Kyle Busch led qualifying to set Sunday’s Clash Heat races on Saturday, posting a fast time of 13.745, 65.478 mph around the L.A. Coliseum. Saturday’s practice session followed by a qualifying session was the first time NASCAR’s brand-new NextGen car had been used in official competition.
Tyler Reddick finished second fastest, followed by Justin Haley, Joey Logano, and Daniel Suarez.
Earlier on Saturday, running 103 total laps, Chase Elliott led the speed charts in the one and only practice session. Kevin Harvick, Chase Briscoe, Justin Haley, and Kyle Busch followed suit.
Cole Custer, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Harrison Burton rounded out the top 10 in single-car qualifying.
Heat races are scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. ET. on FOX and MRN Radio. Approximately at 4:10 p.m. ET, also on FOX, two last chance qualifier races will take place to finish setting the lineup. The main event will conclude the unofficial start of the season at 6:00 p.m. ET. on FOX and MRN Radio.
Heat race lineups:
Heat race No. 1:
Kyle Busch
Daniel Suarez
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Ryan Blaney
Denny Hamlin
Aric Almirola
BJ McLeod
Todd Gilliland
Ross Chastain
Heat race No. 2:
Tyler Reddick
Cole Custer
Harrison Burton
Alex Bowman
Bubba Wallace
Austin Dillon
Chase Briscoe
Brad Keselowski
Martin Truex Jr.
Heat race No. 3:
Justin Haley
Chase Elliott
William Byron
Christopher Bell
AJ Allmendinger
Kevin Harvick
Chris Buescher
Corey LaJoie
Cody Ware
Heat race No. 4:
Joey Logano
Kyle Larson
Michael McDowell
Landon Cassill
Austin Cindric
Erik Jones
Ryan Preece
Kurt Busch
Ty Dillon
The top four finishers in each heat race will advance into the feature event. The drivers that don’t qualify based on their finish in their respective heat race will have one more shot in one of two last chance races. The top three finishers in their respective last chance heat will advance into the feature – making up 22 of the 23 entries. The 23rd starting spot will be available to the highest driver not in the field based on where they finished in the 2021 driver standings. In total, 13 drivers will not make the field.
About Me: Brett has been following the sport of NASCAR since the beginning of the 2006 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Since Brett was 13, he has had a passion of chasing a job in sports that not many get the opportunity of doing. He has been in the NASCAR media since the middle of the 2010 season. Since then, he has been a part of many racing podcast shows to improve his talents. He has written for racingonfuel.com and theracingwheel.com. Currently, Brett writes for motorsportsnat.com and TracksideChatter.com. You can find him on twitter @NASCAR_Brett.
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