Qualifying for NASCAR's Clash at LA Coliseum has just wrapped up and Kyle Busch is the first ever Busch Light Clash at LA Coliseum Pole winner. Busch's fastest lap around the 1/4 mile asphalt track came in at 13.745 seconds.
The qualifying order was set up by car owner points from the 2021 season in reverse order, meaning Kyle Larson was the last driver to take to the track.
Track temperatures had cooled down since the practice session earlier in the day. The track was much slicker at the beginning of qualifying, but as the evening went on, the track just got faster and faster.
Here is the grid after qualifying results:
Upon winning the pole, Busch said:
“I never would have thunk it. I don’t know, you know, it’s pretty cool. It’s just different with the opportunity to do something like this.
He further went on to commend the sports association for their apparently successful move to a new venue, saying:
“NASCAR took a lot of flak on what this was going to look like and what it was going to be. But we’re having a great time. We had a bunch of fans come out just to witness the qualifying.”
Tyler Reddick was second fastest on the night, with a time of 13.761, while Justin Haley was third fastest at 13.891 Rounding out the top 5 were Joey Logano in fourth and Daniel Suarez in fifth.
Clash at LA Coliseum heat race pole sitters
One of the unique things about this weekend's NASCAR event are the four heat races to make it into the Feature race. Each heat race pole sitter is determined by the four fastest qualifiers from Saturday night. This means Kyle Busch, with the fastest overall qualifying time, will start on the pole for heat race #1, while Tyler Reddick starts on the pole for heat race #2. Justin Haley will be on pole for heat #3 and Joey Logano will be the heat race #4 pole sitter.
The heat races are set to start Sunday afternoon at 3pm ET on Fox, with the top four finishers from each race advancing to the Clash at LA Coliseum Feature race Sunday night.