WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. Racing on a tight, quarter-mile oval almost guarantees every race car in the NASCAR Cup Series field is bound to have its fair share of battle scars.

However, that wasnt the case for Ryan Blaney for much of the 200-lap Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium.

Despite starting shotgun on the field, the Team Penske driver methodically climbed his way to 10th by the races halftime break with little to no damage to his race car.

While hed endure contact in the second half of the race, much like every driver in the 23-car feature field did, the driver of the No. 12 Ford again climbed to the runner-up spot as he hounded the rear bumper of leader Chase Elliott.

Despite constant pressure, Blaney was forced to settle for second.

I got to 10th before the break and I kind of got to the top five relatively quick a couple of restarts went my way and by the time I got to second I saved a pretty good bit even to get to second because I knew it might go the whole way, and then it was just kind of like a game between the 9 (Elliott) and myself like who can save more right-rear tire, Blaney said.

I just didnt quite have enough to lean on there at the end. I started pushing like with 25 to go and I just didnt have enough. I was like, Uh oh. I needed some help by lappers and I just never really could get there.

I kind of just didnt have enough to lean on, but it was fun coming from the back and just not quite having enough, but its always fun when you can move forward like that.

While the Clash certainly had its chaotic moments, Blaney enjoyed the combination of tight racing and stadium-like atmosphere.

From the crowd yesterday that hung out for three hours from the modifieds to when we first got out on the track is a lot of commitment, and there was a lot of energy on the frontstretch before we got going there and thats what its all about, Blaney said.

It was really, really cool to be here and Im happy that it was a good show for everybody. Im looking forward to hopefully coming back next year.

I dont see why you wouldnt come back, so I hope everyone had a good time.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. Pole winner Chase Elliott held off a dramatic charge from Ryan Blaney to win Sunday nights Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in front of a teeming, vociferous sellout crowd at the historic quarter-mile.

Adroitly working lapped traffic in the closing stages of the 200-lap season-opening exhibition race, Elliott crossed the finish line 1.333 seconds ahead of Blaney, who started last among the 23 competitors on a driver points provisional.

Elliott claimed his first victory in the Clash, which came to Bowman Gray after a three-year stint in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet reveled in the NASCAR Cup Series return to the iconic short track after an absence of 54 years.

This environment is special, said Elliott, who led 171 laps, including the first 96 before surrendering the lead to eventual third-place finisher Denny Hamlin. This is a place that has a deep history in NASCAR. I think they deserve this event, truthfully.

I hope we didnt disappoint. It was fun for me at least, and well hopefully come back here one day.

Hamlin led twice for 28 laps, but faded after Elliott retook the top spot from him on Lap 126. And when Blaney slipped past Hamlins Toyota on Lap 147, it became a two-driver race.

But Blaneys car tightened up in the late going, preventing the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford from challenging for the win. Blaney thought better of making an overly aggressive move on the series seven-time most popular driver.

Im not going to bulldog into him and get chased out of here with pitchforks, Blaney quipped I just didnt quite have enough right rear at the end to make a move on him.

Joey Logano finished fourth, followed by Bubba Wallace, who advanced from his 14th-place starting position. Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick, Shane van Gisbergen and Chris Buescher completed the top 10.

Hamlin rued the final restart on Lap 121, after the seventh caution for Brad Keselowskis spin off Wallaces bumper.

I just didnt do very well on that restart there, and kind of lost the bottom, and Chase took advantage of it, Hamlin said. Once you get the lead, its a lot easier to hang on to it.

I thought that they were just a little better that second half than we were, along with the 12 (Blaney) was as well. We just have to get a little bit better, but overall, a good day for our Sport Clips Toyota.

In the last chance qualifier that determined positions 21 and 22 in the main event, Kyle Larson charged from the 10th starting position and survived nine cautions to win the 75-lap event and advance to the Clash.

On Lap 72, Larson grabbed the lead from Josh Berry, who was making his first competitive start for Wood Brothers Racing at the track where team patriarch and NASCAR Hall of Famer Glen Wood secured all four of his Cup Series victories.

Larson took the top spot for the first time on Lap 30 and led a race-high 36 circuits en route to the win. However, Larsons No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet sustained damage after he surrendered the lead to Erik Jones for a restart on Lap 65.

In a melee moments after racing resumed, Jones spun in a three-wide mishap with Berry and Larson and dropped out of contention.

My car was way better than it was yesterday, said Larson, whose eighth-place finish in his Saturday heat relegated him to the last chance qualifier. That was fun. I was able to get to the front without really getting into too many people.

But then after that long break (for local champion Burt Myers hard wreck on Lap 61), I cycled really tight for that restart and allowed Erik to get in front of me and just kind of lost control of the race at that point. Then, the next restart, it got crazy, and I got a bunch of damage.

Berry, who started 13th, held second to secure the 22nd spot in the Clash. Berry and Larson finished 13th and 17th, respectively, in the main event.

It got pretty rough, Berry said. You hate that it comes to that, but it is what it isits the Madhouse, its Bowman Gray Stadium, its a tight race track, and youre going to run into each other.