Two legendary sports entities collide when the NASCAR Cup Series takes center stage in one of the most iconic venues in the world. Here is everything you need to know for the highly anticipated 2022 Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum:
Started in 1979, and run under a variety of names since, premier series drivers competed in the Busch Clash at Daytona International Speedway to kickstart the annual competition. For the first time ever, this season’s exhibition will be held Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. ET on a 0.25-mile asphalt oval inside Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
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February’s race doubles as the competitive debut of the Next Gen cars and a variety of other team and driver changes from the offseason, giving race fans their long-awaited look at a full fleet of redesigned Chevrolet Camaros, Ford Mustangs and Toyota Camrys.
WHAT TV CHANNEL IS THE CLASH ON?
FOX Sports will have complete coverage of the event, including practice and qualifying. The lone practice session on Feb. 5 will be broadcast on FS2 at 12:30 p.m. ET, while qualifying at 8:30 p.m. ET that evening moves over to FS1.
Sunday’s coverage kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on FOX with a slate of heat races before the main event at 6 p.m. ET. All weekend coverage will be broadcast live from LA.
Check out the full rundown of TV and national radio coverage below:
| Date | Time (ET, -3 hours for local) | Event | TV/Radio/Stream |
| Saturday, Feb. 5 | 12:30 p.m. | Busch Light Clash practice | FS2/MRN/FOX Sports App |
| Saturday, Feb. 5 | 8:30 p.m. | Busch Light Clash single-car qualifying | FS1/MRN/FOX Sports App |
| Sunday, Feb. 6 | 3 p.m. | Busch Light Clash qualifying heats (four heat races) | FOX/MRN/FOX Sports App |
| Sunday, Feb. 6 | 4:10 p.m. (approx.) | Busch Light Clash last-chance qualifiers (two LCQs) | FOX/MRN/FOX Sports App |
| Sunday, Feb. 6 | 6 p.m. | Busch Light Clash main event | FOX/MRN/FOX Sports App |
ENTRY LIST
Fresh off of his first title at the Cup Series level, Kyle Larson looks to continue his dominance as the West Coast native battles a star-studded lineup to jump-start the season. The field will be open to 40 entrants, each vying for one of the 23 spots in Sunday’s main event. Currently, 36 drivers from 16 different teams are slated to compete, including rookies Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland.
Kyle Busch is the reigning Busch Light Clash winner, making the Joe Gibbs Racing driver a two-time winner (2012) of the prestigious exhibition. Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch round out the list of active drivers with a Clash win. Dale Earnhardt holds the all-time record with six.
See the complete list of Busch Light Clash winners, dating back to Buddy Baker’s inaugural win in 1979. | Every Busch Light Clash winner
| Entry | Car No. | Driver | Team | Crew Chief | Manufacturer |
| 1 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing Team | Phil Surgen | Chevrolet |
| 2 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Jeremy Bullins | Ford |
| 3 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Justin Alexander | Chevrolet |
| 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Rodney Childers | Ford |
| 5 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Cliff Daniels | Chevrolet |
| 6 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing | Matt McCall | Ford |
| 7 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Ryan Sparks | Chevrolet |
| 8 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing | Randall Burnett | Chevrolet |
| 9 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Alan Gustafson | Chevrolet |
| 10 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Drew Blickensderfer | Ford |
| 11 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chris Gabehart | Toyota |
| 12 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Jonathan Hassler | Ford |
| 13 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Johnny Klausmeier | Ford |
| 14 | 15 | Ryan Preece | Rick Ware Racing | Jason Houghtaling | Ford |
| 15 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Matt Swiderski | Chevrolet |
| 16 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing | Scott Graves | Ford |
| 17 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Seth Chavka | Toyota |
| 18 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | James Small | Toyota |
| 19 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Adam Stevens | Toyota |
| 20 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Wood Brothers Racing | Brian Wilson | Ford |
| 21 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Paul Wolfe | Ford |
| 22 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Bootie Barker | Toyota |
| 23 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Ryan Fugle | Chevrolet |
| 24 | 31 | Justin Haley | Kaulig Racing | Trent Owens | Chevrolet |
| 25 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Blake Harris | Ford |
| 26 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Seth Barbour | Ford |
| 27 | 41 | Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Mike Shiplett | Ford |
| 28 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Petty GMS Racing | Jerame Donley | Chevrolet |
| 29 | 43 | Erik Jones | Petty GMS Racing | Dave Elenz | Chevrolet |
| 30 | 45 | Kurt Busch | 23XI Racing | Billy Scott | Toyota |
| 31 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Brian Pattie | Chevrolet |
| 32 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Greg Ives | Chevrolet |
| 33 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Billy Plourde | Ford |
| 34 | 77 | Landon Cassill | Spire Motorsports | Kevin Bellicourt | Chevrolet |
| 35 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Live Fast Motorsports | Lee Leslie | Ford |
| 36 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | TrackHouse Racing Team | Travis Mack | Chevrolet |
CLASH FORMAT
After Saturday’s practice and the initial single-car qualifying session, drivers will be placed into heat races based on their best-posted speed. Every car entered into the Clash automatically advances to one of the heat races, giving them a chance to move on to the main event.
