NASCAR
Alex Bowman Wins NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club 400

FONTANA, CA (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – It’s very rare in modern day NASCAR that one car is the fastest through two practice sessions. It’s even more rare when that car is the fastest in consecutive lap average. Alex Bowman and the No. 88 Cincinnati Chevrolet were exactly that and won Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club 400 to cap off a dominating weekend.
“I don’t know that we’ve changed anything since we unloaded off the truck, so that really comes down to a lot of great preparation in the shop, (Crew Chief) Greg (Ives) making really good decisions with our package that we brought here this year,” said Bowman, who led 110-of-200-laps en route to his second career Cup Series Victory. “This is a place we’ve struggled at for the last two years, so for him to be able to unload that close, really the last two weeks in a row, makes my job much easier. We can really fine tune the car throughout practice instead of having to make huge changes. It’s really been our probably best couple practices the last two years that I’ve been driving for HMS, and I just attribute that to the hard work in the shop and great work over the off-season.”
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch finished second in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry. Busch started 17th and worked his way into the top ten by finishing tenth in the race’s first stage. Busch managed to keep his car in the top ten in the ensuing laps, working his way up to seventh by the end of the race’s second stage. Busch battled into the top five during the races final stage.
“The Interstate Batteries Camry wasn’t a second-place car, but thankfully we got a good finish out of here, we tried to get some points,” said Busch on pit road following the race. “We’ve just got to get a little bit better. We finished the end of last year so strong, I don’t know what we’re missing here, but obviously it’s a little bit of something here or there, maybe a little bit of something in a few different areas, but overall, good car today”.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch finished third in the No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro after starting the race fourth.
“All weekend the car just had a good vibe to it, the way it unloaded and the way we made small changes on our Monster Energy Chevy, I was really proud of this effort,” said Busch.
Hendrick Motorsports Chase Elliott finished fourth in the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet. Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski rounded out the Top 5 in the No. 2 America’s Tire Ford.
The race featured 16-lead changes among eight drivers and was slowed by 3-caution flags for 13-laps.
The next NASCAR Cup Series race is March 8, 2020 at Phoenix Raceway.
NASCAR
Chase Elliott wins Cook Out Clash at historic Bowman Gray Stadium

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (February 2, 2025) — Pole winner Chase Elliott held off a dramatic charge from Ryan Blaney to win Sunday night’s Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in front of a teeming, vociferous sellout crowd at the historic quarter-mile.
Adroitly working lapped traffic in the closing stages of the 200-lap season-opening exhibition race, Elliott crossed the finish line 1.333 seconds ahead of Blaney, who started last among the 23 competitors on a driver points provisional.
Elliott claimed his first victory in the Clash, which came to Bowman Gray after a three-year stint in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet reveled in the NASCAR Cup Series’ return to the iconic short track after an absence of 54 years.
“This environment is special,” said Elliott, who led 171 laps, including the first 96 before surrendering the lead to eventual third-place finisher Denny Hamlin. “This is a place that has a deep history in NASCAR. I think they deserve this event, truthfully.
“I hope we didn’t disappoint. It was fun for me at least, and we’ll hopefully come back here one day.”
Hamlin led twice for 28 laps, but faded after Elliott retook the top spot from him on Lap 126. And when Blaney slipped past Hamlin’s Toyota on Lap 147, it became a two-driver race.
But Blaney’s car tightened up in the late going, preventing the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford from challenging for the win. Blaney thought better of making an overly aggressive move on the series’ seven-time most popular driver.
“I’m not going to bulldog into him and get chased out of here with pitchforks,” Blaney quipped… “I just didn’t quite have enough right rear at the end to make a move on him.”
Joey Logano finished fourth, followed by Bubba Wallace, who advanced from his 14th-place starting position. Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick, Shane van Gisbergen and Chris Buescher completed the top 10.
Hamlin rued the final restart on Lap 121, after the seventh caution for Brad Keselowski’s spin off Wallace’s bumper.
“I just didn’t do very well on that restart there, and kind of lost the bottom, and Chase took advantage of it,” Hamlin said. “Once you get the lead, it’s a lot easier to hang on to it.
“I thought that they were just a little better that second half than we were, along with the 12 (Blaney) was as well. We just have to get a little bit better, but overall, a good day for our Sport Clips Toyota.”
In the last chance qualifier that determined positions 21 and 22 in the main event, Kyle Larson charged from the 10th starting position and survived nine cautions to win the 75-lap event and advance to the Clash.
On Lap 72, Larson grabbed the lead from Josh Berry, who was making his first competitive start for Wood Brothers Racing at the track where team patriarch and NASCAR Hall of Famer Glen Wood secured all four of his Cup Series victories.
Larson took the top spot for the first time on Lap 30 and led a race-high 36 circuits en route to the win. However, Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet sustained damage after he surrendered the lead to Erik Jones for a restart on Lap 65.
In a melee moments after racing resumed, Jones spun in a three-wide mishap with Berry and Larson and dropped out of contention.
“My car was way better than it was yesterday,” said Larson, whose eighth-place finish in his Saturday heat relegated him to the last chance qualifier. “That was fun. I was able to get to the front without really getting into too many people.
“But then after that long break (for local champion Burt Myers hard wreck on Lap 61), I cycled really tight for that restart and allowed Erik to get in front of me and just kind of lost control of the race at that point. Then, the next restart, it got crazy, and I got a bunch of damage.”
Berry, who started 13th, held second to secure the 22nd spot in the Clash. Berry and Larson finished 13th and 17th, respectively, in the main event.
“It got pretty rough,” Berry said. “You hate that it comes to that, but it is what it is—it’s the Madhouse, it’s Bowman Gray Stadium, it’s a tight race track, and you’re going to run into each other.”
Notes: Elliott is the 26th different driver to win the Clash and the eighth different driver to win the event in the last eight years. He’s the first driver to win in a Chevrolet since Jimmie Johnson did so in 2019… This was the sixth time the Clash has been won from the pole position.
NASCAR
Chase Elliott leads pole winners’ sweep of NASCAR Clash qualifying races

