The NASCAR season gets underway this weekend with the annual Clash race.  A non-points race, The Clash is not viewed as an official start to the season.

On February 1 The Cook Out Clash begins with a practice session; followed by qualifying and four heat races to set up most of the starting lineup for the main event on Sunday night.

Earlier in the day, Bowman Gray Stadium hosted the Cook Out Madhouse Classic – a 125 lap race around the quarter mile track.  The Classic was the first race during the daylight hours in nearly 50 years.  Twenty-two drivers started the race including Ryan Preece, Danny Bohn, Trey Hutchens, and NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Bobby Labonte.

After 125 laps and 14 caution flags, Chris Flemming crossed the finish line first to win the race.

Over half of the teams coming to Bowman Gray have new personnel – whether it be a driver, crew member, or crew chief.

The drivers have been divided into three groups for the two eight minute practice sessions.

The quarter mile track at Bowman Gray is a very flat track.  Since it has been over 50 years since the NASCAR Cup Series has been at Bowman Gray, none of the crew chiefs have any notes on the track. 

Once a driver heads down pit road, they are not allowed to return to the track during that practice session.  Carson Hocevar has been allowed to return to the track after he was black flagged when the window net fell down.  He was allowed to replace it and return to the track.

Ty Gibbs led all categories of practice in Group A.

For years, rookie drivers in NASCAR had a yellow stripe on the back of their cars.  As of this year, the yellow stripe is gone!

Austin Cindric led the field of drivers in Group B.

Garrett Smithley’s father is one of the pilots flying the water tankers to help fight the fires in Los Angeles.

Chase Elliott led the Group C drivers after the first practice session.

Goodyear has brought a softer tire for the Bowman Gray track.  The fall off shows the drivers at slower speeds in round two of practice.

The teams get two sets of tires for practice and qualifying.

Practice is over, each group gets four minutes to make their best qualifying run to set the lineup for the four heat races.  The top four drivers after qualifying will sit on the pole for each of the heat races.  Each group has been further divided in half to allow for a better chance at a clean lap in qualifying.

The tires are showing a two tenths of a second fall off after only two minutes on the track.

Chase Elliott
Chris Buescher
Denny Hamlin
Tyler Reddick
Brad Keselowski
Chase Briscoe
Christopher Bell
Joey Logano
Ryan Blaney
Shane van Gisbergen
William Byron
Austin Cindric
Justin Haley
Zane Smith
Alex Bowman
Cole Custer
Ross Chastain
Bubba Wallace
Carson Hocevar
Todd Gilliland
Josh Berry
Kyle Larson
Ryan Preece
Ty Gibbs
Noah Gragson
Daniel Suarez
AJ Allmendinger
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Kyle Busch
Erik Jones
Riley Herbst
John Hunter Nemechek
Austin Dillon
Cody Ware
Tim Brown
Michael McDowell
Ty Dillon
Garrett Smithley
Burt Myers

Every ticket for this weekend at Bowman Gray have been sold!

The field has been divided into four groups for heat racing.  After a 25 lap heat race the top five from each heat will move on to the 200 lap Clash on Sunday night. 

Heat 1 lineup:
Chase Elliott
Brad Keselowski
Ryan Blaney
Justin Haley
Ross Chastain
Josh Berry
Noah Gragson
Kyle Busch
Austin Dillon
Ty Dillon

Chase Elliott brings the field down for the green flag start of the heat and gets out in front for the lead but Brad Keselowski tries to challenge for the spot.

Austin Dillon gets turned around and brings out the first caution on lap four.  Caution flags do not count.

Chase Elliott brings the field down for the green flag restart with Brad Keselowski alongside.  Elliott jumps out in front with Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney in a battle for second.

Justin Haley and Noah Gragson make contact to bring out the second caution flag of the race.  The two had been beating and banging before the caution flag.

The drivers are racing on a track that was built during the Depression and was designed for running.

Chase Elliott brings the field down for the third restart on lap seven and holds on to the lead but Brad Keselowski comes up to challenge for the lead.

Kyle Busch spins out and Josh Berry gets turned around to bring out the third caution flag. The drivers are trying to run three wide on a track that is barely made for side by side racing.

The eight car (Kyle Busch) has been warned by NASCAR to settle down.

Chase Elliott brings the field down for another green flag restart on lap nine with Brad Keselowski alongside.  Elliott holds on to the lead.

The top five are Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Noah Gragson, Ryan Blaney, and Kyle Busch.

Lap 13, Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney battle for fourth with Busch taking the spot.

Ross Chastain passes Ryan Blaney for fifth.

With seven to go Ryan Blaney spins out but the track stays green.  He drops to 10th place.

Four to go, Chase Elliott has led every lap and has a lead of over a second on Brad Keselowski.

