Martin Truex, Jr. Wins the Busch Light Clash in California

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LOS ANGELES, CA – RIS – Martin Truex, Jr. rallied late to win the Clash at the Colosseum in the season-opening exhibition race on the quarter-mile track created for the event at the historic stadium in Southern California.  Truex bumped by Ryan Preece to take the lead with 24 laps to go and led the rest of the way.

Truex, Alex Bowman and Preece appeared to have the strongest cars over the race’s closing segment. Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch joined the struggle at the front in the final 10 laps. With seven laps to go, Dillon shoved Bubba Wallace into the wall as they raced for second place ..Dillon, Busch, Bowman and Kyle Larson followed Truex to the finish.

The race that consisted of 150 laps on the short track amounted to 37.5 miles.  Regardless, it was action the entire race with crashes happening early and often due to the narrow track.  At times, it appeared that the only way to pass was on the inside lane and crash into the competition to get to the bottom lane.  The yellow flag flew 16 times across the race’s 150 laps

“It was just a really good race car.,” Truex was grateful having just had a season (2022) in which he didn’t win a single race..

“Last year was a pretty rough for our team. season for us with no wins. To kick it off this way was great for these guys. We found ourselves in the right spot at the end.”

As the first three finishers, Truex (gold), Dillon (silver) and Busch (bronze) were presented medals in a podium celebration, an oddity for NASCAR but a nod to the coliseum’s Olympic history.

Dillon and Busch, new teammates at Richard Childress Racing, were battling for second in the final laps before Busch allowed Dillon to push forward in pursuit of Truex. “Overall, it was good to get back up to third, could have gone second, but I let Austin go,” Busch said. “He was better than us in practice. I thought he could have a shot at trying to get close, and l pushed him through to get a 1-2, but never made it there.”

Wallace, who wrestled the lead from Denny Hamlin on the first lap of a restart, was in first place at the race’s halfway point as the field parked for service. Following Wallace at the break were Truex Jr., Dillon, William Byron and Tyler Reddick. In the second five were Preece, Busch, Bowman, Joey Logano (last year’s winner) and Larson.

The race’s first caution flew after 17 laps as Erik Jones spun out after contact from Michael McDowell. Jones parked for the night. Seven laps later, 11th-place Ryan Blaney spun out in heavy traffic to prompt the second caution.

Among drivers who failed to qualify for the 150-lap feature were RFK Racing entries Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher. Both also missed the race in 2022.

Unofficial Results: Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum, February 5, 2023 - Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - 0.25 - Mile Paved
Fin, Start, Driver, Car, Laps , Status, Times Led, Laps Led
1) 2, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 150, Running, 1, 25
2) 10, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet, 150, Running, , 
3) 6, Kyle Busch, No. 8 BetMGM Chevrolet, 150, Running, , 
4) 5, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 150, Running, , 
5) 14, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 150, Running, , 
6) 11, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 MoneyLion Toyota, 150, Running, , 
7) 16, Ryan Preece, No. 41 United Rentals Ford, 150, Running, 1, 43
8) 12, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 150, Running, , 
9) 3, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota, 150, Running, 1, 26
10) 4, William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet, 150, Running, , 
11) 9, Justin Haley, No. 31 Celsius Chevrolet, 150, Running, , 
12) 18, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Light Ford, 150, Running, , 
13) 23, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Interstate Batteries Toyota, 150, Running, , 
14) 13, Noah Gragson #, No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet, 150, Running, , 
15) 7, Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford, 150, Running, , 
16) 17, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 150, Running, , 
17) 15, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Great Lakes Flooring Ford, 150, Running, , 
18) 1, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 150, Running, 1, 16
19) 19, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Jockey Chevrolet, 150, Running, , 
20) 26, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet, 150, Running, , 
21) 22, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 150, Running, , 
22) 8, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 DoorDash Toyota, 150, Running, 1, 40
23) 25, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 gener8tor Skills Ford, 140, Fuel, , 
24) 21, Michael McDowell, No. 34 FR8Auctions.com Ford, 137, Fuel, , 
25) 27, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Freightliner Ford, 106, Engine, , 
26) 24, Ty Gibbs #, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, 81, Suspension, , 
27) 20, Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet, 16, Suspension, ,
#: Rookie

Length: 150 Laps, 37.5 Miles
Time: 1 hr, 43 min, 4 sec.
Average Speed: 21.831 mph
Margin of Victory: 0.786 sec

Comments: Martin Truex Jr. has won the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, his first career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series non-points exhibition pre-season event. Prior to the start of the race, no vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty.

Failed to Qualify: (9) 21 Harrison Burton, 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 6 Brad Keselowski, 7 Corey LaJoie, 77 Ty Dillon, 51 Cody Ware, 17 Chris Buescher, 78 BJ McLeod, 15 JJ Yele

Cautions: 16 (caution laps not counted);
Laps: 16 (No.34, 43 Incident Turn 2 [38]);
23 (No.9, 12, 14, 54, 99 Incident Turn 3 [None]);
42 (No.16, 38, 54 Incident Turn 2 [9]);
73 (No.1, 11 Incident Turn 2 [10]);
75 (Stage Conclusion [9]);
76 (No.11, 54 Incident Turn 2 [16]);
78 (No.4, 38 Incident Turn 2 [12]);
81 (No.11, 20, 34, 54 Incident Turn 2 [4]);
81 (No.4, 38 Incident Turn 2 [None]);
85 (No.2, 16, 20 Incident Turn 2 [None]);
86 (No.8, 22 Incident Turn 3 [None]);
106 (No.14, 31, 45 Incident Turn 2  [2]);
109 (No.14, 42 Incident Turn 3 [None]);
113 (No.1, 12, 45 Incident Turn 2 [14]);
140 (No.34 Stopped On Track [None]);
143 (No.3, 23 Incident Turn 1 [None]).

Lead Changes: 4 among 5 drivers;
A. Almirola 1-16;
D. Hamlin 17-42;
B. Wallace 43-82;
R. Preece 83-125;
M. Truex Jr. 126-150.