The NASCAR Cup Series opens its 2025 season with the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, an exhibition race that will showcase the sport’s biggest stars.
The Clash comes to the historic racing venue in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, after spending the last three years at another iconic stadium, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where it moved after decades at Daytona International Speedway.
Bowman Gray Stadium, affectionately known as ‘The Madhouse,’ was built to host football games in 1937 and remains the home of Winston-Salem State University. It also held horse races around the perimeter of the field and eventually welcomed NASCAR-sanctioned racing events in 1949. NASCAR Cup Series races were held at Bowman Gray from 1958-71, and while the premier series departed, the famed quarter-mile track continues to hold weekly modified, sportsman and stock car races.
Now after more than 50 years, Cup cars will be back at Bowman Gray as NASCAR returns to its roots. While the Clash is not a points race and has no effect on the season standings or the playoffs, it offers drivers a chance to get back in competitive form two weeks before NASCAR’s biggest race of the year, the Daytona 500.
Here is everything you need to know to get ready for the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium:
When is the Cook Out Clash?
The 2025 Cook Out Clash is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 2. at 8 p.m. ET. It will be preceded on Sunday by a last-chance qualifying race at 6 p.m. ET and a pre-race show at 7:30 p.m. ET.
The action begins one day earlier, on Saturday, Feb. 1 with practice and qualifying at 6 p.m. ET followed by heat races at 8 p.m. ET.
Where is the Cook Out Clash?
The 2025 Cook Out Clash is being held at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The stadium is home to the Winston-Salem State University football team. The short track inside the stadium also hosts modified and stock car races.
How can I watch the Cook Out Clash on TV?
The 2025 Cook Out Clash will be televised nationally on Fox at 8 p.m. ET. The network will also broadcast the last-chance qualifying race at 6 p.m. ET and a pre-race show at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Saturday’s qualifying and heat races will be televised by Fox Sports 1 (FS1).
Will there be a live stream of the Cook Out Clash?
The race can be streamed on FoxSports.com and the Fox Sports app. For those looking to cut the cord, all NASCAR races on Fox or FS1 can also be streamed on Fubo, which is offering a free trial.
How to watch and stream 2025 NASCAR Cook Out Clash
- Date: Sunday, Feb. 2
- Time: 8 p.m. ET
- TV: Fox
- Stream: Fubo, FoxSports.com and the Fox Sports app
- Where: Bowman Gray Stadium (Winston-Salem, North Carolina)
Watch NASCAR action with a Fubo subscription
What is the format of the Cook Out Clash?
Sunday’s Cook Out Clash will feature 23 drivers competing in a 200-lap race, with only green-flag laps counting. There will be a break at the halfway point on Lap 100. But there are several steps on both Saturday and Sunday before the green flag drops on the 2025 race:
Saturday’s action
- The drivers entered in the 2025 Cook Out Clash will be split into three practice groups with fastest lap times determining the starting lineup for the heat races.
- There will be four heat races of 25 laps each with only green flag laps counted. The top five from each heat race advance through to The Clash.
Sunday’s action
- Drivers that do no qualify for The Clash after Saturday’s heat races have one final chance via a Last Chance Qualifier race. The LCQ race is 75 laps; the top two finishers will transfer to the Cook Out Clash later that night.
- The first 22 starting spots for the Cook Out Clash are set through finishing positions in the heat races and the LCQ. The 23rd and final starting spot is reserved for the driver who finished the highest in the 2024 driver points standings who did not already transfer into The Clash.
What is the entry list for the 2025 Cook Out Clash?
There are 39 entries for the heat races (with driver’s names, car number in parentheses, team and car manufacturer):
- (1) Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing, Chevrolet
- (2) Austin Cindric, Team Penske, Ford
- (3) Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet
- (4) Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports, Ford
- (5) Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet
- (6) Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing, Ford
- (7) Justin Haley, Spire Motorsports, Chevrolet
- (8) Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet
- (9) Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet
- (10) Ty Dillon, Kaulig Racing, Chevrolet
- (11) Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota
- (12) Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, Ford
- (15) Tim Brown, Rick Ware Racing, Ford
- (16) AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing, Chevrolet
- (17) Chris Buescher, RFK Racing, Ford
- (19) Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota
- (20) Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota
- (21) Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford
- (22) Joey Logano, Team Penske, Ford
- (23) Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing, Toyota
- (24) William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet
- (34) Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports, Ford
- (35) Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing, Toyota
- (38) Zane Smith, Front Row Motorsports, Ford
- (41) Cole Custer, Haas Factory Team, Ford
- (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Legacy Motor Club, Toyota
- (43) Erik Jones, Legacy Motor Club, Toyota
- (45) Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, Toyota
- (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Hyak Motorsports, Chevrolet
- (48) Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet
- (50) Burt Myers, Team AmeriVet, Chevrolet
- (51) Cody Ware, Rick Ware Racing, Ford
- (54) Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota
- (60) Ryan Preece, RFK Racing, Ford
- (66) Garrett Smithley, Garage 66, Ford
- (71) Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports, Chevrolet
- (77) Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports, Chevrolet
- (88) Shane Van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing, Chevrolet
- (99) Daniel Suárez, Trackhouse Racing, Chevrolet
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