CONCORD, N.C. - Historically speaking, one could get in trouble pretty quickly trying to draw some sort of correlation between a win in the Clash and overall success in the NASCAR Cup Series the same season.
Sure, there are exceptions. Since the event's inaugural run in 1979, the driver who won the Clash went on to win the ensuing DAYTONA 500 six times. On eight occasions, the Clash winner eventually claimed a season championship in the same year.
Only once has a driver won the Clash, the DAYTONA 500 and the points title - Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon in 1997. It was one of a pair of Clash wins for Gordon whose first win as the driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet came in the preseason opener in 1994.
Even after turning in the most dominating performance in Clash history this past weekend at Bowman Gray Stadium, winning all three practice sessions in which he took part, the pole and then leading 171 of 200 laps en route to victory, Chase Elliott kept it in perspective while fielding postrace questions.
"I mean, look, I know it's not a points race, but I don't care. These things, man, they are so hard to win," Elliott said. "This garage has become so competitive, these guys are so good at what they do, it's very rewarding to cross the finish line first in whatever type of event it is when you're racing against those types of drivers and teams.
"That to me is very enjoyable from our perspective. We'll take the positives from the weekend. For sure we recognize there's 37 more to go. There's a lot of racing left. Just hope we can build on this."
The word, "build" is an incredibly pertinent one in Elliott's situation.
One reason Elliott's victory on Sunday could well be a harbinger of things to come in 2025 is because it only continued the trajectory the team has been on for quite some time, dating back into 2024. And that trend took an even sharper upward turn later in the season as Elliott pushed for a Championship 4 berth, only to come up one spot short at Martinsville Speedway in the season's penultimate race.
But Elliott led 129 laps in that event, a week after leading 81 circuits at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Those 210 laps paced, made up 48.7% of his laps led on the season, including a win at Texas Motor Speedway.
So, obviously, the team was surging as the year came to a close and Sunday seemed to signal that Elliott, crew chief Alan Gustafson and the No. 9 bunch may be poised to pick up right where they left off.
"I thought last year was a really good step for us to getting back to the form we want to be in, and that's winning championships and being in the Final 4," Gustafson said. "I think as long as you're moving forward and continuously improving, if you can do that, you're going to get where you want to be. I felt like last year that was the case. We got better from the previous year, kind of got better throughout the whole season."
Also, important to note in Elliott's case is the venue. From 1979-2020, the Clash was held on the big track at Daytona International Speedway, a place where upset winners routinely reign supreme.
That changed when the Clash went to the Daytona Road Course in 2021 and even more so in 2022 when it changed venues and coastlines, heading to the Los Angeles Coliseum for a three-year stint on a quarter-mile short track.
The oval on Sunday at Bowman Gray was certainly closer to the Coliseum than Daytona, though, despite their matching lengths, drivers insisted there were plenty of differences between the two. But more importantly, Bowman Gray is also at least somewhat similar to a few other tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, most notably Martinsville and Phoenix Raceway, that last two stops on the slate with the latter hosting the Championship 4 race.
The last two years, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano have each won a championship at Phoenix with Blaney sweeping the past two fall events at Martinsville. Again, on Sunday, Blaney charged to the front of the field but this time, could do nothing with Elliott, who held him off down the stretch for the win.
There's a long season ahead and certainly, Sunday's results don't mean that come late October and early November, things will play out the same way. But Sunday's result can't be completely dismissed either and if Elliott and the No. 9 bunch go on to have a big 2025, the Clash may just be remembered as an early message to the rest of the field.
“Grip is grip,” Gordon said. “Those guys really had something special and you could see the car was working well. Chase I thought was doing a great job managing the tires and the balance and I just thought all the way around it was a good weekend for the No. 9 team in a big way. I don’t know how much of that transfers over to anything else but if they can find one, tiny ounce, they’ll take it.”
"I think it's just some validation to we all tried to come here and win, we all tried to come here and be successful, and we were able to," Gustafson added. "Gives you validation in your process, validation in how your team is operating and working. Certainly, I think it's going to give Chase some confidence and validation seeing he did an amazing job to win the race. Basically, did everything right."