Chase Elliott wins Clash at Bowman Gray and sets sights on following it with Daytona 500 victory

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR returned to its roots with a fight-free preseason exhibition at Bowman Gray Stadium and a popular victory with Chase Elliott winning The Clash on Sunday night.

Elliott won his heat Saturday night to start from the pole and essentially dominate on the quarter-mile track where NASCAR's Cup Series last raced in 1971.

NASCAR's reigning most popular driver won The Clash for the first time in his career and joined his father, Bill, as winners of the unofficial season-opener. Bill Elliott won The Clash in 1987 and then parlayed that victory into a win in the Daytona 500 one week later.

Chase Elliott gets his chance to repeat his father's dominance when NASCAR's season officially opens Feb. 16 at Daytona International Speedway.

“Excited to get to Daytona. It’s a great way to start the season," Elliott said. “I know it’s not a points race, but it is nice to win, for sure. Just really proud of our team for just continuing to keep our heads down and push forward, for sure.”

The Clash is a non-points event that was held at Daytona International Speedway from 1979 to 2021 as the warm-up act to the Daytona 500. NASCAR stepped outside the box in 2022 and moved it across the country to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which was transformed into a temporary short track for three seasons.

NASCAR this year moved it to Bowman Gray in a throwback to grassroots racing. The Cup Series ran at Bowman Gray from 1958 to 1971 and the stadium is now used for weekly local racing and is the football field for Winston-Salem State University.

The track is notorious for flared tempers and fighting, but made it through two days of NASCAR racing without a single brawl.

“This environment is special. This is a place that has had deep history in NASCAR,” Elliott said. “I think they deserve this event, truthfully. I hope we didn’t disappoint. It was fun for me, at least. We’ll hopefully come back here one day.”

Elliott led 172 of the 200 laps in his Chevrolet from Hendrick Motorsports to win the event in front of an adoring sold-out crowd of 17,000 fans. Most spectators were on their feet every time Elliott picked off a lapped car while battling door-to-door with Denny Hamlin and then holding off Ryan Blaney at the end,

“Thanks everybody for coming out,” Elliott told the crowd. “Y'all made for a really cool environment for us. We don't race in stadiums like this, so this is just really cool and appreciate you making the moment special for me and my team. I hope it was a good show for you.

"Had a tough race. Ryan kept me honest there at the end," he continued. “Denny was really good at the second half of that break. I just felt like he was kind of riding, and I was afraid to lose control of the race and not be able to get it back. Fortunately it worked out. Great way to start the season.”

Kyle Larson and Josh Berry raced their way into The Clash earlier Sunday night by going 1-2 in the crash-filled last chance qualifying, and Blaney earned a spot based on points scored last season to complete the 23-driver field.

This year's race marked the Cup Series' first race at the “Mecca of Madhouse” but didn't produce the off-track temper tantrums the Bowman Gray regulars are used to watching during weekly grassroots racing.

But the event was still special.

Richard Childress hails from just 15 minutes away and as a youngster the Hall of Fame team owner sold peanuts in the grandstands. He was in the stands Sunday night watching and before the race began, he stopped by the Fox Sports booth to deliver peanuts and popcorn to the broadcast crew.

“As a kid we jumped the fence and come in and sell peanuts and popcorn, then I’d hang out with all the race drivers, and we had a heck of a time," Childress said. “I said ‘Man, as much fun as they are having, I’ve got to be a race driver.’ We’d come over here for a fight and a race would break out.”

Blaney finished second in a Ford for Team Penske and was followed by Hamlin in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.

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Alex Bowman (48) and Ryan Preece (60) compete into Turn 1 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Alex Bowman steers into Turn 4 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Ross Chastain steers down the back stretch during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Chase Elliott celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Chase Elliott, center, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Chase Elliott celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Chase Elliott does a burnout after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Chase Elliott celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Denny Hamlin (11) and Chase Elliott (9) compete into Turn 1 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Chase Elliott celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Shane Van Gisbergen competes down the front stretch during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Christopher Bell steers down the front stretch during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Daniel Suarez, right, and his pit crew are introduced prior to a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Kyle Larson smiles prior to a qualifying heat for a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Kyle Larson (5) and Austin Dillon (3) compete through Turn 2 in a qualifying heat during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Drivers compete through Turn 4 during a qualifying heat for a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sluggish December hiring concluded a year of weak employment gains that have frustrated job seekers even though layoffs and unemployment have remained low.

Employers added just 50,000 jobs last month, nearly unchanged from a downwardly revised figure of 56,000 in November, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate slipped to 4.4%, its first decline since June, from 4.5% in November, a figure also revised lower.

