PHOENIX – Ryan Preece celebrated an emotional first-career victory in the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium after weather conditions wreaked havoc during the exhibition race.

After charging up to ninth from 18th, Preece utilized short-track skills from his Modified career. When a sleet storm forced the field to apply rain tires, Preece played it conservatively. He swiped the lead from Shane Van Gisbergen on lap 143 and then fended off the field on several restarts.

“I’m speechless, man,” Preece said. “That last two laps, I’m speechless.”

When Preece emerged from his Kroger Ford Mustang Darkhorse, the 35-year-old was at a loss for “what to say,” and tears filled his eyes.

“We were fighting adversity all day trying to come from the back,” Preece said.

This was RFK Racing’s first Clash victory since 1999. The Berlin, Connecticut, driver joins Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin as the only drivers to win the Clash before winning their first Cup Series points race.

"It's the Clash,” Preece said. “But man, it’s just been years and years of grinding.”

Preece is a veteran racer. This driver raced full-time with JTG-Daugherty Racing from 2019 to 2021 but dropped down to the Truck Series in hopes of attracting a better opportunity. He scored a pair of wins at Nashville before joining Stewart-Haas Racing in its final Cup Series season.

“Two years ago, I didn’t think I was going to have a job. I thought I was going back to Connecticut,” Preece said. When SHR shut its doors, Preece was left without a ride.

That’s when Brad Keselowski stepped in.

“I’m just super thankful for Brad Keselowski,” Preece said. “I can’t thank Kroger, Coca-Cola, all our partners, every single one, Celsius, Tad Geshickter and Jodi Geshickter, Bam Marketing.”

The 2013 Whelen Modified Tour win at Bowman Gray added another trophy to the case.

This race featured 17 cautions – a new record for the Clash – due to the adverse conditions of sleet and rain. That, and the tight conditions at Bowman Gray Stadium, created a race of attrition.

“It was just a marathon race,” second-place finisher William Byron said.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver said it felt like the race would never end in the last 70 laps.

“I felt like they did a good job with the rain conditions,” Byron said. “And then it seemed like guys just started kind of easing each other into the wall and stuff, and that wasn’t great.”

The 2023 Cup Champion, Ryan Blaney, was a victim of several incidents but recovered to finish third. The driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford described the race as "whacky” and pretty wild.

“I wasn’t good in the wet at all,” Blaney said. “I was kind of nervous.”

Nerves peaked when the field funneled into the first turn after bolting on rain tires, and a crash immediately ensued. Blaney said he had no clue what to expect on restarts. Racing Reference credited Blaney as being involved with three wrecks, yet he still managed a top-five effort.

“My car kept some tires a little bit better than the other guys,” Blaney said of the late charge.

Josh Berry won the Last Chance Qualifier, while Austin Cindric defeated Corey LaJoie in a battle for a transfer into the main event. Alex Bowman made the show off a point provisional. All 23 drivers who started the race finished, and Bubba Wallace was the only driver to score one lap down.

The 2026 NASCAR season officially begins with the 68th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 15. Race coverage starts at 2:30 p.m on FOX alongside MRN Radio.