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (February 1, 2025) —It was a great night for NASCAR’s most popular driver.
After setting the fastest time in the final four-minute practice session and earning the top starting spot in the first qualifying heat, Chase Elliott won that heat wire-to-wire to win the pole position for Sunday’s Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium (8 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Elliott described track position at the tight quarter-mile track as critical to success.
“It’s going to be tough to win from the third or fourth row,” said Elliott, who will share the front row with Heat 2 winner Chris Buescher, who led every lap of the qualifier and held off new Joe Gibbs Racing hire Chase Briscoe to claim the second starting spot in the 200-lap exhibition race.
“I think the first couple of rows certainly have a massive advantage on the rest of the field. Obviously, anything can happen. You all have been watching long enough to know that anything can happen, and I’m well aware of that. But I think just in a normal circumstance of people not totally crashing each other or whatever—yeah, I certainly would want to be on the first couple of rows and, fortunately, we are. We’ll try to take advantage of that.”
Heat 3 and 4 winners Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick will start from third and fourth on the grid, respectively. To underscore just how important starting position is, all four heat winners won wire-to-wire after posting the four fastest laps in the final practice sessions to earn their pole positions for the qualifiers.
The top five drivers in each heat advance to Sunday’s clash. The remaining 19 drivers will compete for two spots in a last chance qualifier that precedes Sunday’s main event. The 23rd spot in the field goes to the driver with the highest number of 2024 championship points not otherwise qualified for the Clash.
That provisional belongs to Ryan Blaney, who finished 10th after starting third in a wild first heat that featured three cautions in 25 laps. Kyle Larson, who started sixth and finished eighth in the second heat will have to race his way into the main event from the LCQ.
After battling a loose condition in his No. 17 Round Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford in the opening eight-minute practice session, Buescher benefited from adjustments made to the car based on considerable preparation time in the simulator.
“We had the changes ready, so when we got there and realized we were just way too loose, we were able to make quick adjustments to get in the ballpark,” said Buescher, who had failed to qualify for the main event in the last three Clashes at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Joining Elliott in the main event from Heat 1 were Brad Keselowski, Noah Gragson, Kyle Busch and Ross Chastain. Heat 2 qualifiers included Buescher, Briscoe, Shane van Gisbergen, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez.
Advancing from Heat 3 in addition to Hamlin were reigning NASCAR Cup champion Joey Logano, William Byron, Carson Hocevar and Alex Bowman. Joining Reddick from Heat 4 were Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece, Austin Cindric and Todd Gilliland.
NASCAR
2025 Daytona 500 is sold out

NASCAR WIRE SERVICE
DAYTONA BEACH, FL (January 13, 2025) – Daytona International Speedway announced today that the 67th running of the DAYTONA 500 is officially sold out, with fans expected to pack the historic racing venue once again for NASCAR’s 2025 season opener.
Along with the sellout announcement, the World Center of Racing has also released the date for next year’s DAYTONA 500, which will take place on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026.
Year after year, the Great American Race reigns as one of the most anticipated events in the motorsport world, and starting today, fans can sign up for exclusive pre-sale access for infield camping and tickets to next year’s event to ensure they secure their seats in advance.
“The DAYTONA 500 continues to be a spectacle of elite racing and entertainment, and the consecutive sellouts just prove this event is one of a kind,” said Frank Kelleher, President of Daytona international Speedway. “You can quite literally feel the atmosphere from the moment Speedweeks begins. The crowd is buzzing with excitement and every team, from the driver to the crew chief, is eager to get their season started. It all comes to a head when that green flag drops on Sunday, Feb. 16, and I can’t wait to see what this year’s DAYTONA 500 has in store for us.”
After a wildly competitive 2024 season that saw 18 different race winners, three of the closest finishes in NASCAR history, and crowned Joey Logano as a three-time Champion, the season opening DAYTONA 500 is sure to be a thriller.
Last year, William Byron came out on top after a hectic last few laps, earning his first DAYTONA 500 Championship and securing the victory for Hendrick Motorsports in their 40th anniversary year. He’ll become the latest driver to attempt back-to-back victories of The Great American Race. The last driver to win consecutive DAYTONA 500s was Denny Hamlin, who earned the title in 2019 and 2020.
Though grandstand tickets and camping are sold out for Sunday’s marquee event, limited upgrades and premium packages are still available.