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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR returned to its roots with a fight-free preseason exhibition at Bowman Gray Stadium and a popular victory with Chase Elliott winning The Clash on Sunday night.
Elliott won his heat Saturday night to start from the pole and essentially dominate on the quarter-mile track where NASCAR's Cup Series last raced in 1971.
NASCAR's reigning most popular driver won The Clash for the first time in his career and joined his father, Bill, as winners of the unofficial season-opener. Bill Elliott won The Clash in 1987 and then parlayed that victory into a win in the Daytona 500 one week later.
Chase Elliott gets his chance to repeat his father's dominance when NASCAR's season officially opens Feb. 16 at Daytona International Speedway.
“Excited to get to Daytona. It’s a great way to start the season," Elliott said. “I know it’s not a points race, but it is nice to win, for sure. Just really proud of our team for just continuing to keep our heads down and push forward, for sure.”
The Clash is a non-points event that was held at Daytona International Speedway from 1979 to 2021 as the warm-up act to the Daytona 500. NASCAR stepped outside the box in 2022 and moved it across the country to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which was transformed into a temporary short track for three seasons.
NASCAR this year moved it to Bowman Gray in a throwback to grassroots racing. The Cup Series ran at Bowman Gray from 1958 to 1971 and the stadium is now used for weekly local racing and is the football field for Winston-Salem State University.
The track is notorious for flared tempers and fighting, but made it through two days of NASCAR racing without a single brawl.
“This environment is special. This is a place that has had deep history in NASCAR,” Elliott said. “I think they deserve this event, truthfully. I hope we didn’t disappoint. It was fun for me, at least. We’ll hopefully come back here one day.”
Elliott led 172 of the 200 laps in his Chevrolet from Hendrick Motorsports to win the event in front of an adoring sold-out crowd of 17,000 fans. Most spectators were on their feet every time Elliott picked off a lapped car while battling door-to-door with Denny Hamlin and then holding off Ryan Blaney at the end,
“Thanks everybody for coming out,” Elliott told the crowd. “Y'all made for a really cool environment for us. We don't race in stadiums like this, so this is just really cool and appreciate you making the moment special for me and my team. I hope it was a good show for you.
"Had a tough race. Ryan kept me honest there at the end," he continued. “Denny was really good at the second half of that break. I just felt like he was kind of riding, and I was afraid to lose control of the race and not be able to get it back. Fortunately it worked out. Great way to start the season.”
Kyle Larson and Josh Berry raced their way into The Clash earlier Sunday night by going 1-2 in the crash-filled last chance qualifying, and Blaney earned a spot based on points scored last season to complete the 23-driver field.
This year's race marked the Cup Series' first race at the “Mecca of Madhouse” but didn't produce the off-track temper tantrums the Bowman Gray regulars are used to watching during weekly grassroots racing.
But the event was still special.
Richard Childress hails from just 15 minutes away and as a youngster the Hall of Fame team owner sold peanuts in the grandstands. He was in the stands Sunday night watching and before the race began, he stopped by the Fox Sports booth to deliver peanuts and popcorn to the broadcast crew.
“As a kid we jumped the fence and come in and sell peanuts and popcorn, then I’d hang out with all the race drivers, and we had a heck of a time," Childress said. “I said ‘Man, as much fun as they are having, I’ve got to be a race driver.’ We’d come over here for a fight and a race would break out.”
Blaney finished second in a Ford for Team Penske and was followed by Hamlin in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
