NASCAR is back with a bang with the Busch Light Clash as the unofficial season opener takes place on February 5th as it returns to the schedule for the preseason showdown for the second consecutive year.
The Clash is the first exhibition race of the 2023 Cup Series season, and last year's championship winner Joey Logano will look to kick off his title defense with a victory, as he looks to go back-to-back in this event following his win last year to get his season off to the best possible start.
We'll take a look at the race this weekend and provide you with our best free NASCAR picks while seeing if we can earn you some extra cash for the weekend.
| NASCAR Busch Light Clash |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Chase Elliott | +750 | +800 |
| Joey Logano | +750 | +850 |
| Kyle Larson | +800 | +800 |
| Christopher Bell | +800 | +1000 |
| Kyle Busch | +850 | +850 |
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NASCAR Busch Light Clash information
- Sunday, February 5th 2023
- Los Angeles Memorial Colisseum, Los Angeles, California
- 20:00 ET
- 150 laps
- FOX Sports
NASCAR Busch Light Clash Entry list
- #1 - Ross Chastain
- #2 - Austin Cindric
- #3 - Austin Dillon
- #4 - Kevin Harvick
- #5 - Kyle Larson
- #6 - Brad Keselowski
- #7 - Corey LaJoie
- #8 - Kyle Busch
- #9 - Chase Elliott
- #10 - Aric Almirola
- #11 - Denny Hamlin
- #12 - Ryan Blaney
- #14 - Chase Briscoe
- #15 - J. J. Yeley
- #16 - A. J. Allmendinger
- #17 - Chris Buescher
- #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
- #20 - Christopher Bell
- #21 - Harrison Burton
- #22 - Joey Logano
- #23 - Bubba Wallace Jr.
- #24 - William Byron
- #31 - Justin Haley
- #34 - Michael McDowell
- #38 - Todd Gilliland
- #41 - Ryan Preece
- #42 - Noah Gragson (R)
- #43 - Erik Jones
- #45 - Tyler Reddick
- #47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- #48 - Alex Bowman
- #51 - Cody Ware
- #54 - Ty Gibbs (R)
- #77 - Ty Dillon
- #78 - B. J. McLeod
- #99 - Daniel Suárez
NASCAR Picks: Busch Light Clash 2023
Joey Logano (+850)
You can’t really talk about the upcoming season without mentioning the defending champion as one of the favorites to win it all again, and he deserves the plaudits for that success too.
Logano won on this circuit last season in the first edition of this exhibition race, but he has also won the pre-season opener twice in the last 6 seasons, so this is a guy who seems to enjoy getting back behind the wheel and getting off to a fast start.
He has also won the Cup Series Championship twice in the last 5 seasons, winning 4 races on his way to a championship last season.
It will always be tough to go back-to-back, and Logano will be looking to be the first man since Jimmie Johnson won five in a row between 2005 and 2010. Look for him to come out strong again.
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Chase Elliott (+800)
Elliott has proven to be the model of consistency over the past three years, making it all the way to the final 4 in each of those seasons, with his lone championship win coming in 2020. He will feel as though he should have won the title last season too.
This is a driver who doesn’t necessarily win a ton of races, but he always seems to be up near the front of the pack in every race, allowing him to accumulate a ton of points along the way and be in the mix at the business end.
While he will almost certainly be in and around the mix at the end of the season once again, he's not someone that will be heavily expected to win this race.
As mentioned he's not a serial winner but more a serial competitor, so expecting him to be victorious in the first race of the season that isn't actually lending itself towards the title is highly unlikely.
Kyle Larson (+800)
After serving a lengthy suspension in 2020 for using a racial slur which saw him lose his spot on the team, Larson bounced back with a massive season in 2021, reeling off win after win to win the Cup Series with complete and absolute ease.
It was always going to be tough to replicate that form in 2022, especially since nobody has gone back to back in over a decade, but he will still feel that his relatively low 7th placed finish was disappointing in the grand scheme of things.
You can bet that Larson will want to get back to the top, so look for him to come storming out of the gate, which could potentially mean a win in the pre-season opener.
It's certainly not something to rule out entirely, and if you think the price is good enough for you then it's most definitely worth a flutter.
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Denny Hamlin (+1200)
Hamlin might well be the best driver in the Cup Series to never have won a championship, and he has come close on several occasions, but last year wasn't one of them unfortunately.
He was on a run of three straight trips to the final 4 before coming up short last season, when he ended up 5th overall in the driver standings.
The closest he ever came to success was finishing 2nd in 2010, and he'll be hoping to better that here. Getting a win in this race will set up a strong season, but it will be very difficult for him.
Given his consistency, we can expect him to come into the new season looking for a fast start, so he is another one to keep an eye on in this race, despite him not being among the favorites.
