AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
Joey Logano held off Kyle Busch to win the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum on Sunday.
Despite the small nature of the track, Busch was unable to gain much ground on Logano during the race’s final stages.
The No. 22 car finished with a 0.877-second cushion on the runner-up. Austin Dillon was a relatively distant third, crossing the finish line 3.225 seconds after the winner.
Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum Leaderboard
- Joey Logano
- Kyle Busch
- Austin Dillon
- Erik Jones
- Kyle Larson
- William Byron
- Cole Custer
- Christopher Bell
- AJ Allmendinger
- Kevin Harvick
Full standings available at NASCAR.com
Busch will feel disappointed with the result. He was the most dominant driver overall before losing the lead right before a caution with 34 laps left. The two-time series champion also shot himself in the foot as he attempted a move for first place.
The track’s dimensions made this one of the more unique races in recent years. Space was in short supply on the quarter-mile oval, and aggression was a necessity in order to maintain a given position in the field.
Somewhat surprisingly, the first caution didn’t come until the 53rd lap as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got turned around after some contact by Harrison Burton.
It was an eventful caution period as Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe and race leader Tyler Reddick were all forced to bow out because of mechanical issues. The Clash wasn’t a great advertisement for NASCAR’s new Next Gen cars.
Bozi Tatarevic @BoziTatarevic
I expected stuff like this to break the first time that these cars are driven in anger and I’ve shared my observations about the transaxle in the past and what I expect to see and only one being broken so far at a short track is decent form my POV. <a href=”https://t.co/D0DZbPnAF3″>https://t.co/D0DZbPnAF3</a>
Teams will likely have to experience some trial and error as they adjust to the new builds, which will inevitably lead to the kind of issues Hamlin, Briscoe and Reddick experienced Sunday.
Ryan Blaney was also forced to make an early exit after contact from Erik Jones sent him into the wall with 35 laps left. Blaney proceeded to take his frustrations out by throwing his HANS device toward the No. 43 car.
Blaney vented his frustration mid-race:
With the Clash concluded, all eyes turn to Daytona International Speedway. The Daytona Duels get underway on Feb. 17 ahead of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20. Beyond what’s at stake, drivers might be looking forward to a return to normalcy in the Great American Race.
An improbable victor last year, Michael McDowell will be a long shot to repeat as champion.
For Kyle Larson, the Daytona 500 is an opportunity to get his NASCAR Cup Series championship defense off to a strong start.
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