NASCAR at the LA Coliseum live results: Joey Logano wins first Clash

Live updates for NASCAR’s exhibition Clash race at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum are complete. Check below for full race results.

The feature event was 150 laps (37.5 miles) on a quarter-mile, purpose-built track located inside the venue.

All times are Eastern.

NASCAR at the Clash race results

Joey Logano holds off Kyle Busch at the flag

Lap 150, 7:55 p.m.: Joey Logano is able to keep Kyle Busch in his mirror and wins NASCAR’s first Clash at the L.A. Coliseum, the first (non-points) race of the season.

“It’s a special one, so gonna have some fun and celebrate it,” Logano says on Fox, mentioning that his wife is pregnant and expecting their third child due soon and he’ll have to hustle home.

Kyle Busch led a race-high 65 laps, and calls the finish “disappointing.”

“Just overheated the tires and smoke ‘em in three laps, so that was it,” Busch said. “Disappointing, obviously, to come out here, win the pole, lead laps, run up front and it’s not chaotic and we can’t win.”

Austin Dillon up to third, Joey Logano leads

Lap 140, 7:49 p.m.: Austin Dillon is up to third place, chasing leader Joey Logano and Kyle Busch. Kyle Larson has fallen to sixth. There are under 10 laps to go.

Caution out, tempers flair

Lap 115, 7:36 p.m.: UPDATE: Ryan Blaney returns to the race, surprisingly, after exiting his car following contact with Erik Jones. He chucked his HANS device at Jones.

“He wants to destroy me for 7th,” Blaney says on Fox.

The race restarts, but only shortly before Justin Haley hits a barrier hard following repeated contact with Kyle Larson racing for a top spot. Haley’s left front is destroyed and after a competitive performance so far.

Kyle Busch leads at halftime, Ice Cube on stage

Lap 75, 7:09 p.m.: Joey Logano tries a bump-and-run just before the caution for the halftime break, but NASCAR deems that the move was after the caution, so Kyle Busch is scored in the lead for the restart.

Rapper Ice Cube performs a mid-race concert during the halfway point.

First leader Tyler Reddick out of race

Lap 65, 7 p.m.: Chase Elliott has a wheel-hop and the caution comes back out. Tyler Reddick, the earlier race leader, is out of his car with a broken transaxle. Joey Logano takes the outside lane and Kyle Busch goes to the inside. The running order falls into Busch, Logano, Justin Haley, William Byron and Kyle Larson.

Denny Hamlin makes an exit

Lap 53, 6:50 p.m.: As the caution comes out for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. going for a spin after contact with Harrison Burton, Denny Hamlin pulls into the infield with an apparent power steering issue.

“The belt came off and took the hose with it, so I didn’t have an steering ability,” Hamlin says. “This is something probably you’ll see a lot of here, if just fixing all the bugs that are gonna happen.”

Tyler Reddick’s No. 8 team reports that his driveshaft is broken. Chase Briscoe also pulls off.

Tyler Reddick takes early lead

Lap 18, 6:40 p.m.: Tyler Reddick has moved by Kyle Busch for the top spot early into the race and is leading. Busch started on the pole, but conceded the position without much of a fight. It’s still early, though, and the agression will likely pick up. Reddick then laps Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse and Denny Hamlin, who are at the bottom of the running order. Reddick is a California native who ran dirt late models and sprint cars growing up, so he has experience on the short ovals. The running order is Joey Logano, Justin Haley, Kyle Larson and Chase Bricoe following Busch.

Pre-race

Stars are out in L.A. and engines are fired

6:30 p.m.: International music icon and NASCAR team owner Pit Bull performs a pre-race concert, staged in front of the venue’s iconic arches. Country music singer Blake Shelton makes a guest appearance at the track on Fox. Sports stars Jeff Gordon, Dave Roberts, Reggie Busch, Misty May-Treanor and Jim Abbott are among the grand marshals who give the command to fire engines. Gordon ceremonially lights the Olympic torch. The race is ready to go green.

Green flag delayed, penalty boots Ty Dillon from final show

5:40: NASCAR has pushed back its green flag by 10 minutes after a caution-heavy final last chance qualifier. The green flag is now scheduled to wave at 6:30 p.m. Petty GMS driver Ty Dillon finished first in that final qualifier, but NASCAR deemed that Dillon jumped the final restart while in the lead, which means he will NOT ultimately advance to the main event. Harrison Burton, who finished fourth in the qualifier, will make it through to the next round. He’ll start 22nd.

Qualifiers heat up

5:15 p.m.: Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman were among the drivers who crashed out during increasingly intense last chance qualifiers (LCQs). Two 50-lap qualifiers determined which drivers would transfer in six spots to the main feature, but late cautions and contact at the front took two 2021 race winners out of the running. Busch was sent into the outside wall as the field ran nearly three-wide on his inside. Busch was making his debut in the No. 45 Toyota for the 23XI team co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan.

“We needed to start off the year strong, and we did not,” Busch said on Fox. “I’m just disappointed to not be in the A-main. We’re racing in the Coliseum. This is what it is all about. NASCAR did a great job putting this all together. Thanks to Monster Energy, Toyota, Jumpman, everybody with this team. We’re supposed to be in the A-Main, and we’re not.”

Other drivers to miss the feature event: Bowman, Brad Keselowski, Aric Almirola, Harrison Burton, Austin Cindric, Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, Corey LaJoie, Todd Gilliland, Landon Cassill, Cody Ware and B.J. McLeod.

Kyle Busch lands pole position

After starting Heat 1 on the pole based on his top time qualifying time on Saturday, Kyle Busch finished first in his nine-car heat Sunday to clinch the pole for the main event. The 23-car feature starts at 6 p.m. on Fox.

The top four cars in each of the four heats transferred through to the Clash, while the bottom five cars in each heat dueled for the remaining spots. The final and 23rd position went to Martin Truex Jr., who was the highest points finisher from last season that didn’t transfer after the heats. His team opted to preserve their car and start last for the main event rather than race into the Last Chance Qualifier and gamble to potentially improve track position.

There were bumps and spins during the heat races, but the damage was surprisingly mild. Only two cautions were thrown during that portion, one of which was for a mechanical issue for Ty Dillon’s No. 42 Chevy.

But during the last chance qualifiers (LCQs), the intensity escalated. Aric Amirola went for a spin after contact with Todd Gilliland, and Almirola was unable to continue following the yellow flag. Harrison Burton was hit by Ty Dillon to bring out a caution in the second LCQ. Dillon was involved in multiple incidents during his qualifier, but managed to finish out front for the round. He just didn’t make many friends along the way.

Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and A.J. Allmendinger raced their way into the main event during the first last chance qualifier. Dillon, Ryan Preece and Bubba Wallace made it through after the second LCQ. The Clash starting order is below.

NASCAR Clash starting order

This story was originally published February 6, 2022 at 5:19 PM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription