Ryan Preece wins the NASCAR Clash

After three weather postponements, the Clash at Bowman Gray finally got going on a Wednesday night.

After a few more weather delays and a record seventeen cautions, it was Ryan Preece who took the checkered flag, becoming only the third NASCAR driver in history to win an exhibition race before their first win in a points-paying race.

He joins Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin, so he's not in bad company.

The race started with Kyle Larson on pole, and he dominated the early stages.

He ran out front for the first 55 laps, but after the first caution of the race came out, Chase Briscoe made a nice overtake around the outside to bring his #19 into the lead.

Larson eventually got the lead back, but then had it taken away by William Byron around lap 70.

Byron fell back to third by the mid-way break, getting overtaken by Briscoe and Ty Gibbs.

Out of the 100-lap break, Gibbs had the lead.

That didn’t last long, as Briscoe went around the outside to re-take that lead.

Larson was already struggling going from 1st to 10th, but his day got worse.

He spun his car on lap 102, dropping himself all the way back to last.

In what was an unusually quiet method for him, Carson Hocevar was moving up the field.

On the restart, he sent it up the inside (on the grass) to make it three-wide at Bowman Gray, something that is usually unheard of.

While the move didn’t stick, he kept fighting and eventually took that lead.

After Denny Hamlin wrecked Austin Dillon, Hocevar lost a solid cushion and had to fight on the restart.

He put great defense on Briscoe, but then another restart came after another wreck.

This time, Shane Van Gisbergen went up the inside and took the lead.

A couple laps later, Preece hit an incredible switchback for an overtake on SVG for the lead.

I did not realize a switchback on a track like Bowman Gray was even possible, which makes it more impressive.

Despite multiple more crashes and restarts, Preece never lost the lead and took the first win of his career.

This was a great appetizer for what should be an incredibly entertaining NASCAR season.

The real season starts at Daytona on February 15 for the 500.

Edison Pellumbi is a first-year student studying broadcast journalism. To contact him, email him at ejp5889@psu.edu.