The data suggests that businesses are reluctant to add workers even as economic growth has picked up. Many companies hired aggressively after the pandemic and no longer need to fill more jobs. Others have held back due to widespread uncertainty caused by President Donald Trump’s shifting tariff policies, elevated inflation, and the spread of artificial intelligence, which could alter or even replace some jobs.

Still, economists were encouraged by the drop in the unemployment rate, which had risen in the previous four straight reports. It had also alarmed officials at the Federal Reserve, prompting three cuts to the central bank's key interest rate last year. The decline lowered the odds of another rate reduction in January, economists said.

“The labor market looks to have stabilized, but at a slower pace of employment growth,” Blerina Uruci, chief economist at T. Rowe Price, said. There is no urgency for the Fed to cut rates further, for now."

Some Federal Reserve officials are concerned that inflation remains above their target of 2% annual growth, and hasn't improved since 2024. They support keeping rates where they are to combat inflation. Others, however, are more worried that hiring has nearly ground to a halt and have supported lowering borrowing costs to spur spending and growth.

November's job gain was revised slightly lower, from 64,000 to 56,000, while October's now shows a much steeper drop, with a loss of 173,000 positions, down from previous estimates of a 105,000 decline. The government revises the jobs figures as it receives more survey responses from businesses.

The economy has now lost an average of 22,000 jobs a month in the past three months, the government said. A year ago, in December 2024, it had gained 209,000 a month. Most of those losses reflect the purge of government workers by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.

Nearly all the jobs added in December were in the health care and restaurant and hotel industries. Health care added 38,500 jobs, while restaurants and hotels gained 47,000. Governments — mostly at the state and local level — added 13,000.

Manufacturing, construction and retail companies all shed jobs. Retailers cut 25,000 positions, a sign that holiday hiring has been weaker than previous years. Manufacturers have shed jobs every month since April, when Trump announced sweeping tariffs intended to boost manufacturing.

Wall Street and Washington are looking closely at Friday's report as it's the first clean reading on the labor market in three months. The government didn’t issue a report in October because of the six-week government shutdown, and November’s data was distorted by the closure, which lasted until Nov. 12.

The hiring slowdown reflects more than just a reluctance by companies to add jobs. With an aging population and a sharp drop in immigration, the economy doesn't need to create as many jobs as it has in the past to keep the unemployment rate steady. As a result, a gain of 50,000 jobs is not as clear a sign of weakness as it would have been in previous years.

And layoffs are still low, a sign firms aren't rapidly cutting jobs, as typically happens in a recession. The “low-hire, low-fire” job market does mean current workers have some job security, though those without jobs can have a tougher time.

Ernesto Castro, 44, has applied for hundreds of jobs since leaving his last in May. Yet the Los Angeles resident has gotten just three initial interviews, and only one follow-up, after which he heard nothing.

With nearly a decade of experience providing customer support for software companies, Castro expected to find a new job pretty quickly as he did in 2024.

“I should be in a good position,” Castro said. “It’s been awful.”

He worries that more companies are turning to artificial intelligence to help clients learn to use new software. He hears ads from tech companies that urge companies to slash workers that provide the kind of services he has in his previous jobs. His contacts in the industry say that employees are increasingly reluctant to switch jobs amid all the uncertainty, which leaves fewer open jobs for others.

He is now looking into starting his own software company, and is also exploring project management roles.

December’s report caps a year of sluggish hiring, particularly after April's “liberation day” tariff announcement by Trump. The economy generated an average of 111,000 jobs a month in the first three months of 2025. But that pace dropped to just 11,000 in the three months ended in August, before rebounding slightly to 22,000 in November.

Last year, the economy gained just 584,000 jobs, sharply lower than that more than 2 million added in 2024. It's the smallest annual gain since the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the job market in 2020.

Subdued hiring underscores a key conundrum surrounding the economy as it enters 2026: Growth has picked up to healthy levels, yet hiring has weakened noticeably and the unemployment rate has increased in the last four jobs reports.

Most economists expect hiring will accelerate this year as growth remains solid, and Trump's tax cut legislation is expected to produce large tax refunds this spring. Yet economists acknowledge there are other possibilities: Weak job gains could drag down future growth. Or the economy could keep expanding at a healthy clip, while automation and the spread of artificial intelligence reduces the need for more jobs.

Productivity, or output per hour worked, a measure of worker efficiency, has improved in the past three years and jumped nearly 5% in the July-September quarter. That means companies can produce more without adding jobs. Over time, it should also boost worker pay.

Even with such sluggish job gains, the economy has continued to expand, with growth reaching a 4.3% annual rate in last year's July-September quarter, the best in two years. Strong consumer spending helped drive the gain. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta forecasts that growth could slow to a still-solid 2.7% in the final three months of last year.

FILE - A hiring sign is displayed at a grocery store in Northbrook, Ill., Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)