Denny Hamlin on pole for Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum
LOS ANGELES — Denny Hamlin earned the pole for the NASCAR Cup Series Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum with a blistering lap in qualifying.
Hamlin ran a 13.139-second lap in qualifying, earning the pole over Joey Logano by 0.111 seconds.
While Hamlin and Logano are in the Clash, along with 21 other drivers, 13 drivers missed out.
Josh Williams was the first out. Williams was 23rd-fastest, 0.012 seconds behind Chase Briscoe, who made the Clash.
Meanwhile, 2023 Round of Eight driver Chris Buescher and 2023 Championship Four driver Christopher Bell were 30th and 33rd-fastest, respectively.
Williams, Carson Hocevar, Josh Berry, Daniel Suarez, Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Buescher, Austin Cindric, DanIel Hemric, Bell, Kaz Grala, Harrison Burton and Zane Smith (fastest-to-slowest) all failed to make the Clash.
Busch Light at the Coliseum Lineup
- Denny Hamlin
- Joey Logano
- Ty Gibbs
- Alex Bowman
- Kyle Busch
- William Byron
- Ross Chastain
- Kyle Larson
- Bubba Wallace
- Justin Haley
- Tyler Reddick
- Ryan Preece
- Brad Keselowski
- Chase Elliott
- Michael McDowell
- Todd Gilliland
- Noah Gragson
- Corey LaJoie
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Chase Briscoe
- Ryan Blaney
How they got in
The Clash field was set with six 4-minute practice sessions, each featuring six drivers. As the rounds went on, drivers locked in depending on where they were on the leaderboard.
Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs, Alex Bowman and William Byron were the top four after round three and locked in first.
Then, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson and Justin Haley locked in next – along with Bubba Wallace who nipped teammate Tyler Reddick at the last second. They were all in the top-10 after round four.
Reddick, Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski, Michael McDowell, Todd Gilliland and Noah Gragson got their chance to lock in being in the top 16 after round five.
Chase Elliott, Corey LaJoie, Martin Truex Jr., Ricky Stenhouse Jr., John Hunter Nemechek and Chase Briscoe all breathed a sigh of relief, being just fast enough after round six to get into the Clash.
Blaney wasn’t fast enough but locked in with a provisional.
The Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum goes green at 8:10 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com