Justin Haley set the fastest speed of 67.099 mph in Busch Light Clash qualifying on Saturday, Feb. 4 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and will start on the pole in heat race one tomorrow afternoon.
Kyle Busch was second fastest, going 66.406 mph, and he will start first in heat race two. Christopher Bell begins heat race three on the pole, while William Byron starts first in heat four.
Aric Almirola was fifth fastest and starts second behind Haley in heat one. Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin and AJ Allmendinger will start second in heats two through four, respectively. Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson, ninth and 10th quickest, start third in heats one and two, respectively.
Ryan Blaney’s time was disallowed after he spun in qualifying, turned around and tried to reset to complete his qualifying lap. NASCAR updated the rule for this, and does not allow a driver to reset by taking the wrong direction around the track.
Multiple drivers also had issues during practice, including a clutch issue for last year’s winner and 2022 Cup champion Joey Logano. His team repaired it, and he was able to return to practice later in the session.
A bigger issue happened to Ty Gibbs, as his No. 54 Toyota caught fire during a practice session. The team attempted to repair it before qualifying but was unable to qualify after unapproved adjustments.
One other notable incident occurred between Chase Briscoe and Allmendinger. Briscoe went inside of Allmendinger in a corner and ended up shoving him in the side after running over the blue area. In turn, the No. 16 bumped the No. 14 several times until Briscoe hit the outside wall with his right-front fender.
The four fastest qualifiers earned the pole for tomorrow’s heat race. Fifth through eighth quickest take the second spot in each heat race, and so on.
The top five drivers in each heat move on to the main event. Whoever wins the heat races start first-fourth in the main event, and so on through 20th. The last five drivers will compete in one of two last chance qualifiers.
The two last chance qualifying winners take 21st and 22nd. Second place takes 23rd and 24th while the two third-place finishers grab 25th and 26th. The last spot, 27th, is reserved for the driver who had the highest finish in points in 2022 who didn’t make it in the heats or LCQs.
Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum Qualifying Results
Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum Heat Lineups
The heat races start on Sunday, Feb. 5 at 5 p.m. ET, while the main Busch Light Clash is set to run at 8 p.m. FOX will provide the television coverage.
Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised watching motorsports and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.