Kyle Busch has visited victory lane at the Busch Light Clash twice in his career.
One win came at Daytona Int’l Speedway in 2012 and the other at the Florida facility’s road course in 2021. Should he conquer the non-points event for the NASCAR Cup Series at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum on Sunday, Busch would become the first driver to win the race on three different track designs — a superspeedway, a road course and a short track.
As he ended the inaugural race at the Coliseum one position shy of the win last year, leading 64 of 150 laps, Busch has an extra pep in his step as he ventures back to the famed Southern California venue.
“Last year for us, it was really good. I was able to qualify first and ran second for a majority of the race,” Busch said. “We had a good race but came up a tick short.”
Team Penske’s Joey Logano successfully fended off Busch’s attacks to claim victory at the temporary race track in 2022. But Busch, who moved from Joe Gibbs Racing to Richard Childress Racing during the offseason, believes his second-place run gives him a good handle on how to approach the Clash this time around.
“Obviously, having a fast car is good, but to have a fast car, you have to be fast while going slow. You’re probably out of the throttle just as much as you’re in the throttle at the Clash,” Busch said. “The amount of time in which you’re on the brakes is going to be very important.”
A snapshot of Kyle Busch arriving at the RCR hauler at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, per his Twitter feed.
I went to the right hauler don’t u worry. 😎 pic.twitter.com/cn5L9159ji
— Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) February 4, 2023
Mounting a solid run at the Clash begins with qualifying and heat races, as only 27 of 36 entrants will make it into Sunday’s 150-lap race. However, Busch was the fast qualifier in last year’s two-lap qualifying session. For Busch, the primary hurdle was to get a proper feel for the track within those two short laps.
“It’s hard to know how hard you hit the corner and how much you really give it on exit to not spin the tires too much,” Busch said. “You’ve got to hit your marks.”
A new qualifying format has been introduced this year, which means that drivers will be able to earn their way into the feature through qualifying sessions, heat races and last-chance qualifiers.
Though Busch seems to have history on his side, this weekend also marks a step into the future for the 37-year-old. The Clash will be Busch’s on-track debut with RCR. After spending 15 years as a full-time Cup Series driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, a lack of sponsorship essentially led Busch to sign with Richard Childress’ team last September.
Busch will put the No. 8 BetMGM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the test for the first time inside the Coliseum at the shortest track the NASCAR Cup Series visits.
But luckily for him, he has some experience at quarter-mile tracks to call on.
“Racing at the Coliseum is most similar to a place in Canada that I raced at once before, Autodrome Chaudiere, which is a tight little quarter-mile track. It had a little bit of banking, so the Coliseum being so flat is a little bit new compared to that,” Busch explained.
Back when he drove Legend Cars, Busch also spent years racing at San Bernardino Speedway, which is a flat quarter-mile track that he experienced ample success at. If his memory serves him well, the chance of earning a third Busch Light Clash victory and his first with RCR may be within reach.