Chase Elliott wins the Clash, holding off Blaney

The last time NASCAR raced at Bowman Gray, Chase Elliott‘s Hall of Fame father Bill Elliott hadn’t even made his Cup debut yet. But in NASCAR’s long-awaited return to the North Carolina track lovingly dubbed the Madhouse, the younger Elliott came away happy. He was the fastest man in qualifying, won his Saturday heat race, and took a dominant victory in Sunday’s feature race by leading 171 of 200 laps on then cramped quarter-mile track.

“We don’t race in stadiums like this,” said Elliott in his winner’s interview, thanking the sold out crowd of 20,000. “It’s just really cool. I appreciate you all making that moment special for me and my team. This is awesome. I know it’s not a points race, but it is nice to win, for sure.

While Sunday’s Last Chance Qualifier to fill the final three grid spots was a take-no-prisoners slugfest, the 23 NASCAR Cup drivers who made the cut put on a much tamer main event. The race saw a few heated moments and plenty of contact, but stayed largely clean, with only Chase Briscoe failing to last the full distance.

Denny Hamlin did manage to muscle the lead away from Elliott around the halfway point, but his stay out front didn’t last long, as Elliott snatched it back in the second half.

Late laps saw Ryan Blaney chasing Elliott through slower traffic. While Elliott took advantage of having pole position, Blaney only made the cut as the 23rd car thanks to a 2024 points provisional.

Watch: Ryan Blaney talks having a ‘blast’ in runner-up finish at Bowman Gray

The Team Penske driver managed to elbow his way forward over the course of the race, trailing Elliott as they reached lapped traffic. Most of those lapped cars were Chevrolets, though — they didn’t put up any resistance as Elliott approached, but Blaney didn’t find it so easy to get by.

Elliott secured the Clash’s Bobby Allison Memorial Trophy and the big check, Blaney took second, and Hamlin third. Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick, Shane van Gisbergen, and Chris Buescher rounded out the top-ten.