Chase Elliott earns pole for Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium

Chase Elliott will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday in the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray. 

The 2020 Cup Series champion won the first of four heat races on Saturday to earn the pole position. Chris Buescher, Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick won their respective heat races and will start second, third and fourth on Sunday evening. 

Heat 1 featured a plethora of incidents involving Justin Haley, Kyle Busch and Noah Gragson, while Heats 2 and 3 were relatively calm affairs. Heat 4 featured two major crashes: one involving John Hunter Nemechek, and one involving Cole Custer and A.J. Allmendinger. 

Following Saturday's heat races, 20 drivers are locked into the Cook Out Clash. Three drivers will make the race on Sunday. The top two finishers in Sunday's 75-lap last-chance qualifier will advance, as will the highest-finishing driver in the 2024 Cup Series points standings who did not advance through the heat races or the LCQ. 

The Last-Chance Qualifier will go green shortly after 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, while the Clash itself will go green shortly after 8 p.m. ET on Sunday. Both races will be televised on FOX, with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.