The winner of the Cook Out Clash on Sunday night will receive a trophy that pays respect to both the heritage of Bowman Gray Stadium and the winner of the most recent NASCAR Cup Series race at the track from 1971.
It’s called the Bobby Allison Memorial Trophy.
Allison won that race in 1971, but due to a controversial ruling immediately after the race, NASCAR did not recognize that win until October 23, just weeks before the Hall of Famer died. This officially moved Allison past Darrell Waltrip for fourth on the all-time wins list with 84 victories.
Now, NASCAR continues to honor Allison with this trophy at the suggestion of Wood Brothers Racing.
“Few drivers are as engrained in the history of Bowman Gray Stadium than the legendary Bobby Allison,” said Justin Swilling, NASCAR’s Project Manager for the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. “We reached out to Wood Brothers Racing, who shared photos of previous NASCAR Cup Series trophies awarded to Bowman Gray Stadium winners, and Jostens designed a trophy that lived up to that legacy. And when the Wood Brothers suggested we name the trophy after such a legendary figure in Bowman Gray Stadium history as Bobby Allison, it made perfect sense.”
The description of the trophy per NASCAR:
The trophy itself is a marvelous Jostens design standing 31 inches tall. It is made of handcrafted wood with a rich, black finish and black powder-coated metal cup. The custom gold metal columns accent a 24-karat gold, hand-polished car and Cook Out Clash logo cut by a 600w laser. Jostens also designed the Cook Out Madhouse Classic Trophy, which is an exquisite 25-inch tall masterpiece of handcrafted wood and laser-cut aluminum.