Chase Elliott takes the whit flag with a two second lead.

Chase Elliott wins the race.  Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Noah Gragson, Kyle Busch, and Ross Chastain move on to The Clash.

Heat 2 lineup:
Chris Buescher
Chase Briscoe
Shane van Gisbergen
Zane Smith
Bubba Wallace
Kyle Larson
Daniel Suarez
Erik Jones
Cody Ware
Garrett Smithley

Chris Buescher brings the field down for the green flag start of the heat and jumps out in front.  Zane Smith and Bubba Wallace are on Shane van Gisbergen’s bumper.

Zane Smith gets knocked to the bottom and jumps up to the top nearly taking out Kyle Larson. 

Kyle Larson hits the drains at the edge of the track and nearly gets airborne.

Lap eight, Chris Buescher has a near one second lead on Chase Briscoe; Shane van Gisbergen, Bubba Wallace, and Daniel Suarez round out the top five.

Lap 12, Chris Buescher holds on to the lead.  Chase Elliott led every lap in heat one, can Buescher do the same?

Nine to go, Chase Briscoe is slowly closing the gap on leader Chris Buescher.  Buescher has a lead of less than half a second.

Chris Beuscher wins heat two after leading every lap.

Chris Beuscher, Chase Briscoe, Shane van Gisbergen, Bubba Wallace, and Daniel Suarez will move on to The Clash.

Heat 3 lineup:
Denny Hamlin
Joey Logano
William Byron
Alex Bowman
Carson Hocevar
Ty Gibbs
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Riley Herbst
Tim Brown
Burt Myers

Denny Hamlin brings the field down for the green flag start with Joey Logano alongside.  Hamlin takes the lead with Logano and Byron in a battle for second.

Lap four, Ty Gibbs bumps Alex Bowman in a battle for the final transfer spot in fifth.

Lap six, Denny Hamlin has pulled out to a half second lead on Joey Logano.

Lap 10, Alex Bowman edges away from Ty Gibbs; Denny Hamlin increases his lead to nearly a second.

Ty Gibbs locks up his left front tire in a battle to pass Alex Bowman.

Ten to go, Denny Hamlin has a second lead; Joey Logano and William Byron battle for second.

Burt Myers has passed Time Brown – both drivers are locals and elicit a lot of cheers from the crowd.  They are the two winningest drivers at Bowman Gray.

Just four laps to go, Denny Hamlin has a second and a half lead on Joey Logano.

Denny Hamlin takes the white flag.

Denny Hamlin leads every lap to win the race.

Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, William Byron, Carson Hocevar, and Alex Bowman move on to the main event on Sunday night.

Heat 4 lineup:
Tyler Reddick
Christopher Bell
Austin Cindric
Cole Custer
Todd Gilliland
Ryan Preece
AJ Allmendinger
John Hunter Nemechek
Michael McDowell

Tyler Reddick brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with Christopher Bell alongside.  Reddick gets out in front for the lead.

Drivers are getting aggressive early with some beating and banging.

Cole Custer and AJ Allmendinger battle for fifth place and bring out the caution flag.  AJ pushes Cole into the wall before getting into the wall himself.  Ryan Preece moves up to take fifth – the final transfer spot.

Tyler Reddick brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap six with Christopher Bell alongside.  Reddick holds on to the lead.

Three wide racing and more bumping and banging.  John Hunter Nemechek gets punted into the wall by Ryan Preece to bring out the second caution.  Nemechek takes his car to the garage and returns to the track after the crew pulled out a fender.

Tyler Reddick brings the field down for the third green flag restart on lap seven with Christopher Bell alongside.  Reddick holds on to the lead with Christopher Bell on his bumper.

Ryan Preece and Christopher Bell battle for second.

Lap eleven, Todd Gilliland holds the fifth place spot in the number 34 car – the car sixth place driver Michael McDowell drove last year.

Lap 15, Tyler Reddick has pulled out to a lead of nearly a second and a half on Christopher Bell; Ryan Preece, Austin Cindric, and Todd Gilliland round out the top five.

Seven to go, Tyler Reddick has a lead of over a second and a half.

Four to go, Cole Custer has fallen to last place over 10 seconds back.

Completing the sweep, Tyler Reddick leads every lap to win the race.

Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece, Austin Cindric, and Todd Gilliland will move on to The Clash.

The Clash starting lineup (with three spots remaining):
Chase Elliott
Chris Buescher
Denny Hamlin
Tyler Reddick
Brad Keselowski
Chase Briscoe
Joey Logano
Christopher Bell
Noah Gragson
Shane van Gisbergen
William Byron
Ryan Preece
Kyle Busch
Bubba Wallace’
Carson Hocevar
Austin Cindric
Ross Chastain
Daniel Suarez
Alex Bowman
Todd Gilliland