Winners and losers from NASCAR’s Clash at the Madhouse

NASCAR is back, and the season got its unofficial start with the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. The event was delayed several days due to historic snowfall, and ended up racing through rain and sleet as Mother Nature continued to throw curveballs at NASCAR.

But in the end, we saw something that’s only ever happened twice before — a driver won the Clash before actually winning a points-paying Cup race. Ryan Preece was emotional, and for good reason. As he said, “it’s been a (expletive) long road” for him in NASCAR over the years.

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The chaotic race featured a record 17 cautions, over 100 laps behind the pace car, and blew past its TV window so badly that FOX pushed it to FS2 in favor of The Masked Singer.

And with that, we give you our first edition of ‘Winners and losers’ for the 2026 NASCAR season…

WINNER: A thankful Ryan Preece as his hard work pays off

Watch: Ryan Preece gets emotional after winning at Bowman Gray

Preece thought his NASCAR career was over less than two years ago, and now, he’s a winner in the Clash at Bowman Gray, and gave a candid interview full of emotion (and some swear words) as he reflected on this incredible achievement. The No. 60 Ford is a team that didn’t exist in 2024, and now they are leading RFK into the 2026 season. Preece still hasn’t won a points-paying Cup race, but he is in good company of drivers who won the Clash before their first official win — Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin being the other two. Preece’s car was covered in battle scars, and he impressed in both dry and wet conditions in a well-earned win.

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LOSER: NASCAR placing too much control over strategy

This was a controversial move, and frustrated several teams within the pit area. Due to the high number of caution laps — which didn’t count — several teams ended up low on fuel. Two Hendrick cars had already run out, so NASCAR decided to bring the field into the pit area with 35 laps to go for a mandatory stop. However, the teams that were struggling to make it likely short-filled their cars to begin with, and others had already given up track position to get more fuel, and now they lost out for thinking ahead. It just didn’t sit right with several team leaders and crew chiefs, and it felt like NASCAR was injecting new rules to save teams from themselves in the middle of the event. They also wouldn’t allow teams to gamble and put on slick tires early as the track dried, actually forcing Hocevar’s team to change back to wet tires after they briefly went on to slicks. It would have been far more interesting and fair to let teams make these calls and live with them, no matter the outcome.

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WINNER: Wet-weather racing on an oval

Rain/sleet at Bowman Gray

Regardless of how it was officiated, the NASCAR Cup cars running the outermost groove at Bowman Gray and ignoring the bottom lane was surreal, and a treat. While officials had some cold feet at first, they ultimately let the field go racing in the wet-weather conditions, and it made for a unique show that allowed different names to showcase their skills. While the amount of incidents was a drawback, the green-flag running was tremendous to watch.

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LOSER: SVG and Hocevar lead some laps, then get taken out

Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

There was a lot of promise for Van Gisbergen and Hocevar on Wednesday night, and they became threats for the win during the wet-weather portion of the race. Hocevar led 18 laps and SVG led 15, but they ended up finishing 15th and 20th, respectively. Both were collected in accidents that they didn’t start, denying them a finish befitting of how they ran at Bowman Gray.

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WINNER: Suarez’s eventful and impressive debut with Spire

Daniel Suarez, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

After exiting Trackhouse, Suarez came to Bowman Gray ready to battle. He was the last driver to lock into the main event via qualifying, and quickly engaged in full-contact battles with anyone who wanted to trade blows — including former teammate SVG, as well as Bubba Wallace. Driving for Spire Motorsports, Suarez made it all the way the top five and finished fourth in his very first outing with the team. That now stands as Suarez’s best finish ever in the Clash.

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LOSER: The field for a record number of cautions

Crash involving Ty Gibbs, Chase Elliott

As one preferred lane formed in the wet-weather conditions, drivers quickly began to run over each other in effort to get into that higher lane. As a result of that, this race saw a Clash record 17 cautions, and pushed the event so late that FOX knocked it over to FOX Sports 2. With caution laps not counting, it really caused the race to drag on and inadvertently created the fuel issues we mentioned earlier. Many of those incidents were avoidable and just examples of over-aggression. Not the best show of racing etiquette, but it is the Madhouse…

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WINNER: LaJoie/Cindric/Allmendinger for their LCQ battle

Battle for the final transfer spit between Corey LaJoie, Austin Cindric, AJ Allmendinger

Looking beyond the main event, how about a shoutout for this trio. Austin Cindric secured the final transfer spot in the last-chance-qualifier after a thrilling battle with Corey LaJoie and AJ Allmendinger. While it truly became a game of bumper tag, at no point did these these blatantly run over each other and cause a wreck. They hit doors, shoved each other up the track, and raced super aggressively, but fairly without an incident and no hard feelings. It was great to watch, and a showcase of high aggression without crossing the line.

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LOSER: McDowell jumps the start, missies out on main

Josh Berry and Michael McDowell lead the field the green flag

On the other end of the spectrum, Michael McDowell had to watch the main event as a spectator, but it didn’t need to be that way. He started the LCQ from the front row, but jumped the initial start and got black-flagged. He never recovered, and while he swears the pole-sitter spun his tires, it doesn’t change the fact that he missed out on the big show. The top two advanced from that race and in a 75-lap event, McDowell could have been one of them, if he was a bit less eager to on that initial start.

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VIDEO: Full Race Highlights

Watch: Race Rewind: Weather leads to madness in the Cook Out Clash

Read Also:

Tearful Ryan Preece wins mad wet/dry NASCAR Clash at Bowman Gray

Officiating for the NASCAR Cup Clash was a bit of a mess

Shane van Gisbergen stars in the rain, leads NASCAR Clash before late crash

The Ryan Preece Show is back on its brightest stage

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