Ryan Blaney was a little kid the first time he raced at Bowman Gray Stadium — he figures he couldn't have been older than 10 — and remembers it being the coolest thing he'd ever done in motorsports. The intensity was off the charts,

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.

Bowman Gray Stadium, the longest-running weekly track in racing history, is the site for the Cup Series’ preseason Clash on Sunday night. The legendary quarter-mile track near downtown Winston-Salem — among the smallest venues to host NASCAR races — is set for its first NASCAR race in 54 years.