WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Bumping, beating and banging were the headliners Saturday night, along with Chase Elliott, in the return of the NASCAR Cup Series to Bowman Gray Stadium for the first time since 1971. Elliott won the first of four heat races on the quarter-mile track and will start Sunday night’s Cook Out Clash from the pole.

Ryan Blaney was a little kid the first time he raced at Bowman Gray Stadium and remembers it being the coolest thing he’d ever done in motorsports.

The Clash at Bowman Gray provided NASCAR stripped back to its rawest form and putting on a show in front of its most hardcore, passionate fans.