It doesn’t count towards the big picture but Chase Elliott gets the first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season in winning the non-points Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Coliseum.
Elliott, the 2020 champion, won the race from the pole but it took a spirited eight lap duel with Denny Hamlin off a restart and then a clinic through lapped traffic. Hamlin led for the middle stages of the race but fell off at the end and wasn’t able to re-catch the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9.
“I know it’s not a points race, but it is nice to win, for sure,” Elliott said in Victory Lane. “Just really proud of our team for just continuing to keep our heads down and push forward, for sure.
“Had a tough race. Ryan kept me honest there at the end. Denny was really good at the second half of that break. I just felt like he was kind of riding, and I was afraid to lose control of the race and not be able to get it back.”
Hamlin, who led twice for 28 laps, felt like he just got beat on the restart and the lost track position came back top haunt him.
“I just didn’t do very well on that restart there, and kind of lost the bottom and Chase took advantage of it,” Hamlin said. “Once you get the lead, it is a lot easier to hang on to it. I thought that they were just a little better that second half than we were, along with (Ryan Blaney) was as well. We just have to get a little bit better, but overall, a good day.”
Blaney used a provisional to claim the final starting spot ultimately drove from last to second by lap 146 and drove away from Hamlin in the closing laps. It’s the second year in a row he needed to use the provisional, having driven from last to third at the final race in the Los Angeles Coliseum.
“I was saying last year we came from last to 3rd, this year last to 2nd,” Blaney said. “Got to not start last and have a shot to win one of these things.
“Yeah, that was fun. That was a blast. The car was really good, especially the first half and the second half. Being able to get to 2nd, then race hard with Chase there, who’s going to save more tire. I just didn’t quite have enough right rear at the end to make a move on him.”
The feature race was relatively calm after a chaotic last chance race earlier in the evening and heat races on Saturday night.
Hamlin, 2024 Cup champion Joey Logano and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top-5. Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick, Shane van Gisbergen and Chris Buescher completed the top 10.
- Chase Elliott
- Ryan Blaney
- Denny Hamlin
- Joey Logano
- Bubba Wallace
- Ross Chastain
- Austin Cindric
- Tyler Reddick
- Shane Van Gisbergen #
- Chris Buescher
- Ryan Preece
- Christopher Bell
- Josh Berry
- Todd Gilliland
- Kyle Busch
- Carson Hocevar
- Kyle Larson
- William Byron
- Alex Bowman
- Noah Gragson
- Brad Keselowski
- Daniel Suarez
- Chase Briscoe
Last Chance Race
In the last chance qualifier that determined positions 21 and 22 in the main event, Kyle Larson charged from the 10th starting position and survived nine cautions to win the 75-lap event and advance to the Clash.
On Lap 72, Larson grabbed the lead from Josh Berry, who was making his first competitive start for Wood Brothers Racing at the track where team patriarch and NASCAR Hall of Famer Glen Wood secured all four of his Cup Series victories.
Larson took the top spot for the first time on Lap 30 and led a race-high 36 circuits en route to the win. However, Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet sustained damage after he surrendered the lead to Erik Jones for a restart on Lap 65.
In a melee moments after racing resumed, Jones spun in a three-wide mishap with Berry and Larson and dropped out of contention.
“My car was way better than it was yesterday,” said Larson, whose eighth-place finish in his Saturday heat relegated him to the last chance qualifier. “That was fun. I was able to get to the front without really getting into too many people.
“But then after that long break (for local champion Burt Myers hard wreck on Lap 61), I cycled really tight for that restart and allowed Erik to get in front of me and just kind of lost control of the race at that point. Then, the next restart, it got crazy, and I got a bunch of damage.”
Berry, who started 13th, held second to secure the 22nd spot in the Clash. Berry and Larson finished 13th and 17th, respectively, in the main event.
“It got pretty rough,” Berry said. “You hate that it comes to that, but it is what it is—it’s the Madhouse, it’s Bowman Gray Stadium, it’s a tight race track, and you’re going to run into each other.”
