Unlike Elliott, Blaney struggled during heat race competition on Saturday, but advanced to the Cook Out Clash off driver points from last season. The Team Penske driver started the race in 23rd (last place), mounted a furious charge to the front of the field and impressively finished second.

Byron had a pretty forgettable weekend. He started 11th, got turned with 85 laps to go (the same time as his HMS teammate Larson) and never recovered to finish 18th. Now he heads to Daytona, where he’s the defending Daytona 500 winner.

If this was NASCAR of five years ago, Chase Elliott’s dominating victory in the preseason Clash would make him the favorite to win the Daytona 500