NASCAR News: Hamlin wins poorly attended Busch Light Clash

With very few fans in attendance, Denny Hamlin won the rescheduled Busch Light Clash at the LA Coliseum over Kyle Busch.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

The race was moved up to Saturday night because of the heavy rain moving into LA Sunday.

A next to last green flag flew with 9 laps to go, and Denny Hamlin got his Toyota into the lead from the inside line.

Polesitter Hamlin looked to be the winner but just before the final lap started, Ty Gibbs was spun around, meaning the race was reset for a green-white checker finish.

Hamlin got a good jump and held off Kyle Busch for the win.

Ryan Blaney was third in his Penske Ford ahead of teammate Joey Logano.

Kyle Larson rounded out the top-5.

Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and William Byron completed the top 10.

Smoking his tires in every corner after grabbing the lead on a restart on Lap 141 of a scheduled 150, Hamlin was a few yards away from the finish line when his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Ty Gibbs, spun off the bumper of Kyle Larson’s Chevrolet to bring out the seventh caution and force a two-lap shootout.

On the final restart, Hamlin stayed clear of runner-up Kyle Busch and crossed the stripe with a 0.610-second advantage, earning his fourth victory in the season-opening exhibition race-most among active drivers-with the first three coming at Daytona International Speedway.

“I got a really good run off Turn 2 and just got position and was able to hang on from there,” Hamlin said of his run to the lead after the Lap 141 restart. “It’s so chaotic on the restarts, with everyone bumping and banging, but it’s great to win here in L.A.

“It’s just a great momentum boost. It doesn’t do much more than that, but I clean off all the trophies every January 1 in the entryway to the house, and now we get to add one pretty quick, so I’m really happy about that.”

Busch restarted behind Hamlin in the overtime, but Hamlin pulled away to a lead of nearly two car-lengths, and Busch couldn’t get to his bumper after that.

“I felt like the first half (of the race), I had a better car, better than the 11 (Hamlin), but some of the adjustments we made weren’t as good, some of the adjustments they made were better,” said Busch, who has finished second, third and second in the three events at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

“All in all, just glad to have a good night. Glad to come out of here in one piece with all the bumping and banging and everything else that happens.”

Mexico Series Race

Daniel Suarez won the NASCAR Mexico Series race at the LA Coliseum.

Suarez, a driver for Trackhouse Racing in the Cup Series, emerged victorious in his homecoming race in the Mexico Series on Saturday. After failing to qualify for the Cup Series main event, Suarez was back to competing in the series where he started his racing journey.

Starting the race from the sixth position, the Monterrey, Mexico, native exchanged leads numerous times with Abraham Calderon.

Daniel Suarez breezed past Calderon with 18 laps to go, to win the 150-lap event. Santiago Tovar finished second, ahead of Alex De Alba, Rogelio Lopez and Jacobo Cosio who rounded out the top 5.

Denny Hamlin

You were so confident in this car. You got the pole earlier, but then you slipped back a little bit. How did you fight your way back and take the lead with 10 laps to go and then hold off your teammate and pass him?

DENNY HAMLIN: A lot of it was just what happened in front of me with the 54 and 22, and you just never know what was going to happen there, but I got a really good run off of Turn 2 and just got position and was able to hang on from there.

It’s so chaotic, the restarts, with everyone just bumping and banging, but feels great to win here in LA.

I know you had shoulder surgery in the off-season, so there’s question marks coming in. Then you get the big win to kick the season off. What does this mean to you and the team and starting the year this way?

DENNY HAMLIN: It’s a great momentum boost. It doesn’t do much more than that. But I clean off all the trophies every January 1st in the entryway of the house, and now we get to add one pretty quick, so really happy about that.

Kyle Busch

Kyle, I know it’s got to sting to not get that win, but a great night for you.

KYLE BUSCH: It definitely does sting. I felt like the first half we were better. Had a better car. We were better than the 11. But some of the adjustments we made weren’t as good, some of the adjustments they made were better.

All in all, just glad to have a good night. Glad to come out here in one piece, even with all the bumping and banging and everything else that happens.

Thanks to Morgan & Morgan for being with us here today. It was fun to have them on board. I know everybody was chuckling on our paint scheme, so good times with those guys, and of course thanks to Lucas Oil, Zone, Cheddar’s, everybody, all the guys back at the shop, ECR engines. We’ve got a little bit of work on our short track program. Clash seems okay, but we’ll try to figure out the rest of the year.

Busch Light Clash Results

POS	CAR	DRIVER	MAKE	BEHIND	LAPS
1	11	Denny Hamlin		—	151
2	8	Kyle Busch		0.610	151
3	12	Ryan Blaney		0.883	151
4	22	Joey Logano		1.213	151
5	5	Kyle Larson		2.703	151
6	48	Alex Bowman		2.984	151
7	14	Chase Briscoe		3.491	151
8	6	Brad Keselowski		3.907	151
9	19	Martin Truex Jr.		4.212	151
10	24	William Byron		4.232	151
11	41	Ryan Preece		5.338	151
12	23	Bubba Wallace		1.530	150
13	45	Tyler Reddick		-1	150
14	42	John Hunter Nemechek		-1	150
15	1	Ross Chastain		-1	150
16	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		-1	150
17	7	Corey LaJoie		-1	150
18	54	Ty Gibbs		-1	150
19	34	Michael McDowell		-2	149
20	10	Noah Gragson		-4	147
21	51	Justin Haley		-16	135
22	9	Chase Elliott		-74	77
23	38	Todd Gilliland		-83	68