Which NASCAR drivers have won the Cook Out Clash?
The only race that matters this weekend for NASCAR Cup Series drivers is the 47th edition of The Clash.
The season-opening exhibition race, dubbed the Cook Out Clash this year, will be hosted at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for the first time.
NASCAR’s premier series visited the quarter-mile racetrack for points-awarding races from 1958 to 1971.
Five former Clash winners will be among the 39 Cook Out Clash hopefuls Sunday:
- Kyle Busch
- Denny Hamlin
- Erik Jones
- Brad Keselowski
- Joey Logano
Hamlin leads all active drivers with four Clash victories. He is also the defending winner of this race.
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt is the all-time Clash wins leader, with six wins.
In total, The Clash has seen 25 different winners and 12 multi-time winners.
The winner of The Clash has gone on to win the championship in eight Cup Series seasons. Joey Logano did it most recently in 2022.
ALL-TIME COOK OUT CLASH WINNERS
, Jr. pose together at the raceway in Daytona Beach, Florida on February 4, 2001. The Earnhardts and Andy Pilgrim earned second in the GTS category during the 2001 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. (Photo by ISC Archives via Getty Images)
6: Dale Earnhardt
4: Denny Hamlin
3: Kevin Harvick, Dale Jarrett, Tony Stewart
2: Neil Bonnett, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano, Ken Schrader
1: Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker, Geoff Bodine, Kurt Busch, Bill Elliott, Erik Jones, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Terry Labonte, Mark Martin, Martin Truex Jr., Rusty Wallace, Darrell Waltrip,
HISTORY OF THE COOK OUT CLASH
The first Clash was raced at Daytona International Speedway in 1979. The 20-lap race was won by Buddy Baker.
The race was held at Daytona International Speedway’s 2.5-mile layout from 1979 to 2020. The race was run on the Daytona Road Course in 2021.
From 2022 to 2024, the exhibition race was held at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
The Cook Out Clash is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET Sunday, Feb. 2 (TV: FOX).
Discover more from The Racing Experts
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.