Ryan Preece won the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on Wednesday, outlasting 17 cautions and a sleet delay to capture an emotional victory. With this win now in the bank, Preece has his first career win in a NASCAR Cup Series event – even if it won’t count toward his stat-line.
Throughout the closing laps both William Byron and Ryan Blaney were unable to reel in Preece’s No. 60 RFK Racing Ford. Over the course of numerous restarts in close quarters on wet asphalt, Preece fought and retained the lead each and every time. He wasn’t the race’s only leader, but when he got out front Preece was repeatedly tough to catch.
“I don’t even know what to say…to be honest with you it’s been a f–king long road,” an emotional Preece told FOX Sports after the race. “It’s just been years and years of grinding.” The 35-year-old has been plugging away at NASCAR’s top levels since 2013, and now he can finally call himself a Cup Series winner.
Prior to Ryan Preece’s win on Wednesday, only two other drivers had won the Clash before winning their first Cup Series points race: Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin. Preece was signed as the third driver at RFK Racing in 2025, joining owner-driver Brad Keselowski and teammate Chris Buescher.
Seven total drivers led laps on Wednesday, with Preece leading the final 44. Polesitter Kyle Larson held onto the point until Lap 53. Chase Briscoe led 33 laps and Carson Hocevar led 18 respectively.
Descent Into Chaos
The first caution of the race came on Lap 41 for moisture on the track in Turn 4. Track crews worked vigorously throughout the week to prepare the facility for Wednesday’s race, after heavy snow and rain rendered it unusable over the weekend.
Only three total cautions came out prior to the scheduled break halfway through Wednesday’s 200-lap race. After that, the field endured a grueling 13 yellow flags before finally seeing the checkers.
As expected at the track called ‘The Madhouse’, the 2026 Cook Out Clash had its fair share of contact and confrontation. Daniel Suárez voiced his frustration with both Bubba Wallace and Shane van Gisbergen early in the race, and Wallace later appeared to send Carson Hocevar spinning in the night’s penultimate caution.
Still, somehow all but one car finished on the lead lap. Wallace was put one lap down by Preece during the final green flag run. Even substantially damaged cars race managed to keep the pace thanks to the sheer number of restarts that froze the field.
Drama in the Last Chance Qualifier
Most of the Cook Out Clash’s entries were decided in qualifying. The final two starting spots, however, were earned in a last chance qualifying race. Those who weren’t able to lock themselves into the main event in qualifying set out to claim their spot in a 75-lap dash.
Josh Berry pulled away to the win in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford. For the second transfer spot, a furious battle broke out between Corey LaJoie, Austin Cindric, and AJ Allmendinger. In the final corner LaJoie and Cindric were side-by-side, before a shove from Allmendinger propelled Cindric into second place.
“It was like a game of chess at like 50 miles an hour,” LaJoie said. The 34-year-old drove the No. 6 Ford, filling in for an injured Brad Keselowski. “You wanted to be the guy on the inside obviously, but you don’t want to pass the guy because then he had the opportunity to get back to you. [We] came up a little short.”
It was an all-out battle for the final transfer spot!
After 75 green-flag laps, @joshberry and @AustinCindric will advance to the @nascarclash. pic.twitter.com/dbSKnNzTn3
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 4, 2026
“I definitely think it’s going to look a little bit different than last year,” Berry said per Motorsport.com. “Obviously, the colder temperature are making it pretty sketchy on the restarts, just getting to temperature and it just feels like the pace car is going 15 miles per hour.”
“I was happy with how the car held on for a long run,” Cindric added. “I kinda had to save my stuff after I got punted out of the way early, so it seemed to play out reasonably well. I’m glad it went as long as it did. It was fun and a good way to get started.”
Cook Out Clash Results
