Ryan Preece overcame snow and rain to win NASCAR’s inaugural race of 2026, the Cook Out Clash exhibition race, on Wednesday at historic Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Winless in 223 career Cup Series races, the RFK Racing Ford driver found the point by passing Shane van Gisbergen with 43 laps left and topped William Byron by 1.752 seconds in the 200-lap event that featured 17 cautions.
Preece, 35, joined Jeff Gordon (1994) and Denny Hamlin (2006) as drivers to win the Clash before recording a Cup victory.
Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.
After Josh Berry and Austin Cindric raced their way in during the last-chance race and Alex Bowman used a provisional to fill the 23-car field, the Clash, delayed from Sunday night due to snow consuming the Tar Heel State, began with polesitter Kyle Larson up front on the quarter-mile flat track.
Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet led the first 40 laps until caution flew for debris in Turn 4, which bunched up the field with teammate Byron and Chase Briscoe rounding out the top three drivers one-fifth of the way through the season’s first race.
Bubba Wallace was spun after an accordion effect led to Blaney spinning Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota entering Turn 3.
Off Turn 2 on Lap 72, Byron worked his No. 24 Chevrolet past Larson with Briscoe making the move as well. Soon, van Gisbergen hit Cindric and turned him for the third caution.
Briscoe’s hard charge hit its peak when he raced by Byron on Lap 85 with Ty Gibbs close behind. Blaney entered the top five as his No. 12 Ford came to life.
Gibbs made the right move and led at the 100-lap halftime break, but snow began to fall, creating a red-flag condition as crews put on rain tires to adapt to the moisture.
The wet-weather rubber proved to be a tricky proposition, so the second 100 laps was a mess as cars slid their way to 13 more caution periods.
Briscoe saw Gibbs slip up the track and pounced. Then Hamlin looped his No. 11 Toyota to wipe out Larson among others on the first lap under green after the lengthy red flag.
With Preece’s No. 60 Ford leading and 35 laps left, NASCAR decided teams should be allowed to pit for fuel, and every team came in for fuel and more rain tires as the track was not considered dry.
–Field Level Media
