Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NASCAR Chevy, proved that he’s the most popular driver for a reason. He outperformed Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Ford Mustang Dark Horse and dueled Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota TRD Camry for the win at the season-opening Clash at Bowman Gray on February 2nd, 2025.
Elliott started on the pole and led 171 of 200 laps. That included the first 96 laps before he was passed by Hamlin after trading paint with the Toyota driver several times. Hamlin had control of the top spot for the race’s final restart on Lap 121, but Elliott’s No. 9 NASCAR Chevy had superior grip and cruised by with Blaney in tow. Hamlin faded, relegating him to a third place finish behind Elliott and Blaney.
“This environment is special,” said Elliott. “[Bowman Gray] is a place that has a deep history in NASCAR. I think they deserve this event, truthfully. I hope we didn’t disappoint. It was fun for me at least, and we’ll hopefully come back here one day.”
Blaney said he could have raced Elliott dirty, but didn’t want to make enemies out of Elliott’s massive fanbase.
“I’m not going to bulldog into him and get chased out of here with pitchforks,” Blaney said after the race. “I just didn’t quite have enough right rear at the end to make a move on him.”
Elliott is the 26th different driver to win the preseason Clash, which is an exhibition race that does not count toward the Cup Series points picture. He’s also the eighth different driver to win the race in the last eight years, and his victory marked the sixth time the race has been won from the pole position. Additionally, he’s the first NASCAR Chevy driver to win the event in six years. The last time a Bow Tie brand race car ended up in Victory Lane at the Clash was in 2019, when Jimmie Johnson claimed the win.
Behind Elliott, Blaney, and Hamlin, Joey Logano’s No. 22 Mustang finished fourth, followed by Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 Camry in fifth and Ross Chastain’s No. 1 NASCAR Chevy in sixth.
As a reminder, while the NASCAR Chevy racers are sculpted to look like the now-discontinued Camaro, they do not feature Camaro branding on the rear bumpers and instead display “Chevrolet” script.
Comments
#9 Chevy “what”?
A Chevy. It says right on the rear bumper. Must it have a model?
Good to see Chase back. He definitely deserved the win, pole and leading the most laps. Keep it up through the season, Chevy baby!
U know the badge means nothing on the back of these cars rt!
If Dodge can remake the Charger. GM can remake one of their model cars by popular demand. No Bolts please.