Chase Elliott Tops Busch Light Clash Practice

(LOS ANGELES, CA – FEB 5, 2022 – RIS) Chase Elliott headed the first practice sessions for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season. Elliott's best time in practice for the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum of 13.455 seconds. Elliott just edged out Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 Ford by 0.002 second and Harvick was 0.013 second ahead of Chase Briscoe. Justin Haley and Kyle Busch filled out the top five, with Busch setting the best average speed for ten consecutive laps at 66.307 mph.

The Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum marks a handful of firsts: 
first competition for the Next Gen car with its new composite body, five-speed sequential transaxle gearbox, independent rear suspension, 18-inch forged alloy center-lock wheels. It's also the first time the Clash is not being held at Daytona, the first race on a quarter mile track in decades and for some drivers, their first race on a quarter mile since they were starting off, driving Bandoleros and Legend cars. None of the drivers in the Clash were born when the NASCAR Cup Series last raced on a quarter-mile track, at Winston-Salem, NC's Bowman Gray Stadium in 1971.

Justin Haley topped the first session of practice running in the third group of the session a cleaning track. In the second round of practice though, Kyle Busch jumped to the top of the chart with Christopher Bell just four thousandths of a second back, a further four thousandths ahead of Haley's time in the first round.

Daniel Suarez bumped Busch off the top of the pylon by seven thousandths in the second round of the first practice and Denny Hamlin scraped the wall with the right side of his car, testing and proving the resilience of the Five-Star composite bodies.

Chase Elliott led Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson in their session with William Byron jumping into fifth place while Austin Cindric appeared to be struggling with inconsistent handling on the No. 2 Ford. Kyle Busch became the first driver to lap at less than 13.5 seconds, setting a new standard in a car that is visually one of the smoothest on the track.

Kevin Harvick and Chase Briscoe moved ahead of Busch just before Briscoe's car stalled on track to end the session. Chase Elliott capped his group and overall in the next session, lapping in 13.455 sec at 66.890 mph, just two thousandths of a second ahead of Kevin Harvick. In the sessions, Tyler Reddick ran the most laps, circling the track 109 times, with Landon Cassill taking 107 laps in practice and Ausstin Dillon joining Daniel Suarez at 106 laps.