On Sunday, drivers compete in one of four 25-lap heat races with up to 10 cars in each race. The fields will be filled out in a manner consistent with their initial qualifying speed. Fastest will start on pole in the first heat race, second fastest starts on pole in the second heat race and so on (one, five, nine, etc. line up in Heat 1).
The top four finishers in each heat race will automatically advance to the main event, totaling 16 drivers with a ticket to Sunday night’s feature. Drivers who do not advance from their qualifying race will be placed into one of two 50-lap Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) races. The top three from each LCQ advance to the Sunday feature.
The final spot in the 23-man main event is reserved for the driver who finished the highest in the 2021 points standings who does not transfer on finishing position in the heat races or LCQ.
RELATED: Alex Weaver explains the new format | Full format rundown, graphic
WHO WILL BE AT THE CLASH?
In short: A lot of people. You really have to be there to experience at all, but here’s a quick rundown.
– Pitbull, Ice Cube and DJ Skee. Pitbull will perform a pre-race concerted presented by Coca-Cola. Ice Cube will perform during the race break. DJ Skee will become the first live DJ to perform during the caution breaks of a NASCAR race.
– Cobi Jones, a former player on the U.S. national soccer team, joins Monica Palumbo as in-stadium hosts.
– Riki Rachtman, formerly of Headbangers Ball, will be the host of the NASCAR Fan Fest.
– Speaking of NASCAR Fan Fest, Lightning McQueen makes his first public display in three years in the NASCAR Fan Fest. Guests can take photos with him.
– NASCAR Refuel is launching a new menu item: the Torch Taco at the Clash. The torch taco is a fusion of great track food with two iconic LA street foods – the taco and the LA street dogs.
– The grand marshals will be announced this week, and all will have a notable tie to the Los Angeles area.
CONSTRUCTING THE COLISEUM
The legendary stadium, host to the Olympic Games and University of Southern California (USC) sporting events, was revamped and transformed into a quarter-mile asphalt short track in a matter of months. Infield grass was removed, a track was paved, and walls and catch fences were erected to form a paperclip shape, similar to Martinsville Speedway.
History in the making.#BuschLightClash | https://t.co/7bpRDf9Gsk pic.twitter.com/rOFo5YDiTG
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) December 21, 2021
RELATED: More on how NASCAR turned a football field into a race track
See more images of the groundbreaking and ongoing construction.
LAST YEAR AT THE CLASH
Throughout Clash history, there have been a number of dramatic finishes; and 2021’s exhibition on the Daytona Road Couse was no exception. Bobbing and weaving through the final third of the course, road-course ace Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney made contact battling for the lead, spinning both out on the last lap. Kyle Busch pounced at the opportunity and capitalized on the duo’s misfortune, securing the first checkered flag of the season.
RELATED: Kyle Busch sidesteps Elliott, Blaney | Race Rewind: 2021 Clash at Daytona