By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer
Ryan Preece outlasted sleet, a wet track and a record number of cautions to win The Clash in near-freezing temperatures at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The Wednesday night exhibition was the first victory at the top Cup Series level for Preece, who drives a Ford for RFK Racing. The event had originally been scheduled for Sunday but was twice postponed because of snow that blanketed the state.
Preece joins Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin as drivers who won The Clash before ever winning a points-paying race. He will now take momentum into Daytona International Speedway for next week’s season-opening Daytona 500.
Weather dramatically disrupted the 200-lap event and NASCAR called a break just after the halfway point because it began sleeting over the stadium. NASCAR ordered cars to the pits to put on wet-weather Goodyear tires, and the cars returned to the track with the designated tires, but many drivers complained of visibility issues between the sleet and the glare of the lights.
The cars briefly returned to the pits, the sleet stopped, and they went back to a wet track. But as soon as the race went green, Hamlin slid into pole-sitter Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch was also collected.
From there, it was spin after spin as the race dragged on so long that cars began running out of fuel and past Fox’s allotted broadcast window, forcing the remaining 35 laps to be aired on cable. NASCAR allowed the cars to go back to the pits for fuel at the same time coverage left Fox.
The race ranked as one of the coldest in NASCAR history with temperatures hovering around freezing — especially when it began sleeting.
Preece, who has clawed his way through the ranks of NASCAR from a background racing modifieds in the Northeast, was in tears as he celebrated.
“Two years ago I didn’t think I had a job — I thought I was going back to Connecticut,” Preece said. “I’m super, super, super emotional.”
William Byron finished second and was followed by Ryan Blaney and Daniel Suarez in his debut race for Spire Motorsports. Hamlin was fifth.
Bowman Gray hosted The Clash for the second consecutive year. It was held at Daytona International Speedway for 43 years from its inception in 1979 through 2021, then moved for three seasons to a temporary track inside Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Larson, the reigning Cup Series champion, started from the pole alongside Hendrick Motorsports teammate Byron, the two-time defending Daytona 500 winner.
Hamlin, who had an emotionally traumatic roller coaster of an offseason, started sixth in his first time in a car since he dramatically lost the Cup title in November. Hamlin revealed before the race that he reinjured a torn labrum that was surgically repaired ahead of the 2025 season when he slipped in the debris from the December house fire that killed his father and critically injured his mother.
He said he’d hold off on repairing it until the end of this upcoming season.
“I don’t think that it ever healed properly,” Hamlin said. “Took a little fall at my mom’s house, going through all the rubble and stuff, and just didn’t feel right. Got it rescanned and re-tore it again.”
Last chance qualifying
Josh Berry and Austin Cindric claimed the final two spots in The Clash by finishing 1-2 in the last chance qualifying heat.
Berry ran away with the win in the heat race in the No. 21 for Wood Brothers Racing, a team affiliated with Team Penske. Cindric had a much tougher task as he raced side-by-side for over 15 laps with Corey Lajoie for the second transfer position.
Lajoie was the injury replacement driver for Brad Keselowski, co-owner of RFK Racing, who is healing from a broken leg suffered in a fall in December. He held his own against fellow Ford driver Cindric, in a Penske entry, as the two jostled back-and-forth for second.
As the drivers came to the checkered flag, AJ Allmendinger gave Cindric a shove in the hopes of moving both Cindric and Lajoie out of his way so that Allmendinger could take the final spot. The move instead pushed Cindric firmly ahead of Lajoie for the final spot in the 200-lap Clash at the historic short track.
Among those who missed making the field for The Clash were Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Todd Gilliland, who both spent a day this week shoveling snow out of the grandstands at Bowman Gray to help NASCAR prepare the facility.
Up next
Teams report to Daytona International Speedway next week for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15. Qualifying for the pole is next Wednesday and the rest of the field will be set via a pair of Thursday races.