NASCAR is back! The stars of the Cup Series head down the road to Winston-Salem, North Carolina for the 2025 edition of the NASCAR Clash. This exhibition race is always a great icebreaker to fill the week before the Super Bowl and then the Daytona 500. Let’s jump in and take a look at the NASCAR Cook Out Clash odds, picks, and race format.
For the first time the Clash shifts to Bowman Gray Stadium. The quarter-mile flat asphalt oval is a legendary racing surface. Known as “NASCAR’s longest-running weekly race track.” Weekly races include modifieds, sportsman, street stocks, and more. The NASCAR Cup Series ran there regularly from 1959 to 1971 but hasn’t returned to the track since.
23 drivers will race in the main event (in most cases, unless otherwise noted by the book, the bets and fantasy plays only count for the main event on Sunday night). The field will be set by the top five finishers from all four 25-lap heat races, the top two from the last chance qualifier, and one driver gets a provisional. The provisional goes to the highest finisher in last year’s standings who hasn’t qualified through the heat races or LCQ. So the 2024 champion Joey Logano is locked into the main event no matter what.
When looking at who to bet this weekend on a brand new track there are a few factors to consider. Obviously we have no previous track history to look at. The track is very comparable to the L.A. Coliseum and the format is similar so that’s a great place to start. Then short-flat tracks are the next best place to look to get an idea of what a driver might do here. Martinsville, North Wilkesboro, New Hampshire, and to some degree a Phoenix.
Clash format. Main event will have 23 drivers: pic.twitter.com/88C1ALMbjz
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) January 21, 2025
Way Too Early 2025 Indianapolis 500 Odds and Best Bets
NASCAR Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium Odds, Picks, and Race Format
Kyle Larson +800
Denny Hamlin +800
Christopher Bell +850
Chase Briscoe +1000
Joey Logano +1000
Ryan Blaney +1100
William Byron +1100
Ty Gibbs +1200
Kyle Busch +1400
Chase Elliott +1600
Brad Keselowski +2000
Alex Bowman +2200
Tyler Reddick +2500
Ross Chastain +2800
Austin Dillion +3000
Bubba Wallace +3300
Chris Buescher +3500
Ryan Preece +4000
Josh Berry +4000
Tim Brown +5000
Justin Haley +5000
Cole Custer +6000
Carson Hocevar +6500
Austin Cindric +6500
Burt Myers +7500
Daniel Suarez +7500
AJ Allmendinger +10000
Erik Jones +10000
Noah Gragson +10000
Riley Herbst +12500
Michael McDowell +12500
Todd Gilliland +12500
Zane Smith +12500
Shane Van Gisbergen +15000
Ricky Stenhouse Jr +17500
John Hunter Nemechek +20000
Ty Dillion +25000
Garrett Smithley +50000
Cody Ware +50000
NASCAR Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium Odds, Picks, and Race Format
Under 3.5 Fords to Finish in the Top 10 (-115)
When you look at the Cup Series field, Chevy is the largest manufacturer and Toyota the smallest. Ford sits in the middle with plenty of entries, but it’s less top-heavy when it comes to stars. Ryan Blaney is the one driver you should always count on being in the top 10. Outside of that, it’s hit-and-miss. Joey Logano can win or battle for 27th any given week. The RFK camp can be strong, and I’m high on Preece this week but all three won’t be up there.
What can Berry do in the 21 is yet to be seen and we don’t fully know what we have with the Front Row cars in 2025. So, counting in Blaney, it would then take some combination of Logano, two RKF cars and a random front row car to get to four Fords in the top 10. And that’s not to mention the strength of both Chevrolet and Toyota at the top of the board.
Kyle Busch Top Finishing Chevrolet (+500) & to Win (+1400)
In three races at the L.A. Coliseum, Kyle Busch never finished worse than third place. In both his Joe Gibbs Toyota and now his Richard Childress Chevrolet Busch has been good. Kyle Larson is the favorite in this group for obvious reasons. But Busch beat him in all three clash races in L.A. Outside of that, Byron, Elliott, and other Chevrolet drivers are good, but nobody sticks out with three top threes like Busch.
Busch is also in a contract year, a narrative we use in football a lot, but that could come into play for one of NASCAR’s greats this season. Busch was inches at Atlanta and a late spin at Kansas away from a two-win 2024 season and the narrative around him being totally different. For a driver like this, that’s been as good as he has in these races to be 5/1 and 14/1 in these markets. He’s too good to pass up on.
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Christopher Bell to Win (+850)
When I think of short flat tracks, Christopher Bell is the first driver that comes to mind. Bell hasn’t been great in the three races at the Clash at the Coliseum but I’m not going to hold that against him. Bell has been great at tracks like New Hampshire and Phoenix leading over 140 laps in the last race at each track. He won at Martinsville in 2022 leading 150 laps on the day.
He put up strong performances at Iowa, Richmond and Gateway last year, all on the shorter flatter scale. One big thing I love about Bell this year. Joe Gibbs lifted his policy of not letting his drivers race outside of NASCAR. Bell has been able to get seat time in his dirt car again this off-season. We’ve seen that be huge for Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell kicks off another strong campaign here in 2025 with a win at the clash.
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