Here’s how NASCAR’s Bowman Gray Clash format will work

The Clash, NASCAR’s pre-season showcase since 1979, has undergone a significant overhaul in recent years. Gone are the days of sprint races on the high banks of Daytona meant only for the previous season’s pole winners. The last three year’s saw NASCAR invite all its chartered teams to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the unofficial opening of the season, but 2025 brings a new venue: Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina. It’s the first Cup race at the infamous “Madhouse” in 54 years.

Sure, there are 39 cars are on the entry list, including local heroes like 53-year-old NASCAR “rookie” Tim Brown, but there are no guarantees they’ll run in the main event. Only 23 cars will run in Sunday’s Cook Out Clash and they’ll have to earn their spot.

So how do they decide which lucky runs get to stay, and which 16 get sent home? Let’s take you through it…

Practice and qualifying

When: Saturday, 6:10pm ET
Watch: FS1

There are three practice groups of 13 cars. Each group gets two eight-minute sessions and a final four-minute session. That last run is the important one: each driver’s fastest single-lap time from the final practice session will determine where he lines up for the heat races on Saturdary. On Bowman Gray’s tight, single-groove short track, every step up the ladder for seeding brings a real advantage.

Heat races

When: Saturday, 8:30pm ET
Watch: FS1

Saturday afternoon turns into a heat race extravaganza. The 39-car field gets split evenly across four heat races (well, one race will have only nine cars), with the four fastest drivers taking pole position for each of the heats, and the rest of the lineups following suit. (So, the first heat will feature the fastest driver, the 5th fastest, the 9th fastest, etc.)

These are fast-as-hell sprints: just 25 laps, and only green-flag laps count. The golden number here is five — as in, the top five finishers from each heat lock themselves into Sunday’s main event.

But wait, you’re saying, that only adds up to 20 cars. What about the other three? They get one hail mary shot at squeezing into the back of the field…

Last chance qualifier 

When: Sunday, 6:00pm ET
Watch: FOX

The 19 cars that failed to make the cut on Saturday will face off in a 75-lap last-chance qualifier on Sunday. The winner and runner-up will take the 21st and 22nd spots on the grid, but deciding the 23rd car is a little more messy.

That 23rd-and-final grid spot will go to whichever car scored the most 2024 owner’s points that is not yet locked in. Because of this rule, reigning NASCAR Cup champion Joey Logano and the No. 22 Team Penske Ford could take part in Sunday’s main event race without ever finishing a lap.

Main event: The Cook-Out Clash

When: Sunday, 8:00pm ET
Watch: FOX

With the field locked in, the Cook Out Clash kicks off. It’s a fairly straightforward race: the 23 drivers will run 200 laps on the .25-mile Bowman Gray track, with a scheduled halfway break. The winner gets a a nice check (about 10% of the $3,002,500 prize pool) and some bragging rights — but has to wait until the Daytona 500 on February 15th to start scoring points.