Justin Haley set the fastest lap in Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum qualifying Saturday night at the quarter-mile purpose-built track inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Haley drove the No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet to the top qualifying position with a lap of 67.099 mph and will start out front for one of the four heat races Sunday afternoon to formally set the 27-car field for the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum non-points exhibition opener Sunday night.
Two-time series champion Kyle Busch will be making his debut for the Richard Childress Racing team from the front row of the second heat race. He was second fastest overall at 66.406 mph.
Christopher Bell will start on pole in the third heat race and William Byron will start out front in the fourth heat race.
“I feel like we were a pretty good car in practice there, just wasn’t getting the full potential out of the race car and obviously in qualifying our lap was just dominant,” Haley said. “I feel pretty confident about where we are. It’s obviously a good place to start the season. Not sure why we’re so good here. I wish I had this talent at all the races but pretty thankful and it’s really cool to give Kaulig Racing their first pole, my first pole as a driver in my second year as a driver here.”
The qualifying session consisted of three laps – one warm-up and two timed, the faster of the two-timed laps counting toward their starting position in the four heat races.
Martin Truex, Jr., who was fastest after practice Saturday afternoon, was only 22nd fastest in the night-time qualifier.
Two drivers –Ty Gibbs and Ryan Blaney – will both start last in their heat races. Blaney’s qualifying time was 11th fastest at the time but ultimately disallowed because after spinning on a hot lap he drove the wrong direction to the back straightaway and spun his car around to complete the lap at speed. It’s illegal to drive backwards on track.
Gibbs was also penalized after it was determined his Joe Gibbs Racing crew made unapproved adjustments just prior to the qualifying session. Gibbs’ Toyota caught fire during the final practice session and was taken to the garage for repairs. The team was able to fix it without going to a back-up car, however NASCAR determined some of the repairs fell into the “unapproved adjustments” penalty category.
The format to set the 27-car feature field Sunday afternoon includes four 25-lap heat races with the top-five finishers advancing to the feature. There will then by a pair of ‘last chance qualifiers’ with the top-three finishers in each advancing to the feature with one final starting spot awarded to the highest 2022 championship finisher that hadn’t moved into the main event field otherwise. Nine cars entered will miss the feature show.
WDUN will carry live MRN Radio coverage of Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Coliseum, beginning at 4:30 pm on 102.9 FM, AM 550 and streaming live on AccessWDUN.
NASCAR Cup Series
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – Los Angeles, CA
Busch Light Clash – February 4, 2023
Saturday’s Qualifying Results
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed Lap # # Laps -Fastest -Next
1. 31 Justin Haley Celsius Chevrolet 13.413 67.099 2 2 0.000 0.000
2. 8 Kyle Busch BetMGM Chevrolet 13.553 66.406 1 2 0.140 0.140
3. 20 Christopher Bell Interstate Batteries Toyota 13.569 66.328 2 2 0.156 0.016
4. 24 William Byron RaptorTough.com Chevrolet 13.596 66.196 2 2 0.183 0.027
5. 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 13.600 66.176 2 2 0.187 0.004
6. 3 Austin Dillon Get Bioethanol Chevrolet 13.605 66.152 2 2 0.192 0.005
7. 11 Denny Hamlin Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota 13.621 66.074 2 2 0.208 0.016
8. 16 AJ Allmendinger Action Industries Chevrolet 13.623 66.065 2 2 0.210 0.002
9. 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 13.624 66.060 2 2 0.211 0.001
10. 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 13.638 65.992 2 2 0.225 0.014
11. 99 Daniel Suarez Jockey Chevrolet 13.663 65.871 2 2 0.250 0.025
12. 1 Ross Chastain Worldwide Express Chevrolet 13.683 65.775 1 2 0.270 0.020
13. 21 Harrison Burton Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 13.714 65.626 2 2 0.301 0.031
14. 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Light Ford 13.734 65.531 1 2 0.321 0.020
15. 14 Chase Briscoe Mahindra Tractors Ford 13.735 65.526 2 2 0.322 0.001
16. 23 Bubba Wallace DoorDash Toyota 13.742 65.493 2 2 0.329 0.007
17. 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 13.749 65.459 2 2 0.336 0.007
18. 47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Food4Less/Velveeta Chevrolet 13.767 65.374 2 2 0.354 0.018
19. 45 Tyler Reddick MoneyLion Toyota 13.793 65.250 2 2 0.380 0.026
20. 43 Erik Jones Allegiant Chevrolet 13.817 65.137 1 2 0.404 0.024
21. 42 Noah Gragson # Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet 13.823 65.109 2 2 0.410 0.006
22. 19 Martin Truex, Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 13.851 64.977 2 2 0.438 0.028
23. 6 Brad Keselowski King’s Hawaiian Ford 13.863 64.921 2 2 0.450 0.012
24. 41 Ryan Preece United Rentals Ford 13.870 64.888 2 2 0.457 0.007
25. 34 Michael McDowell FR8Auctions.com Ford 13.890 64.795 1 2 0.477 0.020
26. 2 Austin Cindric Freightliner Ford 13.910 64.702 2 2 0.497 0.020
27. 38 Todd Gilliland gener8tor Skills Ford 13.915 64.678 2 2 0.502 0.005
28. 7 Corey LaJoie Animal Control FOX Chevrolet 13.919 64.660 2 2 0.506 0.004
29. 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 13.935 64.586 2 2 0.522 0.016
30. 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 14.087 63.889 2 2 0.674 0.152
31. 15 J.J. Yeley CW & Sons Infrastructure Ford 14.254 63.140 2 2 0.841 0.167
32. 51 Cody Ware Biohaven Ford 14.316 62.867 2 2 0.903 0.062
33. 77 Ty Dillon NASCAR Fan Rewards Chevrolet 14.489 62.116 2 2 1.076 0.173
34. 78 B.J. McLeod Celsius Chevrolet 15.308 58.793 2 2 1.895 0.819
35. 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Great Lakes Flooring Ford 40.301 22.332 1 1 26.888 24.993
36. 54 Ty Gibbs # Monster Energy Toyota 0.000 0.000 0 0 —– —–
*Required to qualify on time, OP – Top 30 in Owner Points, PC – Past Champion,(i)Ineligible for driver points in this series
