'Clash' lives up to its name as Joey Logano holds off Kyle Busch in first NASCAR race of 2022
The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series racing season opened up to great fanfare Sunday afternoon, as Joey Logano won the Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Logano started the 150-lap exhibition race from the fourth position after he won a heat race earlier in the afternoon. Working his way up front, the Team Penske driver passed race polesitter Kyle Busch for the lead right after the halfway mark.
The two drivers made the event live up to its "Clash" name, dueling and duking it out for the lead in the closing laps, with Logano able to pull away and secure the first checkered flag of 2022. Busch finished second, while Austin Dillon, Erik Jones and defending Cup Series champion Kyle Larson rounded out the top five.
“I can’t believe that we’re here,” Logano told Fox Sports following his win. “L.A. Coliseum, we got the victory with the old Shell-Pennzoil Mustang. This is an amazing event.
"Congratulations, NASCAR. Such a huge step in our industry to be able to do this, put on an amazing race for everybody. I’m out of breath. I’m so excited about this. It was a big win.”
Busch started the race from the pole position and led a race-high of 64 laps, however, he was unable to challenge Logano in the closing laps.
Needless to say, Busch was none too happy to finish second. His post-race comments were classic Busch.
“I was being perfect, doing everything I needed to do to keep the tires underneath me,” Busch told FOX Sports. “I've got to try more, pounce at an opportunity. Just overheated the tires and smoked ’em in three laps. That was it.
“(It's) disappointing, obviously. Come out here and win the pole, lead laps, run upfront. The finish goes green, it’s not chaotic and we can’t win. It sucks.”
Richard Childress Racing driver Tyler Reddick was one of the top contenders early on in the race. Reddick led 51 laps before exiting the race due to mechanical issues and decided to make the most of his situation by going into the stands to meet with fans.
“Certainly, the obvious big bummer is breaking our transaxle doing something I probably didn’t even need to do,” Reddick said. “We had one of the fastest cars on the race track.
"We were just riding and managing the gap back to Kyle; trying to lap as many cars that we could so we wouldn’t have to worry about them later. But we never made it that far. It’s a tough lesson, but it’s a lesson we can learn from.”
Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe similarly retired from the race with mechanical issues, with Hamlin experiencing a power steering issue and Briscoe radioing into his crew about a problem with the drivetrain.
Tyler Reddick leads the field during the NASCAR Cup Series Busch Light Clash on Sunday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
As short track racing normally does, Sunday’s race produced plenty of beating and banging. One of the most memorable moments from the race came when Ryan Blaney threw his HANS device at Erik Jones after Blaney's No. 12 Ford made contact with Jones’ No. 43 Chevy.
“I was racing with him there and he brake-checked me off of [Turn] Four for no real reason,” Jones said. “I didn’t appreciate that and felt like I showed it on the track. If we have a conversation, we have a conversation. It’s an exhibition race. We’re out here doing what we can. I was frustrated with the move that he made, so that’s what happened.”
The race marked the first time NASCAR’s annual preseason exhibition race took place at a location other than Daytona International Speedway.
A crowd of approximately 50,000 spectators watched the inaugural event on the temporary quarter-mile bullring in the famed sports arena, which celebrated the first event in its 99th year of existence.
A prerace concert by hip hop artist Pitbull and a “halftime” concert at Lap 75 by rapper Ice Cube added to the event festivities. The race also marked the debut of NASCAR’s Next-Gen car.
NASCAR’s regular season begins on Sunday, February 20 with the 64th running of the Daytona 500.
Follow Michael Eubanks on Twitter @MEubanks_writer