By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
LOS ANGELES — At the end of a transformative NASCAR experience that took the City of Angels by storm, Joey Logano held off hard-charging pole winner Kyle Busch to triumph in Sunday’s Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum.
Logano got the lead on Lap 116, moments before Kyle Larson retaliated against Justin Haley for earlier contact that was not of Haley’s doing. Larson steered toward the bottom of the track, knocking Haley’s Chevrolet into the concrete Jersey barrier on the frontstretch.
In the competitive debut of the Next Gen race car, Logano had control of the race for the restart on Lap 117 and held the top spot to the finish, with Busch frustrated in pursuit on the quarter-mile track built for the NASCAR Cup Series event in iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as part of NASCAR’s daring foray into downtown L.A.
“I can’t believe it,” Logano exulted after the race. “We’re here. The L.A. Coliseum. We got the victory with the old Shell/Pennzoil Mustang. This is an amazing event. Congratulations, NASCAR. Such a huge step in our industry to be able to do this, put on an amazing race for everybody.
“I’m out of breath. I was so excited about this. This is a big win. My wife is having a baby tomorrow, our third one, so a pretty big weekend for us.”
It was an exhibition race—but what an exhibition. Rapper Pitbull, who co-owns Trackhouse Racing with Justin Marks, warmed up the crowd with a 45-minute set before the green flag. At the halfway break in the 150-lap event, crews changed tires and made adjustments to the Next Gen cars as rapper Ice Cube filled the Coliseum with loud, rhythmic music.
A pantheon of California sports stars—among them former Southern Cal tailback Reggie Bush and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts—joined NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon in a corps of grand marshals and shouted the command to start engines.
The race itself crystallized into a battle between Logano, Busch, Larson and Austin Dillon. After the final restart, Larson briefly took second from Busch, who regained the spot with more than 20 laps left and charged after Logano.
“I was being perfect doing everything I needed to do—keep the tires underneath me,” said Busch, who led a race-high. “When I got close, I was like, ‘OK, I’ve got to try more and pounce at an opportunity,’ and just overheated the tires and smoked them in three laps and that was it. Disappointing, obviously.
“Come out here and win the pole, and lead laps, run up front. The finish goes green and it’s not chaotic and we can’t win, so it sucks. Congratulations to my son (Brexton Busch) – he won yesterday. That’s cool. I was trying to match him. He’s winning more than me these days, so somebody better send him a contract.”
Dillon passed Larson to finish third, and Erik Jones ran fourth after overtaking the reigning Cup Series champion in the closing laps. Larson held fifth, as William Byron, Cole Custer, Christopher Bell, AJ Allmendinger and Kevin Harvick completed the top 10.
Busch earned the pole position for the main event with a wire-to-wire victory in Sunday’s first heat race, with Daniel Suarez, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Blaney joining him in the Clash as the second-, third- and fourth-place finishers.
Blaney used his bumper to shove past Denny Hamlin to claim the final transfer spot from the opening heat.
In fact, drivers who started first won all four heat races, with no one else leading a lap. Tyler Reddick dominated Heat 2—winning by a full straightaway—as Chase Briscoe, Dillon and Custer qualified behind him.
Driving for Kaulig Racing’s newly minted NASCAR Cup Series team, Haley took the third heat, with Byron, Bell and Chase Elliott joining him in the main event. In Heat 4, Logano and Larson ran 1-2, with defending Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell and Jones taking the final two transfer positions.
Hamlin made the Clash by winning the first of two Last Chance Qualifiers, with Harvick and Allmendinger finishing second and third to advance.
If the first LCQ was relatively tame by short-track standards, the second was utter chaos. After hitting everything but the lottery, as FOX broadcaster Mike Joy put it, Ty Dillon took the checkered flag but was demoted to the rear for jumping the final restart with three of the 50 laps left.
That gave Ryan Preece the race win and the final two transfer spots to Bubba Wallace and Harrison Burton, who was spun while leading on Lap 47.
The second LCQ featured seven cautions and saw strong contenders Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman eliminated when their cars sustained irreparable damage.
The NASCAR Cup Series will return to action February 15-20 at Daytona International Speedway.
NASCAR Cup Series Race – Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Los Angeles, California
Sunday, February 6, 2022
1. (4) Joey Logano, Ford, 150.
2. (1) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 150.
3. (10) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 150.
4. (16) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 150.
5. (8) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 150.
