Chase Elliott kicked off the 2025 NASCAR season in commanding fashion, leading 171 laps to capture his first Clash victory in NASCAR’s return to the legendary Bowman Gray Stadium after a 54-year absence. The historic quarter-mile track in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, provided an electric atmosphere as a sellout crowd witnessed Elliott hold off a hard-charging Ryan Blaney in the 200-lap exhibition race.

Starting from the pole, Elliott surrendered the lead only briefly to Denny Hamlin before reasserting his dominance on Lap 126. Blaney, who started last in the 23-car field, mounted an impressive charge through the field but couldn’t overcome Elliott’s mastery of lapped traffic in the closing laps, finishing 1.333 seconds behind.

“This environment is special,” Elliott said after the race, celebrating both his victory and the venue’s historic significance. “This is a place that has a deep history in NASCAR. I think they deserve this event.”

The event, which moved to Bowman Gray after three years at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, featured intense racing throughout the field. Hamlin finished third after leading 28 laps, while Joey Logano and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top five.

Earlier in the evening, Kyle Larson won a dramatic last-chance qualifier to secure his spot in the main event, though he would ultimately finish 17th after sustaining damage in the closing stages of the race.

Elliott’s victory marked the eighth different winner in the last eight Clash events and made him the 26th different driver to win NASCAR’s season-opening exhibition race.

Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images