Cook Out, one of the fastest growing family-owned restaurant chains in the United States, is set to serve as the title sponsor of this Sunday night's preseason Clash exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium, replacing longtime sponsor – and ongoing Premier Partner – Busch Light.
Cook Out is also set to serve as the title sponsor of the Cook Out Madhouse Classic on Saturday, February 1. This event is an invitation-only event which is set to feature the stars of the track's Modified Division.
This change in title sponsorship is more about Cook Out's increased involvement in NASCAR than it is about Busch Light, which remains heavily involved in the sport as a Premier Partner and as the primary sponsor of Ross Chastain's No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. It also remains the "Official Beer of NASCAR" and the title sponsor of the Busch Light Pole Award.
Cook Out also serves as the title sponsor of the spring race at Martinsville Speedway, a role it has held since 2024, and the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, a role it has held since 2021.
Cook Out in, Busch Light out at Clash title sponsor
The Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium is scheduled to take place at the four-turn, 0.25-mile (0.402-kilometer) Winston-Salem, North Carolina oval for the first time on Sunday, February 2. The race had been contested at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum from 2022 to 2024. Bowman-Gray Stadium hasn't hosted a Cup Series race since 1971.
The race had been known as the Busch Clash from 1979 to 1997 when it was contested at Daytona International Speedway, and then again in 2020, when it was still held at the track's oval. It kept that name in 2021, when it was moved to the road course for the first (and, as of now, only) time.
From 1998 to 2000, the race was known as the Bud Shootout, and from 2001 to 2012, it was known as the Budweiser Shootout.
Anheuser-Busch's history in NASCAR goes back to a year before the first Clash in 1979, as the company sponsored the Busch Pole Award, and Busch Beer was the “Official Beer of NASCAR” from 1988 to 1997. The Busch Pole Award returned in 2018, and Busch has been the "Official Beer of NASCAR" once again since 2018.
For the first time in its history in 2013, the Clash was no longer sponsored by a beer brand, as Budweiser shifted over to the Daytona 500 Duel qualifying races from 2013 to 2015. From 2013 to 2016, the Clash was known as the Sprint Unlimited, and from 2017 to 2019, it was known as the Advance Auto Parts Clash.
The race was then known as the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum when it was contested at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum from 2022 to 2024.
Busch Light is now one of only three Premier Partners, along with Coca-Cola and Xfinity, after GEICO left and was not replaced following the 2024 season, and now it is no longer the title sponsor of a race with which it has been associated since its inception in 1979.
Tune in to Fox at 8:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 2 for the live broadcast of the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium.