The event was conceived by Monty Roberts, brand manager for the newly formed Busch Beer, as a way to promote the brand while creating an incentive structure within NASCAR for qualifying. Roberts believed racing fans were loyal brand followers and proposed a 50-mile sprint race restricted to drivers who had won pole positions during the previous season — positioning the event as "the fastest race" in NASCAR by inviting the season's fastest qualifiers. The race debuted in 1979 and was broadcast live on CBS, providing an early-season platform for the Cup Series at a time when television coverage was still expanding.
The format evolved repeatedly. From 1979 through 1990, it was a simple green-flag sprint of 50 miles with no mandatory pit stops and caution laps not counted. Later versions introduced two-segment formats, mandatory pit stops, fuel cell restrictions, and eventually fan-voting elements that influenced race procedures. By the 2017–2019 Advance Auto Parts Clash era, the race ran 75 laps (187.5 miles) with a two-segment format and competitors drawn from pole winners, previous Daytona 500 and Clash race winners, and the drivers who had qualified for the prior season's NASCAR playoffs.
Advance Auto Parts, an automotive parts retailer, became title sponsor in 2017 following the departure of Sprint as Cup Series title sponsor at the end of 2016. The Advance Auto Parts Clash name restored a simpler "Clash" branding that had been in use prior to the race's various corporate name iterations.
The 2017 race was postponed from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon due to persistent rain — only the third rain postponement in the event's history at that point. Denny Hamlin led most of the race and held the lead at the white flag, but Brad Keselowski made an inside move that Hamlin blocked by driving into Keselowski. The resulting incident allowed Joey Logano, running on the outside, to avoid the collision and win the race.
The 2018 running was notable for its clean execution: only two caution flags flew, and Brad Keselowski won his first Clash race. The event introduced a new pit road procedure requiring only five crew members over the wall rather than the previous six, eliminating the catch-can role as part of a new fuel delivery system.
In 2019, rain interrupted the race three times. Paul Menard led 51 laps — more than any previous Clash driver — before contact from Jimmie Johnson triggered a 17-car crash with 16 laps remaining. With rain falling again, NASCAR called the race official, giving Johnson his second Clash win amid controversy. It would be Johnson's final NASCAR-sanctioned victory.
Advance Auto Parts did not return as title sponsor for 2020, ending the three-year Clash era.
The event's most significant moments across its full Daytona tenure include the 1987 running won by Bill Elliott at an average speed of 197.802 mph — the fastest sanctioned NASCAR race in history, though not a points-paying event. Six times a Clash winner at Daytona went on to win the Daytona 500 the following weekend: Bobby Allison (1982), Bill Elliott (1987), Dale Jarrett (1996 and 2000), Jeff Gordon (1997), and Denny Hamlin (2016).
The 1984 race featured a violent crash for Ricky Rudd, including a blowover and multiple flips that left Rudd with a concussion and eyes so swollen he taped them open to continue racing in subsequent events — a practice later prohibited under modern concussion protocol.
The event remained at Daytona through 2021, when it moved to the road course layout for logistical and technical reasons related to the transition to NASCAR's seventh-generation chassis. From 2022 through 2024, the Clash moved to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum — the first time in the event's history it had been held away from Daytona — under the Busch Clash name after Anheuser-Busch returned as sponsor. In 2025, the event relocated again to Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, under the Cook Out Clash banner.
The pre-season exhibition at Daytona established a lasting tradition of opening the NASCAR calendar with a high-stakes non-points race that sent championship-caliber cars onto one of the sport's most storied venues without the pressure of points implications. The Advance Auto Parts Clash years represented one phase in an identity that has changed sponsors, formats, distances, and ultimately venues across more than four decades while maintaining its core role as the first major event of Daytona Speedweeks.