Final Practice: Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Rank, Driver, Car, Time, Speed, On Lap #, # Laps, -Fastest, -Next
1) Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 13.455 sec, 66.890 mph, 93, 103, ---.---, ---.---
2) Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Light Ford, 13.457, 66.880, 103, 105, -0.002 sec, -0.002
3) Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford, 13.470, 66.815, 98, 99, -0.015, -0.013
4) Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 13.470, 66.815, 100, 103, -0.015, -0.000
5) Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Toyota, 13.482, 66.756, 97, 105, -0.027, -0.012
6) Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Guaranteed Rate Chevrolet, 13.503, 66.652, 109, 111, -0.048, -0.021
7) Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 13.513, 66.603, 87, 96, -0.058, -0.010
8) Landon Cassill(i), No. 77 Voyager: Crypto for All Chevrolet, 13.532, 66.509, 106, 108, -0.077, -0.019
9) Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Great Lakes Flooring Ford, 13.546, 66.440, 72, 93, -0.091, -0.014
10) Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, 13.565, 66.347, 99, 102, -0.110, -0.019
11) Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, 13.570, 66.323, 101, 106, -0.115, -0.005
12) Cole Custer, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford, 13.571, 66.318, 88, 89, -0.116, -0.001
13) Cody Ware, No. 51 Nurtec ODT Ford, 13.572, 66.313, 83, 84, -0.117, -0.001
14) Corey LaJoie, No. 7 NationsGuard Chevrolet, 13.583, 66.259, 98, 102, -0.128, -0.011
15) Ryan Preece, No. 15 Jacob Companies Ford, 13.587, 66.240, 64, 74, -0.132, -0.004
16) Todd Gilliland #, No. 38 First Phase Ford, 13.592, 66.215, 99, 100, -0.137, -0.005
17) Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 13.611, 66.123, 87, 90, -0.156, -0.019
18) Kurt Busch, No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota, 13.617, 66.094, 97, 99, -0.162, -0.006
19) Austin Dillon, No. 3 True Velocity Chevrolet, 13.618, 66.089, 97, 106, -0.163, -0.001
20) Christopher Bell, No. 20 SiriusXM Toyota, 13.626, 66.050, 96, 102, -0.171, -0.008
21) Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 13.638, 65.992, 90, 93, -0.183, -0.012
22) William Byron Jr., No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet, 13.640, 65.982, 89, 90, -0.185, -0.002
23) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Food 4 Less Chevrolet, 13.646, 65.953, 88, 93, -0.191, -0.006
24) Erik Jones, No. 43 FOCUSfactor Chevrolet, 13.652, 65.924, 70, 71, -0.197, -0.006
25) Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 13.660, 65.886, 92, 93, -0.205, -0.008
26) Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 13.677, 65.804, 97, 104, -0.222, -0.017
27) Ty Dillon, No. 42 Black Rifle Coffee Company Chevrolet, 13.685, 65.765, 98, 105, -0.230, -0.008
28) AJ Allmendinger(i), No. 16 chevyliners.com Chevrolet, 13.716, 65.617, 71, 75, -0.261, -0.031
29) Ross Chastain, No. 1 Howler Head Chevrolet, 13.740, 65.502, 59, 102, -0.285, -0.024
30) Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 13.780, 65.312, 58, 81, -0.325, -0.040
31) Aric Almirola, No. 10 Farmer John Ford, 13.820, 65.123, 92, 99, -0.365, -0.040
32) Harrison Burton #, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 13.822, 65.114, 77, 78, -0.367, -0.002
33) Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Violet Defense Ford, 13.865, 64.912, 60, 70, -0.410, -0.043
34) Austin Cindric #, No. 2 eCascadia Ford, 14.021, 64.189, 37, 75, -0.566, -0.156
35) BJ McLeod, No. 78 SkyView Partners Ford, 14.065, 63.989, 44, 45, -0.610, -0.044
36) Bubba Wallace, No. 23 DoorDash Toyota, 14.184, 63.452, 40, 65, -0.729, -0.119
(#) Rookie, (*) Required to qualify on time, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average
Pos, Driver, Car, From Lap, To Lap, Avg Speed
1) Kyle Busch, No. 18, 95, 104, 66.307
2) Chase Elliott, No. 9, 93, 102, 66.287
3) Justin Haley, No. 31, 87, 96, 66.145
4) Kevin Harvick, No. 4, 95, 104, 66.003
5) Kyle Larson, No. 5, 84, 93, 65.881
6) Tyler Reddick, No. 8, 101, 110, 65.789
7) Chase Briscoe, No. 14, 89, 98, 65.674
8) Ryan Blaney, No. 12, 83, 92, 65.594
9) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47, 81, 90, 65.565
10) Landon Cassill(i), No. 77, 98, 107, 65.551
11) Daniel Suarez, No. 99, 92, 101, 65.540
12) Cole Custer, No. 41, 79, 88, 65.515
13) Ryan Preece, No. 15, 55, 64, 65.366
14) Christopher Bell, No. 20, 79, 88, 65.352
15) Denny Hamlin, No. 11, 91, 100, 65.323
16) Corey LaJoie, No. 7, 92, 101, 65.284
17) Austin Dillon, No. 3, 96, 105, 65.259
18) Kurt Busch, No. 45, 88, 97, 65.224
19) Chris Buescher, No. 17, 84, 93, 65.205
20) Michael McDowell, No. 34, 69, 78, 65.134
21) Todd Gilliland #, No. 38, 90, 99, 65.043
22) AJ Allmendinger(i), No. 16, 62, 71, 64.985
23) Ty Dillon, No. 42, 93, 102, 64.883
24) Ross Chastain, No. 1, 92, 101, 64.840
25) Joey Logano, No. 22, 79, 88, 64.811
26) Alex Bowman, No. 48, 78, 87, 64.792
27) William Byron Jr., No. 24, 80, 89, 64.630
28) Cody Ware, No. 51, 69, 78, 64.429
29) Harrison Burton #, No. 21, 68, 77, 64.271
30) Brad Keselowski, No. 6, 54, 63, 64.247
31) Erik Jones, No. 43, 52, 61, 64.033
32) Martin Truex Jr., No. 19, 39, 48, 63.963
33) Aric Almirola, No. 10, 88, 97, 63.853
34) Bubba Wallace, No. 23, 29, 38, 63.043
35) Austin Cindric #, No. 2, 33, 42, 62.948
36) BJ McLeod, No. 78, 35, 44, 61.440
* Car must run 10 consecutive laps on the track to be included in the above chart.

John Davison

Long-time RIS staffer, beginning in the mid-80s. Charlotte, NC area local contact.

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Volume 2022, Issue 2, Posted 3:58 PM, 02.05.2022