February 5, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

Kyle Busch tops qualifying for the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum

LOS ANGELES—Kyle Busch might have even surprised himself with the speed in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on Saturday night at the L.A. Coliseum. 

With a late draw, Busch could watch and learn. He then executed two solid laps—and posted the top qualifying speed of 65.478mph for the inaugural Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum.

Busch will lead the first heat for Sunday’s event.

“I never would have thunk it,” said Busch, the only Toyota to crack the top 10. “I don’t know, you know. It’s pretty cool. It’s just different with the opportunity to do something like this.”

Tyler Reddick qualified second with a lap of 65.402 mph and will lead the field of Heat 2. In the Kaulig Racing Cup coming out party, Justin Haley was third-quick (64.790mph) to pick up the top spot for Heat 3. In the fastest Ford, Joey Logano posted the fourth best time to win top starting honors for Heat 4. 

Still, Busch who was the first driver to win in the Car of Tomorrow in 2007 and the first driver to win a Cup race for Toyota in 2008, would love the opportunity to score the first win in the Next Gen car—even if it isn’t a points-paying race. 

“In the back of my mind, you would say yeah, you want to be the first guy, but I think many of us would argue that the first race for this vehicle will be the Daytona 500,” Busch said. “You know, we're here obviously, it is a race. Yes, they will pay somebody at the end of the day to win it. 

“But this is more as we've kind of alluded a little bit where it's a show, I mean that's fine, and we're going to do our best job of being able to put on a good show. There's going to be a race involved. There's going to be a checkered flag at the end of it. And I've been involved in the sport enough where there's a lot of asterisks on the things that I’ve accomplished. So, I'm sure me winning this race, I did not win the first race of the new car. It would be whoever wins Daytona, that's how it would go.”

Regardless of what the record book reflects, Busch was complimentary of the massive undertaking executed by NASCAR to bring the show to Los Angeles—the first time the Clash has moved since its inception in 1979.

“NASCAR took a lot of flak on what this was going to look like and what it was going to be,” Busch said. “But we’re having a great time. We had a bunch of fans come out just to witness the qualifying.  

“I’m looking forward to seeing what this place will look like tomorrow and have the opportunity to race this No. 18 Toyota and keep it up front. We’re not in (the main event) yet – we still have to go through that heat race. Just proud of my guys, working on the feedback and trying to understand what this car is all about.”