Cook Out Clash ratings take major step forward at Bowman Gray Stadium

After an exhilarating weekend for the NASCAR Cup Series at Bowman Gray Stadium, the ratings are in for the 2025 iteration of The Clash in Winston Salem, North Carolina.

According to Adam Stern of the Sports Business Journal, FOX received a 1.55 rating and 3.08 million viewers for this past Sunday’s race, which is up 104% from last season’s event, which took place inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Overall, it was the No. 2 sports event of the week. More than promising numbers for NASCAR.

.@FoxTV got a 1.55 rating and 3.08 million viewers for Sunday's @CookOut Clash, up from last year at L.A. Coliseum that was moved to a Saturday on FS1, but off from the first two runnings there in '22 and '23.

🔲 The race was the No. 2 sports event of the week after @PGATour. pic.twitter.com/xnYAcVmf7E

— Adam Stern (@A_S12) February 4, 2025

“[FOX] got a 1.55 rating and 3.08 million viewers for Sunday’s [Cook Out] Clash, up from last year at L.A. Coliseum that was moved to a Saturday on FS1, but off from the first two runnings there in ’22 and ’23,” Stern posted on X. “The race was the No. 2 sports event of the week after [the PGA Tour].”

All told, those numbers are great for NASCAR ahead of another crusade. Fans tuned in to scratch their itch for the sport, and to see what the Cup Series best could do at Bowman Gray. Additionally, hype is certainly growing for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 16.

The 2025 iteration of The Clash certainly accomplished those goals. Now, will the Cup Series commit to returning to the venue in 2026 for the race? Denny Hamlin isn’t so sure, as the veteran wheelman believes The Clash should continue to rotate, and bring NASCAR to areas that don’t normally experience it.

“I think you’ve probably got to keep moving it,” Hamlin said, regarding whether Winston Salem should be an option for The Clash in 2026, via the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast. “You know, I think that’s what kind of — I think people tuned in to Bowman Gray because it’s a track they had not seen before. I think they tuned in to LA the first year so much because it’s a track they had not seen before. Like, how are these guys going to navigate it? How are they going to adapt to it? I think, if you go back in consecutive years, there’s a little bit of a — there’s not a wow or a shock factor.

“The racing could be better. We could end up with a great side-by-side finish. You never know, but I just think there’s — not fatigue, but there’s just, there’s a known to it, versus the unknown that you have when you go to somewhere new for the first time.”

Time will tell what the sport’s decision-makers come up with, and Denny Hamlin won’t be shy to voice his thoughts on the matter. Whether it’s at Bowman Gray or not, The Clash will continue to be a must-see event in 2026 for the NASCAR Cup Series, as the ratings proved over the weekend.