Cars are back on track at long last! Tonight was the unofficial kickoff of the 2025 NASCAR season with practice, qualifying, and heat races heading into Sunday night’s Cookout Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium! Coverage began on FS1 at six o’clock with a series of practice session. The final practice session also served as a qualifying session with the top-8 on the speed charts setting the front rows for the heat races, which were the spotlight of tonight’s race. So, what drivers rose to the occasion, which ones are seemingly suffering from a 2024 hangover, and who impressed? Let’s talk about it! Here’s what went down during the Clash heat races at Bowman Gray.
Following the practice/qualifying sessions, the layout for tonight’s Clash heat races was as follows:
Note that for the drivers who did not advance tonight, they will have one more opportunity to do so. Tomorrow, as a preamble to the Cookout Clash at Bowman Gray, there will be one 75-lap last-chance-qualifier. The winner of that race as well as the runner-up will be the 21st and 22nd starters in the Clash. The 23rd and final starting spot will be awarded to the driver highest in points last year that had not already advanced.
Starting from the pole in the first Clash heat race was NASCAR’s most popular driver, Chase Elliott. Elliott was the fastest driver in the final practice/qualifying session, much to the approval of the roaring crowd at Bowman Gray. There were ten cars in this race, only the top-5 advancing to the main event opening night.
The opening laps of the sprint were dicey with drivers wasting little time beating and banging on one another. The first caution of the night came out for a single-car incident involving Austin Dillon. The 3 car clipped the drain on the inside of the track and went around on his own. The second caution came out with Justin Haley getting some payback on Noah Gragson after Gragson forced the issue, going 3-wide in the tight corners.
The caution came out once again just a few laps later when Josh Berry went around on his own. Meanwhile, Justin Haley was letting it all hang out when he spun out Kyle Busch. The incident didn’t make Rowdy very happy to say the least. The driver of the RCR number 8 car voiced his displeasure under caution laps, beating against the rear bumper of the Spire number 7.
Things settled down a little bit in the second half of the heat as the veterans took control. With six laps to go, Ryan Blaney spun around, sparking no caution. The first heat race finished out with no major incident. Chase Elliott led every lap to win the first race, punching his ticket to the main event tomorrow night on FOX. This performance also earned Elliott the pole position. Also advancing were:
Starting on the pole for the second heat race was RFK driver, Chris Buescher, who was very impressive in practice. This race started off a little tamer than the first one. While there was obviously some beating and banging at the start, the boys mostly behaved themselves, allowing for the pack to get strung out. Much like the first heat, this one was a no-contest…just with a little less chaos. Winning the race and capturing the outside pole for tomorrow night’s main event was Chris Buscher. He led every lap. Expect him to be strong tomorrow night!
Also advancing was:
On the front row for the third heat were Denny Hamlin and defending Cup Series Champion, Joey Logano. The third heat race was much like the second one. It was pretty uneventful with the only really hairy moment being Byron wheel hopping on the first lap and getting into Logano. But, as they ran, the field got more strung out. Denny Hamlin led every lap on his way to victory. With this win, he earned the 3rd place starting position for tomorrow night’s Cookout Clash at Bowman Gray.
The other drivers transferring were:
For our final heat of the night, Tyler Reddick assumed the pole position. This heat started out much like the first with some aggressive driving amongst veterans. It started when A. J. Allmendinger got into the back of Cole Custer. Once the driver of the 16 Kaulig car was below the 41 Haas Ford, Allmendinger tried to run Custer out of room but it backfired. The two ricocheted off one another, resulting in Allmendinger going around. This brought out the first caution of the race, bunching the field back up once more.
Things didn’t calm down when the race restarted. On lap 7, Ryan Preece was knocked out of the way by John Hunter Nemechek. The driver of the newly formed RFK 60 car dumped JHN as a retaliation, resulting in the number 42 going to the garage. However, he did make it back out onto the track before the race restarted.
The boys seemed to get most of the aggression out of their system after the JHN and Preece incident. The race went green the rest of the way. Like all the other heats, one driver reigned supreme in this contest. Tyler Reddick led all of the laps on his way to win the fourth heat. This locks him into the 4th-place starting position for tomorrow night’s main event.
Also qualifying for tomorrow night’s big show were:
On the other side of tonight’s festivities were those who didn’t quite make the cut to qualify for tomorrow night’s Clash. Some of the names on this list were pretty predictable but there are a few surprising ones. Short track ace Josh Berry had his struggles tonight as did the 2023 Cup champion, Ryan Blaney. With Logano racing his way in during his heat, Blaney will be rewarded the provisional 23rd starting spot in the event that he fails to race his way into the main event via tomorrow’s last-chance-qualifier. Another surprising name missing the main event was Kyle Larson. The number 5 driver just didn’t look like himself tonight. He’ll have to race his way in tomorrow night or rely on a provisional (if Blaney advances).
The full list of drivers that will compete for the final 3 transfer spots is listed below.
Night 1 of the 2-night Clash event is officially in the books! What are your first impressions of Bowman Gray, Daily Downforce readers? Are you surprised by tonight’s four winners? What names are you surprised didn’t make the cut in tonight’s heat races? Let us know what you think! And be sure to tune back in here tomorrow night for our coverage of the last chance qualifier and the Cookout Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium! NASCAR is back, baby!
