwise qualified for the Clash.
That provisional belongs to Ryan Blaney, who finished 10th after starting third in a wild first heat that featured three cautions in 25 laps. Kyle Larson, who started sixth and finished eighth in the second heat will have to race his way into the main event from the LCQ.
After battling a loose condition in his No. 17 Round Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford in the opening eight-minute practice session, Buescher benefited from adjustments made to the car based on considerable preparation time in the simulator.
“We had the changes ready, so when we got there and realized we were just way too loose, we were able to make quick adjustments to get in the ballpark,” said Buescher, who had failed to qualify for the main event in the last three Clashes at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Joining Elliott in the main event from Heat 1 were Brad Keselowski, Noah Gragson, Kyle Busch and Ross Chastain. Heat 2 qualifiers included Buescher, Briscoe, Shane van Gisbergen, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez.
Advancing from Heat 3 in addition to Hamlin were reigning NASCAR Cup champion Joey Logano, William Byron, Carson Hocevar and Alex Bowman. Joining Reddick from Heat 4 were Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece, Austin Cindric and Todd Gilliland.
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 0
Race Results for the Clash Heat Race 1 - Saturday, February 1, 2025
Bowman Gray Stadium - Winston-Salem, NC - 0.25 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 25 Laps - 6.25 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 2/1/2025 @ 09:00 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 1 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 25 0 Running 1 25
2 2 6 Brad Keselowski BuildSubmarines.com Ford 25 0 Running
3 7 4 Noah Gragson TrueTimber Ford 25 0 Running
4 8 8 Kyle Busch zone Chevrolet 25 0 Running
5 5 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Chevrolet 25 0 Running
6 10 10 Ty Dillon Sea Best Chevrolet 25 0 Running
7 9 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet 25 0 Running
8 4 7 Justin Haley The Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet 25 0 Running
9 6 21 Josh Berry Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 25 0 Running
10 3 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Great Lakes Flooring Ford 25 0 Running
Time of Race: Average Speed: 0 MPH Margin of Victory: 0 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10:
Stage 2 Top 10:
Race Comments: Chase Elliott has won the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium Heat Race 1.
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 3 for 0 laps; Lap: 4 (#3 Stopped On Track [None]); 6 (#7, 4, 8 Incident Turn 1 [None]); 8 (#8 Spin Turn 2 [None]).
Lead Changes: 0 among 1 drivers; C. Elliott 1-25.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: February 1, 2025 - Bowman Gray Stadium
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NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 0
Race Results for the Clash Heat Race 2 - Saturday, February 1, 2025
Bowman Gray Stadium - Winston-Salem, NC - 0.25 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 25 Laps - 6.25 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 2/1/2025 @ 09:11 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 1 17 Chris Buescher Kroger/Tree Top Ford 25 0 Running 1 25
2 2 19 Chase Briscoe Bass Pro Shops Toyota 25 0 Running
3 3 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # Trackhouse Chevrolet 25 0 Running
4 5 23 Bubba Wallace Leidos Toyota 25 0 Running
5 7 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 25 0 Running
6 4 38 Zane Smith Speedy Cash Ford 25 0 Running
7 8 43 Erik Jones Family Dollar Toyota 25 0 Running
8 6 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 25 0 Running
9 9 51 Cody Ware Mighty Fire Breaker/Red Cross Ford 25 0 Running
10 10 66 * Garrett Smithley(i) Veterans Ranch Ford 25 0 Running
Time of Race: Average Speed: 0 MPH Margin of Victory: 0 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10:
Stage 2 Top 10:
Race Comments: Chris Buescher has won the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium Heat Race 2.
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 0 for laps; Laps:.
Lead Changes: 0 among 1 drivers; C. Buescher 1-25.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: February 1, 2025 - Bowman Gray Stadium
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 0
Race Results for the Clash Heat Race 3 - Saturday, February 1, 2025
Bowman Gray Stadium - Winston-Salem, NC - 0.25 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 25 Laps - 6.25 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 2/1/2025 @ 09:22 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 1 11 Denny Hamlin Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota 25 0 Running 1 25
2 2 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 25 0 Running
3 3 24 William Byron Liberty Univeristy Chevrolet 25 0 Running
4 5 77 Carson Hocevar Delaware Life Chevrolet 25 0 Running
5 4 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 25 0 Running
6 6 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 25 0 Running
7 8 35 Riley Herbst # Monster Energy Zero Sugar Toyota 25 0 Running
8 7 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. SUNNYD Chevrolet 25 0 Running
9 10 50 * Burt Myers Citrusafe Cleaners Chevrolet 25 0 Running
10 9 15 * Tim Brown Dairi-O/Jerry Hunt/Hayes Ford 24 0 Running
Time of Race: Average Speed: 0 MPH Margin of Victory: 0 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10:
Stage 2 Top 10:
Race Comments: Denny Hamlin has won the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium Heat Race 3.
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 0 for laps; Laps:.
Lead Changes: 0 among 1 drivers; D. Hamlin 1-25.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: February 1, 2025 - Bowman Gray Stadium
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 0
Race Results for the Clash Heat Race 4 - Saturday, February 1, 2025
Bowman Gray Stadium - Winston-Salem, NC - 0.25 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 25 Laps - 6.25 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 2/1/2025 @ 09:41 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 1 45 Tyler Reddick Jordan Brand Toyota 25 0 Running 1 25
2 2 20 Christopher Bell Mobil 1 Toyota 25 0 Running
3 6 60 Ryan Preece Fastenal Ford 25 0 Running
4 3 2 Austin Cindric Freightliner Ford 25 0 Running
5 5 34 Todd Gilliland Long John Silver's Ford 25 0 Running
6 9 71 Michael McDowell Workforce Chevrolet 25 0 Running
7 7 16 AJ Allmendinger Campers Inn RV Chevrolet 25 0 Running
8 8 42 John H. Nemechek Dollar Tree Toyota 25 0 Running
9 4 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Ford 25 0 Running
Time of Race: Average Speed: 0 MPH Margin of Victory: 0 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10:
Stage 2 Top 10:
Race Comments: Tyler Reddick has won the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium Heat Race 4.
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 2 for 0 laps; Lap: 6 (#16, 41 Incident Frontstretch [None]); 7 (#42, 60 Incident Turn 3 [None]).
Lead Changes: 0 among 1 drivers; T. Reddick 1-25.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: February 2, 2025 - Bowman Gray Stadium
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875
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