2025 Cook Out Clash Preview

Date/Time: Sunday February 2nd, 2025. 8:00PM (EST)
Where: Bowman Gray Stadium
TV: FOX

For the first time this season, NASCAR will fire the engines for the annual running of the Cook Out Clash which will take place at Bowman Gray Stadium for the first Cup Series event since 1971. Beyond Sunday’s return to racing, it has been a full 12 weeks since Joey Logano secured his 3rd Cup Series Championship following his victory at Phoenix Raceway which also extended Team Penske’s streak of 3 consecutive championships. However, on Sunday, it will mark the unofficial start of the 2025 season and there are a ton of changes that are hanging in the balance. As we prepare for another season of betting, I wanted to provide some insight into Sunday’s Cook Out Clash and what onlookers can potentially expect from this unique event!

For starters, I personally never bet on the non-points paying races because these events are very volatile and usually designed for entertainment as opposed to awarding the best driver/teams. More importantly, the opening races of the season are always hard to predict as this will be our first glimpse of drivers/teams returning from the offseason and we have yet to identify those drivers/teams that have gained or perhaps lost speed over the 12 week hiatus. With that being said, the racing at Bowman Gray Stadium will not be significantly different from the product of racing we have witnessed at the Coliseum over the last three years.

Similar to the makeshift quarter-mile layout at the LA Coliseum, Bowman Gray is another quarter-mile flat track that will produce similar style racing with drivers fighting for the bottom of the track and frequently using the bumper to gain track position. For this 47th edition of the Clash, there will be 39 total entries that will be attempting to make Sunday’s main event. Following practices and heat races on Saturday, all non-qualified drivers will have a 75 lap last chance race to make the main event which will occur at 6:00PM (EST) on Sunday. After the last chance race, 23 drivers will have earned the right to battle in Sunday’s main event which will be decided by 200 laps of racing to usher in the unofficial start of the 2025 season!

Cook Out Clash Format

• Three practice groups with each group having three sessions.
• Final practice determines the starting order for the four Heat races.
• Each heat race will consist of 25 laps with the top 5 finishers, from each heat, compiling the first 20 starting positions for Sunday’s main event.
• All remaining cars will compete in the 75 lap last chance race on Sunday.
• The top two drivers from the 75 lap last chance race will qualify for the main event and the final 23rd position will be awarded to the driver with the highest points from 2024 that failed to qualify for the main event.
• The 23 car field will compete in a 200 lap main event with a halfway break at the 100 lap mark.

Note: *Only green flag laps will count towards the heats, last chance race, and main event. The main event also must finish under green flag conditions.

What to Watch

There are a lot of interesting storylines going into the 2025 season and I am going to mention a few that will be high on everyone’s radar to start the season that will be intriguing from both a spectator and bettor perspective. Among the notable changes for the start of the 2025 campaign include the following: Chase Briscoe’s replaces Martin Truex Jr (retired) in the no. 19 at Joe Gibbs Racing, AJ Allmendinger returns to the no. 16 with Kaulig Racing, Josh Berry moves to the no. 21 with the Wood Brothers, rookie Riley Herbst joins 23XI Racing as the 3rd car within the organization, Cole Custer will be the only driver remaining from Stewart-Haas Racing (now Haas Factory Team) in the no. 41 car, and Shane Van Gisbergen moves to full-time Cup Series competition in the no. 88 at Trackhouse Racing.

Beyond the change of scenery which features a lot of new drivers and new teams, bettors should also watch closely to see how individual drivers and organizations perform early this year. One of my main focuses will surround the Chevrolet teams who will likely be at a slight disadvantage this season compared to the Ford and Toyota teams that have newer manufacturer bodies. In my opinion, Chevrolet’s failure to deliver a new product was really detrimental to the non-Hendrick Motorsports teams in 2024 and directly impacted the performance for teams like Richard Childress Racing and Trackhouse Racing. As a result, it will be interesting to see if any of those organizations has shown improvement over the offseason.

Additionally, I will also pay close attention to the numerous drivers that will be racing for different teams this season to see who benefits or suffers from organizational changes this year. Will Chase Briscoe be able to compete in JGR equipment? How fast will Riley Herbst make an impact at 23XI Racing? Will Spire Motorsports’ investments in personnel and equipment pay dividends? There are a ton of similar questions that are worth tracking over each NASCAR appearance over the next few weeks. The quicker we can identify those early trends, the easier it will be to take advantage before oddsmakers adjust due to their historical reliance upon long-term trends. Therefore while we will not be betting on Sunday’s Cook Out Clash, we will be looking to learn as much as possible towards the upcoming season!

Unofficial Picks

As stated above, I will not be betting this Sunday’s Clash and our official race picks will not begin until the 2025 Daytona 500. However, I also know there are a lot of bettors/readers that will likely throw some bets towards this event. For those individuals, I would say that Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, and Kyle Larson have been the best overall drivers at this style of racing in previous years. In fact, Busch finished 2nd (twice) and 3rd in the 3 trips to the LA Coliseum and Larson was the only other driver to finish in the top 5 in all 3 events. While these flat short tracks can be very chaotic, I would not be surprised if any of those names end up in victory lane. For those reasons, Kyle Larson (+900) and Kyle Busch (+1400) would be my top choices to leave victorious from the Madhouse at Bowman Gray!