Ryan Preece wins the Cook Out Clash by overcoming the weather and an 18th starting spot in the NASCAR Cup Series exhibition at Bowman Gray.
Neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor gloom of night could keep Ryan Preece from his appointed rounds at Bowman Gray Stadium.
Ryan Preece Wins The Clash
On wet-weather tires, on a track peppered with a wintry mix during the 100-lap break, Preece navigated the glazed asphalt at the historic quarter-mile track to win the second Cook Out Clash staged in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Historically heavy snow had forced the postponement of the season-opening NASCAR Cup Series exhibition race twice. Still, for the 35-year-old driver from Berlin, Connecticut, the victory on Wednesday night was well worth the wait.
“I don’t even know what to say,” said Preece, tears in his eyes as he climbed from his car to the cheers of hardy fans who had braved the rain and bone-chilling temperatures. “To be honest with you, it’s been a freaking long road.
“It’s the Clash, but, man, it’s been years and years of grinding … Two years ago, I didn’t think I was going to have a job. I thought I was going back to Connecticut.”
Preece, however, secured a ride in the No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford after Stewart-Haas Racing closed its doors at the end of the 2024 season.
On Wednesday night, he led the final 45 laps after taking the top spot on lap 156, muscling his way past Shane van Gisbergen after a restart four laps earlier.
In a rock ’em, sock ’em free-for-all that featured a Clash-record 17 cautions, Preece pulled away after the final restart on Lap 182 of 200, beating runner-up William Byron to the finish line by 1.752 seconds.
Preece is the third driver to win the Clash before winning a NASCAR Cup Series points race, joining NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin in that distinction.
The Cook Out Clash Results
The modified star, who started 18th and worked his way forward before and after the halfway break, extended one streak and broke another. He is the ninth straight different driver to win the Clash, but he’s the first to win from outside the first two rows since the Clash went to a quarter-mile format at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 2022.
Ryan Blaney ran third, followed by Daniel Suarez and Denny Hamlin. Chase Briscoe, Austin Dillon, Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, and Alex Bowman completed the top ten.
Pole winner and reigning Cup champion Kyle Larson led a race-high 67 laps to Preece’s 46, but Larson’s race fell apart after rain and sleet covered the track, leading to a 16th-place result after the change from slick tires to wet-weather rubber.
Two LCQ Transfers
For the second straight year, Josh Berry raced into the main event from the Last Chance Qualifier. After passing AJ Allmendinger for the top spot on Lap 18 of 75, Berry led the rest of the way in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford, and finished 7.419 seconds clear of runner-up Austin Cindric.
The field for the Clash wasn’t set, however, until AJ Allmendinger shoved Cindric past Corey LaJoie in the final corner, allowing Cindric to secure the second of two spots available through the LCQ.
From lap 62 on, Cindric and Lajoie had battled for the runner-up position, with Cindric securing the inside position for the final four circuits.
“You wanted to be on the inside, obviously, but you don’t want to pass the guy, ‘cause then he has the opportunity to get back to you,” said LaJoie, who was subbing for injured Brad Keselowski in the No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Ford.
“It was exciting. It was fun to be in the fight. I hadn’t been in a fight like that in a long time.”
Allmendinger, who finished fourth behind LaJoie, was in the mix until the finish.
“I had the plan set up perfect,” said Allmendinger, who intended to move both Cindric and LaJoie up the track on the final lap. “I just didn’t execute. I went down in there to kind of shove ‘em both out of the way, and we didn’t have enough grip to throttle back up and beat ‘em to the line.”
Berry started 21st in the Clash and finished 12th. Cindric started 22nd and ran 21st after a litany of issues.
Bowman started last (23rd) in the Clash field on a provisional as the highest finisher in the 2025 standings not already in the field through qualifying or the LCQ.