NASCAR’s most popular driver mastered The Madhouse’s mayhem to open the 2025 season.
Polesitter Chase Elliott led 171 of 200 laps to claim the season-opening exhibition race, the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, Sunday night in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver was passed by Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota late in the first 100 laps, but Elliott regained the lead in the second 100 and beat Ryan Blaney by 1.3 seconds on the quarter-mile track for his first Clash victory.
Elliott’s previous best finish was second at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course in the 2021 non-points event. He became the race’s 26th winner.
“I know it’s not a points race, but it is nice to win, for sure,” Elliott said. “Just really proud of our team for continuing to keep our heads down and push forward. Ryan kept me honest there at the end, and Denny was really good at the second half of that break.
“I felt (Hamlin) was just riding, and I didn’t want to lose control of the race and not get it back.”
Blaney’s run was impressive: He took a provisional starting spot and sliced through the field.
“Last year we came from last to third and this year last to second,” said Blaney of his best Clash finish. “Maybe not start last and we’ll have a shot to win one of these things. … I just didn’t have enough right-rear tire at the end to make a move on him.”
Following Blaney were Hamlin, Joey Logano and Bubba Wallace.
Elliott won the pole for the 200-lap event on the quarter-mile bullring, but the seven-time Most Popular Driver Award winner had to wait out an intense last-chance qualifying race that had Kyle Larson and Josh Berry racing in, while Blaney claimed the provisional to form the 23-car field.
In the 47th running of the Clash and first at the tiny speedway dubbed The Madhouse, Elliott stretched his lead out to over a second in the first 20 laps until Kyle Busch was dumped in a chain-reaction wreck for the first caution.
Elliott avoided trouble when William Byron bounced off the outside wall while being lapped by the No. 9 Chevrolet.
Hamlin made the first real run at Elliott on the Lap 80 restart, pulling up beside him on the flat track but being unable to take the lead until Lap 97 when the Joe Gibbs Racing driver slid the Toyota underneath Elliott.
At the 100-lap mark, NASCAR threw the second caution for the halftime break with Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Elliott, Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski comprising the top five.
Meanwhile, 23rd-place starter Blaney moved all the way to 10th in his No. 12 Ford.
Larson, Keselowski, Carson Hocevar, William Byron and Alex Bowman were all caught up in spins over the next 20 laps, and Elliott reassumed the lead with a pass of Hamlin on Lap 127 and raced on to victory.
–Field Level Media
