Ryan Preece wins Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray – Sports News
Bowman Gray noticed a quantity of lead adjustments, with Ryan Preece popping out the winner (Image: Getty)
Ryan Preece got here out victorious at Bowman Gray after rain and sleet threatened to delay the Cook Out Clash additional.
After the race was delayed by three days, the Clash formally started Wednesday, with qualifying and the race held on the identical afternoon. That stated, the fixed risk of rain didn’t bother Preece, who got here away along with his first Clash win after a collection of cautions prolonged the race past expectations.
Of notice, the present chief of the Clash wins is Denny Hamlin with the Joe Gibbs Racing star having gained the race 4 instances all through his profession. Still, Preece got here out the winner after rain and sleet threatened to finish the exhibition earlier than a correct victor was introduced.
An emotional Preece spoke about his journey to stay within the Cup Series, stating: “To be honest with you, it’s been a f—ing long road. … Two years ago, I didn’t think I was going to have a job. I thought I was going back to Connecticut. Man, I’m just super emotional.”
He added: “When we were putting rain tires on, man, this is as much of a mental game as it is anything. I felt pretty beat up. We had a couple restarts go our way. … I’m speechless, man. That last two laps, I’m speechless.”
Rain and sleet fell at Bowman Gray Stadium inflicting one other weather-related delay (Image: Getty)
That stated, the Clash ran seemingly with out situation for the primary 100 or so laps, regardless of the climate trying worse because the afternoon transitioned to nighttime. Kyle Larson, the 2025 Cup Series champion, led for a appreciable portion of the race, with Ty Gibbs battling the star.
However, the motion got here to a screeching halt on Lap 102,when the rain and precipitation had been an excessive amount of to deal with for the common tires. The automobiles then switched to rain tires and spent a few laps warming them up for traction.
NASCAR then categorised the Clash as a “wet-weather” race, with groups devising new plans and methods to work round rain and sleet. After a few laps across the monitor, NASCAR opted to carry the automobiles back to the pits and have the dryers proceed drying the floor.
The choice was made to make sure there was no standing water, which might trigger a car to lose traction if a driver put an excessive amount of emphasis on energy reasonably than finesse. Once the monitor was deemed appropriate enough to proceed racing on, the race restarted, although much less than a lap later, a purple flag was waved after a multi-car crash.
Before the Cook Out Clash started in earnest, drivers competed within the Last Chance Qualifier to see who would fill up the ultimate three spots within the race. Michael McDowell was in prime place to qualify for the primary race earlier than he was penalized by NASCAR for leaping the beginning, being pressured to the back.
After his outing, McDowell was much less than happy with the choice, telling FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass, “The 21 spun his tires. He launched in first gear, I launched in second. So he went first, but he spun his tires. And so I was ahead, obviously. That part was fairly clear at the start-finish line, I was ahead of him. But he launched first, he just spun his tires.”
The first factors race of the 2026 NASCAR season would be the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15.
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