The 2022 Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum was a NASCAR Cup Series

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

that was held on February 6, 2022, at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Contested over 150 laps, it was the first exhibition race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Format and eligibility

On September 14, 2021, NASCAR announced that the Busch Clash will move to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. On November 9, 2021, the format for the 2022 Clash was announced: * The event is open for all teams and drivers for the first time in its history. * A total of 350 laps in six races. * The 36 charter teams and up to four open teams will participate in qualifying. Should more than 40 teams enter the race, it is unknown if qualifying will determine who advances to heat races. * Based on lap times, cars are put in one of four heat races of 25 laps each. The top four drivers in each heat advance to the feature. * All non qualifying drivers are assigned to one of two 50 lap heat races. The top three drivers in each heat advance to the feature. * The highest driver in 2021 Cup Series points standings not in will also advance to the feature in the last position. * The feature is 150 laps and will have 23 cars start the race.

Entry list

* (R) denotes rookie driver. * (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.

Practice

Chase Elliott William Clyde "Chase" Elliott II (born November 28, 1995) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports. He won the 2014 NASCA ...

was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 13.455 with an average speed of .

Practice results

Qualifying

Kyle Busch Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-time ...

scored the pole for the first heat race with a time of 13.745 and a speed of .

Qualifying results

Qualifying heat races

scored the pole for the race after winning the first qualifying heat race.

Ty Dillon Tyler Reed Dillon (born February 27, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver who competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports. He has also competed in the NASCAR Camp ...

finished first in the second "Last Chance" qualifying race, however was disqualified for a restart violation, allowing

Harrison Burton Harrison Brian Burton (born October 9, 2000) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 21 Ford Mustang for Wood Brothers Racing. Racing career Early years Burton's rac ...

to qualify for the feature.

Race 1

Race 2

Race 3

Race 4

Last Chance Qualifier 1

Last Chance Qualifier 2

Starting lineup

Race

Race results

Media

Fox covered the race on the television side.

Mike Joy Michael Joy (born November 25, 1949) is an American TV sports announcer and who currently serves as the lap-by-lap voice of Fox Sports' coverage of NASCAR. His color analyst is Clint Bowyer. Counting 2022, Joy has been part of the live broadcast ...

Clint Bowyer Clinton Edward Bowyer (born May 30, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and commentator for ''NASCAR on Fox''. He competed in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2005 to 2020, driving for Richard Childress Racing for eight yea ...

, and three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and co-owner of

Stewart-Haas Racing Stewart-Haas Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series. The team is co-owned by three-time NASCAR Cup Series champio ...

Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is ...

handled the call in the booth for the race, while pit reporters

Jamie Little Jamie Little (born April 9, 1978) is an American pit reporter for NASCAR coverage on Fox. Little is a former pit reporter for ESPN/ABC coverage of the Indy Racing League, although she returned to her pit reporting duty for the 2007 and 2008 I ...

and Regan Smith as well as

Larry McReynolds Lawrence Joseph McReynolds III (born January 10, 1959) is a current NASCAR crew chief and current racing analyst on Fox Sports as well as a columnist on Foxsports.com. In the past, he has served as an advisor to Petty Enterprises, and as a mi ...

handled interviews.

Chris Myers Chris Myers (born ) is an American sportscaster. He has covered the Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA Finals, the NCAA Final Four, The Masters, the U.S. Open, the Triple Crown, the Olympics, and the Daytona 500. Early life and care ...

and

Jamie McMurray James Christopher McMurray (born June 3, 1976), nicknamed Jamie Mac, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and currently an analyst for '' Fox NASCAR''. He raced in the NASCAR Cup Series on a full-time basis from 2003 to 2018 ...

were the host and analyst in the studio.

Television

Radio

Television Ratings

The Clash was viewed by more than 4.2 million people, which earned it a 2.32 rating. The ratings were only eclipsed by the 2022 Winter Olympics on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, which had 10.1 million viewers. Locally, the race earned a 2.7 and was the highest rated non-Daytona 500 race in the Los Angeles market in six years. This was the highest rated Clash since 2016, which was the last year it was aired on FOX. The heat races that preceded the race had nearly 2.6 million viewers.

Notes

References

{{2022 NASCAR Cup Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum NASCAR races at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum