Ryan Preece triumphs at The Clash at Bowman Gray despite sleet and cautions.
Ryan Preece endured sleet, a damp track, and an unprecedented number of cautions to secure victory in The Clash under near-freezing conditions at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
This Wednesday night exhibition marked Preece’s first triumph at the premier Cup Series level, driving a Ford for RFK Racing. The event was initially slated for Sunday but faced two postponements due to snow covering the state.
Preece joins the ranks of Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin as drivers who have won The Clash prior to achieving a points-paying victory. He will carry this momentum into Daytona International Speedway for the upcoming season-opening Daytona 500.
The weather significantly impacted the 200-lap race, prompting NASCAR to call a halt shortly after the halfway mark as sleet began to fall over the stadium. NASCAR instructed teams to pit for wet-weather Goodyear tires, and while the cars returned to the track equipped with the designated tires, many drivers reported visibility challenges due to the sleet and the glare from the lights.
The cars briefly returned to the pits, the sleet ceased, and they re-entered the wet track. However, as soon as the race resumed, Hamlin collided with pole-sitter Kyle Larson, resulting in Kyle Busch also getting involved.
From that point, spins continued to occur, and the race extended so long that cars began to run low on fuel and exceeded Fox’s allotted broadcast window, necessitating the remaining 35 laps to be shown on cable. NASCAR permitted the cars to return to the pits for fuel as coverage transitioned away from Fox.
This race is recorded as one of the coldest in NASCAR history, with temperatures lingering around freezing, particularly when the sleet began.
Preece, who has progressed through the ranks of NASCAR from a background in modified racing in the Northeast, was emotional as he celebrated. He has been part of NASCAR’s national scene since 2013 but is only now entering his seventh full season at the Cup level.
“Two years ago, I didn’t think I had a job — I thought I was going back to Connecticut,” Preece stated. “I’m extremely emotional.”
Preece participated in only two races in 2022, spent the following two seasons with Stewart-Haas Racing, but found himself without a seat when that team disbanded after the 2024 season.
He was signed by RFK Racing, co-owned by fellow driver Brad Keselowski, ahead of 2025 and was arguably the top performer for the team.
In 223 starts since 2015, Preece has achieved 30 top-10 finishes.
“It’s been a (expletive) long road, and it’s The Clash, but man, it’s just been years and years of hard work,” Preece remarked, expressing gratitude towards Keselowski.
“This is as much a mental challenge as anything, and I felt quite worn down,” Preece noted. “We had a couple of restarts go our way, and then before you know it, you’re in the first two rows, and then the claws come out.”
William Byron finished in second place, followed by Ryan Blaney and Daniel Suarez in his debut race for Spire Motorsports. Hamlin secured fifth place.
Bowman Gray hosted The Clash for the second consecutive year. The event took place at Daytona International Speedway for 43 years from its inception in 1979 until 2021, then shifted for three seasons to a temporary track within the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Larson, the reigning Cup Series champion, started from the pole alongside his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Byron, the two-time defending Daytona 500 champion.
Hamlin, who experienced a tumultuous offseason, began in sixth position in his first race since his dramatic loss of the Cup title in November. He disclosed before the race that he had re-injured a torn labrum that was surgically repaired prior to the 2025 season when he slipped in debris from the December house fire that resulted in his father’s death and left his mother critically injured.
He mentioned he would postpone further repairs until the conclusion of this upcoming season.
“I don’t believe it ever healed correctly,” Hamlin said. “I took a little fall at my mom’s house, navigating through all the rubble, and it just didn’t feel right. I got it rescanned and re-tore it again.”
Last chance qualifying
Josh Berry and Austin Cindric secured the final two spots in The Clash by finishing first and second in the last chance qualifying heat.
Berry dominated the heat race in the No. 21 for Wood Brothers Racing, a team associated with Team Penske. Cindric faced a more challenging battle as he raced side-by-side for over 15 laps with Corey Lajoie for the second transfer position.
Lajoie served as the injury replacement driver for Keselowski, co-owner of RFK Racing, who is recovering from a broken leg sustained in a fall in December. He held his ground against fellow Ford driver Cindric, in a Penske entry, as the two vied for second place.
As the drivers approached the checkered flag, AJ Allmendinger pushed Cindric in an attempt to move both Cindric and Lajoie out of his way to secure the final spot. This maneuver instead propelled Cindric ahead of Lajoie for the last position in the 200-lap Clash at the historic short track.
Among those who did not qualify for The Clash were Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Todd Gilliland, both of whom spent a day this week shoveling snow from the grandstands at Bowman Gray to assist NASCAR in preparing the venue.
Up next
Teams will report to Daytona International Speedway next week for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15. Qualifying for the pole is scheduled for next Wednesday, and the remainder of the field will be determined through a pair of Thursday races.
Source: espn.com
