Active Winners of the NASCAR Clash

Photo Credit to Sean Gardner/Getty Images

NASCAR

Past Winners of NASCAR’s Clash Looking for Repeat Glory

From Daytona Beach to Los Angeles to Winston-Salem, NASCAR’s preseason Clash has undergone a few variations in recent years. For the second-straight season, historic Bowman Gray Stadium is set to hold this exhibition event to formally begin another NASCAR campaign. As teams begins to trek north to The Madhouse, six drivers are hoping to take another Clash win. Here are the half dozen men who have conquered The Clash before and their chances Sunday night at Bowman Gray Stadium.

Denny Hamlin

Second only to Dale Earnhardt in all-time Clash wins, Denny Hamlin owns four preseason checkered flags. The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran won this race as a rookie all the way back in 2006. He repeated this effort at Daytona in both 2014 and 2016. Hamlin also won the Clash’s last showing at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 2024, taking that victory from the pole.

At Bowman Gray Stadium a year ago, Hamlin was one of very few cars who could keep touch with Chase Elliott, leading 28 laps and eventually finishing third. Sunday will mark Hamlin’s 21st appearance in the Clash, most among all active drivers. The short track ace who’s already claimed one stadium hopes to add another one to his résumé.

Kyle Busch

Another decorated Clash veteran, Kyle Busch has taken this trophy home twice before in two highlight-reel moments. 2012’s Budweiser Shootout from Daytona lives on in prestige for Busch spinning out twice, saving it, and just edging ahead of Tony Stewart in a photo finish. Nine years later on the Daytona Road Course, Busch was in the right position when Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney tangled in the final corner, stealing this win. To date, that marked the Clash’s last time at Daytona and Busch’s most recent non-points triumph.

Across the three-year stint at the L.A. Coliseum, however, Busch was close enough to taste victory lane. The champion from Las Vegas was second in both 2022 and 2024, sandwiching a third-place run in 2023. Busch likewise boasts the best average finish from the Coliseum Clash era. It would be a very fitting sight to see the Richard Childress Racing driver win at the track his owner credits for starting his legendary career. Can RC possibly go from selling popcorn in the Bowman Gray Stadium grandstands to Madhouse victory lane?

Joey Logano

One more driver can call themselves a Clash winner on multiple tracks–Joey Logano. Team Penske’s No. 22 was victorious at Daytona in 2017, and took the maiden L.A. Clash in 2022. Known for winning on new racetracks, Logano ended his Bowman Gray Stadium debut last year in fourth-place. The 22 has finished fourth the last two years in the season-opening exhibition.

Few in the field today are as agile, ruthless, and cunning as Logano on all tracks. These traits seemingly make him a perfectly aggressive candidate for a Madhouse win. The three-time Cup champion will be chasing a third Clash triumph in his 18th attempt.

Brad Keselowski*

Team Penske’s superspeedway prowess also gave Brad Keselowski a Daytona Clash win in 2018. Keselowski and all of RFK Racing were shut out of making the main event in the LA. Clash until 2024, when the No. 6 finished eighth. Keselowski did transfer into last year’s feature race and came home a lap down in 21st.

Keselowski is the one driver on this list who will not be racing this weekend. The driver/owner is still recovering from his broken leg injury in December. As a result, Corey Lajoie will substitute drive the No. 6 Mustang at Bowman Gray Stadium. This comes as a dress rehearsal for Lajoie attempting the Daytona 500 in a fourth RFK Racing Ford. Lajoie is a past Madhouse winner from a K&N Pro East (now ARCA East) race in 2012. The third-generation star hopes to turn heads with this rare opportunity in a top-tier ride.

Erik Jones

The last Clash at Daytona winner, 2020 saw Erik Jones pull off an upset triumph. The exhibition’s final year on the superspeedway is remembered in infamy for wrecking out 12 of the 18 starters. Jones was able to outlast this carnage in his own beaten and battered Toyota thanks to a last lap shove from teammate Denny Hamlin. That year only marked Jones’ third Clash appearance, and still remains his high point across six career starts.

The Legacy Motor Club No. 43 Toyota has missed the feature event for two-straight seasons. Now with new crew chief Justin Alexander, this team hopes to hit the ground running in their first race together.

Chase Elliott

Last year’s Cook Out Clash was a Chase Elliott domination any way you serve it up. Starting the main event on pole, the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 would go onto lead 171 of 200 laps, hardly ever looking back. Elliott, a graduate of pavement short track racing across the southeast, was ecstatic to add himself to The Madhouse’s winners list. 2025 was his second top-five and fifth top-10 in nine Clash starts. Engine Engine Number 9 hopes to see the finish line first again in his 10th Clash showing.

2026’s Cook Out Clash from Bowman Gray Stadium is almost here. For only the second time in 55 years, NASCAR’s premier series will compete at its oldest and most historic track. The Heat races will set most of the starting lineup Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The Last Chance Qualifier will then start Sunday at 6 p.m. on FOX. Lastly, the feature event will go green at 8 p.m. Sunday on FOX. While temperatures will be cold, drama may be as high as ever with a pack of hungry drivers on a quarter-mile bullring.

Written by Peter Stratta

Be sure to follow us on Twitter/X

Be sure to follow the writer on Twitter/X

Photo Credits to Sean Gardner/Getty Images