The NASCAR Cup Series season informally begins with Sunday's Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem. The non-points paying race is the annual opening exhibition in the Cup season, with this year's race taking place at the quarter-mile Bowman Gray Stadium for the first time.

NASCAR returns to its roots Sunday with the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, which last played host to a Cup Series event more than 50 years ago. After three years on a temporary short track at the Los Angeles Coliseum, NASCAR has moved The Clash to the 0.25-mile track in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, known as “The Madhouse.”