LOS ANGELES (Feb. 5, 2022) – With the Olympic cauldron ablaze in the east and the sun setting in the west, NASCAR Cup Series drivers drove for bragging rights during Saturday night’s qualifying session for the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum.

Kyle Busch etched his name in the history books by turning the fastest qualifying lap on a quarter-mile asphalt track nestled inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. His No. 18 Toyota TRD Camry blazed a 13.745-second lap, placing him on pole for Sunday’s first qualifying heat race and making him the driver to beat during tomorrow’s historic day of NASCAR Cup Series racing in the heart of Los Angeles.

“I’m on the pole for the first heat, but now I have to back that up and finish there,” said Busch, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion from Las Vegas. “It’s a big deal to win the heat races, so it’s important for you to start up front.”

Busch must race his way into Sunday’s 150-lap main event, which will feature a 23-car field set by four 25-lap heat races and two 50-lap last-chance qualifiers. Gates open at 10 a.m. PT and the racing begins at noon inside a facility that’s hosted Super Bowls, the Olympics and USC football.

Following the conclusion of the final last chance qualifier, Pitbull will perform a 45-minute concert, with the main event beginning shortly after 3 p.m. PT. Ice Cube will perform during the race break at Lap 75 and DJ Skee will spin throughout the day, creating a party-like atmosphere for NASCAR’s season-opening exhibition.

A limited number of tickets remain and can be purchased online at www.nascar.com/lacoliseum. All action will be broadcast live on FOX.

Click here for B-Roll from Saturday’s practice sessions, which featured the first laps turned by NASCAR’s Next Gen cars inside the LA Memorial Coliseum.

About NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 16 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR consists of three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour), one local grassroots series (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series) and three international series (NASCAR Pinty’s Series, NASCAR Peak Mexico Series, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (‘NASCAR’).

About The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a living memorial to all who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War I, has been a civic treasure for generations of Angelenos.  Located in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA, the Coliseum is a 77,500 capacity multi-purpose stadium which opened in 1923. Home to the USC Trojans, the legendary stadium has been named as one of the nation’s 40 best stadiums to experience college football by Sporting News, and ranked USC football at the Coliseum as the nation’s No. 3 stadium experience by StadiumJourney.com.  Following a recent renovation in 2019, the stadium is now home to a newly added seven-story suite and press tower which includes luxurious suites, loge boxes, club seats, a new press box, and the rooftop 1923 Club with a 360-degree view of the Los Angeles basin; along with several upgrades including new seating, updated technology and concession stands, additional food options for guests, and much more.

The legacy of events and individuals hosted in nine-plus-decades reads like no other, including  the only venue to host two Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and the Track and Field Competition for the Summer Olympics (Xth Olympiad in 1932, XXIIIrd Olympiad in 1984) and soon a third (XXXIVth Olympiad in 2028); home to college football’s USC Trojans since 1923 and the UCLA Bruins (1928-1981);  professional football’s Los Angeles Rams (1946-1979 and 2016-2019); appearances by U.S. Presidents Franklin D Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan; and international dignitaries such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez, Pope John Paul II, the Dalai Lama, and Nelson Mandela, to name a few. Additionally, the Coliseum, designated a National Historic monument in 1984, has hosted  some of the greatest acts in entertainment, including Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Prince, and many more. For more information please visit lacoliseum.com