The Clyde Clash
- alexjarvis83
- Feb 6
- 5 min read
The Cook Out Clash: Chase Elliott dominated Sunday evening's Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem, NC. Chase led 171 of the 200 laps for the main event after setting the fastest qualifying lap, winning his heat race, and starting the pole. The win was Chase's first win in the preseason exhibition race.
Aside from a mid-race challenge from Hamlin and briefly Reddick, and Blaney chasing down Elliott towards the end, Elliott dominated the weekend. By far and away the best car from start to finish and leaps and bounds better than his Hendrick teammates it was, all in all, a perfect weekend for the 9 team. The main event delivered with intense racing, comers and goers, and a few fender banging temper moments the "Madhouse" is known for on track. The last chance qualifier and the heat races, however, 100 percent lived up to the hype around Bowman Gray Stadium with a few drivers going bonkers and making some rather bold moves to qualify for the main event. Preece sent JHN into the wall, Gibbs did a wheelie over the Justin Haley, KyBusch was rather annoyed with Haley and let him know when it could, Noah Gragson had some bonsai moves that paid off and made it entertaining, and local legends Burt Meyers and Tim Brown put on a good battle in their heat race and at times in the LCQ before Stenhouse shipped Burt head on into the wall. Overall, I give this Clash weekend an A+ and hope NASCAR returns to Bowman Gray in some manner in the 2026 season.
2025 Preview:
Now we look ahead to the 2025 season and the 2025 Daytona 500. As for the whole season, I believe we will have more of the same from last year. I don't anticipate many changes to the serious contenders and the playoff picture. A few drivers and teams I am anxious to see how they mesh and what they can do, and I wouldn't be shocked to see maybe two shocking additions to the playoffs. Although I am not betting on this, these are the bubble drivers that may surprise us with a playoff appearance:
Spire Motorsports: all three drivers have legit chances, but I don't see it happening. McDowell has been a constant threat for several years now, Haley probably needs to drastically improve his performance from past years now, and Hocevar is a legit talent. But growing to three full-time cars may slow the team down with some growing pains.
Front Row Motorsports: same song and dance as Spire. Likely Gragson's most stable Cup shot (pending lawsuit), Gilliland keeps getting better, and Zane Smith has a team that likely won't put him out to pasture after one season. All three can do it, but I don't see it coming together for them.
Preece at RFK: Dude has to perform and perform now. He's got the talent, he hasn't been in the best rides recently at SHR, but he needs to contend in 2025 or he may be out of a ride sooner than later.
Herbst at 23XI: Herbst has the talent and the team, but rookie growing pains keeps him out of the playoffs. I do believe towards the end of a full season he'll be putting it together and demonstrate that he undoubtedly belongs in Cup. And I was a doubter on him period for years; he's proved me wrong before and he will again I'm sure.
Berry at WBR: Josh can put it in victory lane at any short track. Just feel like it might not happen until 2026 as he shifts into a new team and situation for the second straight year. A rough start for any Cup driver.
Now, here's my official playoff predictions:
Kyle Busch gets back into the playoffs by winning the 2025 Daytona 500.
Chase Elliott wins mutliple races
Kyle Larson does Kyle Larson things and wins a lot
William Byron has another routine regular season
Alex Bowman wins once (Talladega?) and punches his ticket
Denny Hamlin wins a few times and looks like a contender all year
CBell comes out of the gate strong to make a statement that this is his year to win the title after a few years of heartbreak
Briscoe wins at JGR early but not often.
Reddick wins COTA and a few other races.
Chastain finds a win or two and is back in the playoffs
Blaney picks up where he's left off the last two seasons and is a title threat
Logano does what he does and wins his way in, does nothing, and then is a pain in the ass in the playoffs to be a title contender again.
SVG wins at least one road course and makes his playoff debut
Bubba Wallace finds his way back to victory lane to lock himself into the playoffs
Chris Buescher heats up in the Summer and finds himself back in the playoffs after a disappointing playoff miss last year
Ty Gibbs finally gets the win that has eluded him and finds himself in the playoffs.
Now, where do we go with this elite, talent packed playoff field for our final four battling it out at Phoenix? It's tough, as it always is and should be, but I believe these four will be our contenders come November:
Christopher Bell - it's his year. He's arguably the most talented, and he's missed out on two good chances the last few years. That doesn't happen this year and he's in Phoenix battling for the title.
Kyle Larson - he's Kyle Larson. He's always going to be a contender and I think he feels like he messed up last year's playoff run. He's back fighting for a title this year.
Blaney - He'll make it to the round of 8 and he's unstoppable in that round. He makes it back to Phoenix for the third straight year.
Chase Elliott - I'm picking with my heart here. I, selfishly, want him back. And I know it's just The Clash, but he's ready for this year and he'll be a consistent threat to win, maximize playoff points, and capitalize when it matters. See him in Phoenix battling for the title in 2025.
The Champ? It's a tough pick. My heart says Chase Elliott, but my brain says Christopher Bell gets it done in 2025.
Now we have a weekend off before business picks up for the Daytona 500 after Super Bowl Sunday! A busy week lays ahead of us with the following schedule:
Wed. Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. on FS1: Daytona 500 qualifying
Thurs. Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. on FS1: the Duels at Daytona on
Fri. Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. on FS1: Fresh From Florida 250 Craftsmen Truck race
Sat. Feb. 15 at 5 p.m. on The CW: United Rentals 300 Xfinity Race
Sun. Feb. 16 at 2:30 p.m. on Fox: the Daytona 500
Picks:
Cup = Kyle Busch
Xfinity = Austin Hill
Trucks = Daniel Hemric
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