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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Kyle Larson and Josh Berry raced their way into The Clash by winning the crash-filled last chance qualifying race Sunday night at historic Bowman Gray Stadium.
The 75-lap qualifying race was for all the drivers who failed to make the main event in Saturday’s heat races. The “LCQ” advanced three drivers into NASCAR’s preseason exhibition main event, which marked the Cup Series’ first race at the “Mecca of Madhouse” since 1971.
Larson, who won the race, had a terrible Chevrolet on Saturday but his Hendrick Motorsports crew made enough improvement overnight that the 2021 NASCAR champion drove through the field and survived the bumping and banging that caused 15 cautions to advance.
Berry finished second to put Wood Brothers Racing in the main event at the quarter-mile oval where team founder and family patriarch Glenn Wood logged a total of 29 victories across all divisions as his sons watched in the grandstands.
Austin Dillon finished third — one spot shy of moving into what is a true home race for the third generation racer. He grew up and lives about 15 minutes away from Bowman Gray Stadium, where his Hall of Fame grandfather sold peanuts in the grandstands as a youngster.
Richard Childress was in the stands watching his grandson trying to earn a spot in The Clash, but before the race began, he stopped by the Fox Sports booth to deliver peanuts and popcorn to the broadcast crew.
“As a kid we jumped the fence and come in and sell peanuts and popcorn, then I’d hang out with all the race drivers, and we had a heck of a time,” Childress said. “I said ‘Man, as much fun as they are having, I’ve got to be a race driver.’ We’d come over here for a fight and a race would break out.”
The LCQ allowed for three drivers to race their way into The Clash, scheduled for later Sunday night. The third spot was designated for the highest points-scoring driver from 2024 not otherwise qualified and it went to Ryan Blaney, who turned laps early before pulling off the track during a caution so his Team Penske crew could prepare his Ford for the main event.
There are 23 cars in The Clash, which is a non-points event that was held at Daytona International Speedway from 1979 to 2021 as the warm-up act to the Daytona 500. NASCAR stepped outside the box in 2022 and moved it across the country to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which was transformed from a football stadium into a temporary short track for three seasons.
NASCAR this year moved it to Bowman Gray in a throwback to grassroots racing. The Cup Series ran at Bowman Gray from 1958 to 1971 and the stadium is now used for weekly local racing and is the football field for Winston-Salem State University.
The track is notorious for flared tempers and fighting, but has made it through five heat races without a single brawl headed into the main event.
The 39 entrants included two Bowman Gray regulars in Tim Brown and Burt Myers, who made their Cup Series debuts in trying to make the field for The Clash. Both called the opportunity a dream come true, and Myers vowed to race like it was a regular night at The Madhouse if he had a shot at a transfer position.
“I don’t care if my Mama is in second place if I need the spot,” Myers vowed.
Alas, Brown and Myers were never close enough to the front to get physical with the competition and fight for a spot in The Clash.
Myers crashed when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hit him from behind with 15 laps remaining.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
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