The Clash at the Coliseum was a unique venture for NASCAR.
The 150-lap race around a quarter-mile track is unlike any other race in the NASCAR Cup Series and is by far the shortest track used by the racing association — the next shortest track is Martinsville Speedway, which is just over a half mile.
But now, with the contract between the Busch Light Clash and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ending after three years and the Auto Club Speedway — which hosted NASCAR races for over 20 years — situation still in flux, NASCAR’s future in Southern California is unknown.
This comes after NASCAR courted Southern California residents, some of whom had never watched a race prior to the Clash coming to the Coliseum, for three years. Now, that fandom might be ripped away if NASCAR chooses to move the Clash to another venue.
With the sport’s future in Southern California unclear and uncertain, drivers commented on the Clash at the Coliseum after potentially their last spin around the famous stadium.
“I think it was a success,” Denny Hamlin (No. 11), the winner of the 2024 Clash, said. “Certainly, you can’t argue it from a viewership standpoint. I certainly think it’s got merit in going different places. But I think L.A. was very good to us, and I think we were good for this community as well. If you look around at the stands, it’s more diverse than what you see at most racetracks.”
Before the Clash was at the Coliseum, it was held at Daytona and the jump to L.A. instantly improved the race’s ratings. The 2022 version of the Clash reached 4.28 million household viewers, the best audience for the Clash since 2016.
While viewing numbers dipped in 2023, the fact the 2022 edition could garner that much support in its first year at the Coliseum surprised drivers.
“I would have never expected the first year that it would have been as legit as it is and the atmosphere is great. I was not expecting the atmosphere to even be this cool tonight,” Kyle Larson (No. 5). “There’s definitely a place for this style event, I think, in our sport. … They’ve proven that they can do it. They’ve proven that they can get a crowd.”
The event provided those large crowds with something different and reached a whole new group of people.
With how small the track at the Coliseum is, the cars are much closer to each other, inviting more bumping, scraping and jostling. It’s a much different sport than driving at a racetrack like the Daytona International Speedway, a 2.5-mile track.
“I think it’s very entertaining. Sometimes it’s real frustrating when you’re out there because it’s a tight bullring and you’ve got big cars and they’re sliding around,” Joey Logano (No. 22), the winner of the inaugural 2022 Clash at the Coliseum said. “But I know from rewatching races and sitting in the grandstands for one of the [Last-Chance Qualifiers] last year or a couple years ago, it was like, ‘this is really entertaining to watch.’”
The Cup Series race was quickly followed up with the King Taco LA Batalla, a NASCAR Mexico Series race. Entry to the Clash and LA Batalla was free of charge after NASCAR moved both races from Sunday up to Saturday due to inclement weather, giving fans the ability to see two different types of racing.
“It’s a different demographic, and the way they kind of pulled the trigger on [Saturday] trying to get it in, I think that was really smart by NASCAR,” Ryan Blaney (No. 12) said. “Maybe it doesn’t show in the stands just because of what it was, but it gets a lot of support, and then also to have the NASCAR Mexico Series here too, is good as well, to kind of grow their side.”
While NASCAR might not return to the one-of-a-kind track inside the Coliseum, it opens up opportunities for other seemingly crazy ideas for race locations. Before the home of USC football agreed to build a track inside the stadium, no one imagined a race track which does not even have enough space for normal pit stops would work.
Now, NASCAR has the chance to take its ingenuity and find another unique host site, if it chooses to not renew its contract with the Coliseum.
“Kind of opens up the box a little bit on where else we can do events like this,” Kyle Busch (No. 8) said. “So I think that’s been a real test of whether or not we’re capable at these types of tracks. It always kind of turns into a little bit of calamity there. It did a little bit there towards the end. We always kind of expect that.”
There is no clear answer as to where the Busch Light Clash will take place next year, but at the very least, the Coliseum experiment showed NASCAR can be creative with its race designs and tap into new markets.
“It’s a very diverse crowd out there,” Larson said. “I hope they can take this kind of model and move it around and grow it and try and broaden our fan base some.”
The potentially final Clash at the Coliseum provided some surprises, and it will not be one to forget. The three-year experiment will be something to learn from. But for the time being, fans will have to wait to find out what the future of the Clash holds.
The next big NASCAR race is more of a classic — the Daytona 500 takes place February 18 as Hamlin, Larson, Logano, Blaney and Busch will all look to stake their claim as the cream of the NASCAR crop.