Team: No. 6 Violet Defense Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Matt McCall
Twitter: @RFK6Team, @RFKRacing and @keselowski
Race Format: 37.5 miles, 150 laps
Single-Car Qualifying – Saturday, Feb. 5 at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
Clash Qualifying Heats – Sunday, Feb. 6 at 3 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
Clash Last-Chance Qualifiers – Sunday, Feb. 6 at 4:10 p.m. ET o FOX, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
Clash at the Coliseum – Sunday, Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
ADVANCE NOTES
Clash Format
· NASCAR takes is annual exhibition, season kickoff event to a venue that has never hosted racing before – the Los Angeles Coliseum – for an action-packed weekend of on-track activity. The sport’s visit to the historic venue for the first time brings with it a new format and a new look.
· Saturday’s on-track activity will get started with a practice session at 12:30 p.m. ET. Qualifying will take place later in the day (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1), which will set the lineup for Sunday’s heat races. Every car entered into the Clash automatically advances to one of the heat races.
· Sunday, drivers will compete in one of four 25-lap heat races with up to 10 cars in each race. The fastest qualifying driver from Saturday will start on pole in the first heat race, second fastest starts on pole in the second heat race and so on.
· The top four finishers in each heat race will automatically advance to the main event, totaling 16 drivers with a ticket to the Sunday night feature. Drivers who do not advance will be placed into one of two 50-lap last chance qualifier (LCQ) races. The top three from each LCQ advance to the Sunday feature.
· The final spot in the 23-man main event is reserved for the driver who finished the highest in the 2021 points standings who does not transfer on finishing position in the heat races or LCQ.
Keselowski in the Clash
· Sunday marks Keselowski’s debut in an RFK Racing machine as both driver and co-owner. He enters his 13th full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series.
· This will be his 10th appearance in the annual exhibition event. He is the 2018 winner of the Clash, and overall has five top-10s in the event. He ran fourth in his first-ever Clash in 2012 in his Championship season, then followed that up with a P2 in 2014.
Matt McCall in the Clash
· McCall will call his fourth Clash event Sunday in LA. He called two with Kurt Busch in the last two seasons, and prior to that finished 10th with Jamie McMurray.
QUOTE WORTHY
Keselowski on racing in the Clash:
“The Clash is a new challenge for us, not only is it the first race of the season, but it’s a new race at a new track, and a completely different style of racing we’ve seen. To say there’s a lot of uncertainty and a lot of hype would be an understatement. When you go to a track you’ve never been to before, the most difficult thing to do is prepare for it and know what to expect. With it being my first race with RFK and our first race together, any success we can have there is going to be huge for our company.”
On the Car
Violet Defense rolls out its new 2022 scheme this weekend at the Clash for its first of six primary races this season. They will return as the primary for three additional races on the No. 6, as well as two with Chris Buescher and the No. 17 team.
About Violet Defense
Violet Defense uses UV disinfection to protect everyday spaces from harmful pathogens by killing up to 99.9% of E. coli, Salmonella, MRSA, C. diff., Norovirus, C. auris, and coronavirus. Violet Defense’s technology is the only known Pulsed Xenon solution that can be installed into a room full-time, creating a continuous way to address disinfection needs of all types of settings. For more information, visit www.violetdefense.com or follow us on Facebook or LinkedIn (@violetdefense).
