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Martin Truex Jr. led the final 25 laps to win the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum exhibition race in the results of the first NASCAR Cup Series event of the season.
The Joe Gibbs Racing team celebrated as the 2017 Cup champion quickly rebounded from a winless 2022 in his No. 1 Toyota. 19 winning the NASCAR exhibition season opener for the first time.
Truex became the 25th driver to win the race. It is JGR’s 11th series-leading Clash victory.
Austin Dillon finished second, followed by teammate Kyle Busch in his debut in the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Alex Bowman finished fourth and Kyle Laron finished fifth.
Tyler Reddick took sixth place. Ryan Preece led a record 43 laps in his debut in the No. 4 Ford. 41 for Stewart-Haas Racing, but slipped to seventh with an apparent electrical problem. The rest of the top 10: Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin (who also led 26 laps in the No. 11 Toyota) and William Byron.
SCORE BOX: Click here for the full Colosseum Clash results
PENALTY REPORT: Click here for infractions during the race
This is the seventh time Toyota has won the Busch Light Clash.
Austin Dillon finished second in the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum and will receive silver
medal.
Kyle Busch finished third in the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum and will receive bronze
medal.
Aric Almirola started from pole position and led the first 16 of the 150 laps of the race, which did not include any pit stops and was spread over 75 laps.
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The race was slowed down by 16 warning flags (up from five last year), including 12 in the last 75 laps. Laps under yellow were not counted in the official distance.
Bubba Wallace led 40 laps but finished 22nd after being blocked by Dillon in a late spin.
Over a series of heats and qualifying races, the field was whittled down to 27 cars for the Clash at the Coliseum main event. Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing drivers Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher failed to advance for the second straight year, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Corey LaJoie and Harrison Burton were among others eliminated.
Click here for results from the preliminary events in the NASCAR Clash at the Coliseum.
Results: 1. Martin Truex Jr.; 2.Austin Dillon; 3.Kyle Busch; 4. Alex Archer; 5.Kyle Larson; 6.Tyler Reddick; 7. Ryan Preece; 8. Ross Chastain; 9. Denny Hamlin; 10.William Byron; 11.Justin Haley; 12.Kevin Harvick; 13. Christopher Bell; 14. Noah Gragson; 15. Chase Briscoe; 16.Joey Logano; 17.Ryan Blaney; 18. Aric Almirola; 19. Daniel Suarez; 20. AJ Allmendinger; 21. Chase Elliott; 22.Bubba Wallace; 23.Todd Gilliland; 24.Michael McDowell; 25. Austin Cindric; 26.Ty Gibbs; 27. Erik Jones
Clash at the Coliseum The NASCAR Cup Series race results originally appeared on NBCSports.com