6. (7) William Byron, Chevrolet, 150.
7. (14) Cole Custer, Ford, 150.
8. (11) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 150.
9. (21) AJ Allmendinger(i), Chevrolet, 150.
10. (19) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 150.
11. (15) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 150.
12. (22) Harrison Burton #, Ford, 150.
13. (9) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 150.
14. (5) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 150.
15. (23) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 149.
16. (12) Michael McDowell, Ford, 149.
17. (13) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 147.
18. (20) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 146.
19. (3) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, Accident, 116.
20. (18) Ryan Preece, Ford, Oil Pressure, 75.
21. (2) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, Drivetrain, 53.
22. (6) Chase Briscoe, Ford, Drivetrain, 53.
23. (17) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Power Steering, 52.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 39.029 mph.
Time of Race: 0 Hrs, 57 Mins, 39 Secs. Margin of Victory: .877 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 5 for 0 laps.
Lead Changes: 5 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: T. Reddick 1;K. Busch 2-3;T. Reddick 4-53;K. Busch 54-115;J. Logano 116-150.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Busch 2 times for 64 laps; Tyler Reddick 2 times for 51 laps; Joey Logano 1 time for 35 laps.
What a fantastic event from start to finish. I think it went better than even anyone in NASCAR could have expected. Hope the 2023 and 2024 option is already picked up by NASCAR.
It will be very interesting to see what other venues they can shoehorn this into. Especially overseas.
Great to see a Ct native win, The race sure beat watching a 1.5 mile snooze fest,,dunno what Nascars thinkin runnin transaxle trannys tho, Oh well,
Both reddick and briscoe apparently broke the disk that connected the drive shaft to the transaxle when they were doing burnouts to clean the tires. It was not a major internal failure, and there doesn’t seem to be much concern about it being a reoccurring problem at a normal track. Should also be relatively easy to revise the part down the line.
(https://twitter.com/BoziTatarevic/status/1490521912195391491)
I didn’t see the pass for the win during the feature ….. I don’t think they ever showed it?
People came for the show, and politely watched some of the racing.
That was some pretty good short short-track racing.
It was very exciting to see Preece get himself into the big show. His short track experience showed.
The place was empty for the heats and qualification races. Didn’t look good on TV, but the Coliseum filled in to see PitBull and Ice Cube.
Now to address stage racing… keep the Stage incentives, but DO NOT STOP THE RACING. No more breaks. Race right through the stage gate, keep going.
Talk about culture shock. Never in the history of NASCAR has there been a lower percentage of white folks in the crowd.
This calls for a poll doesn’t it? Was it good or not? I thought it was terrific but I was positive about it going in. Preece’s miracle finish in the second LCQ race the cherry on top.
The interview with Kurt Busch… was he really complaining about not getting paid for this exhibition event????
Maybe I didn’t hear it correctly, but it seemed he had to bring up, more than once, that he wasn’t getting paid to be there.
Dareal;
Thats an interesting tweak to the stage format. I hear all the naysayers now though, probably talking about the fields getting too spread out again, and losing the “exciting” restarts. With the new composite bodies, there should be less cautions due to the tire “rubs” and eventual failures. At least, thats what we have been led to believe from Nascar. There was a lot of rubbing and leaning on each other yesterday in that bull ring, and Unless I missed it, no cut tires due to fender rubs,,as well as the new lower profile tire. I guess my point is, you may need the stage breaks if there are way less cautions, or risk a lot more snooze fests. However, I like your thought of racing through, because in my opinion, that would reward more consistent teams, particularly when teams hit the setups early on. Interesting.
Track to small for those cars, Legends or NEMA or TQ’s Would have put on a better show
New Smryna Would be a better choice, Put in with the speedweeks
Bobf, it doesn’t look good, and results in minimal racing when the field gets spread out, but it gets spread out because of a lack of parity. NASCAR needs to do a better job of policing and enforcing rules. Hair trigger finger on the yellow flag is not the solution to achieve close racing. These are effectively SPEC cars now, with almost SPEC engines (NASCAR controls the engine computers). Some engines are still more equal than others. Kinda like the bigger half. Granted, setups are crucial and those that hit them do better, but the disparity in horsepower is still very obvious. Look at Kyle Busch and how bad he struggled with no/little practice with the COVID restrictions. I think NASCAR should go to a run-what-you-brung event, meaning little to no practice time, then go racing, no intermissions to make adjustments. All adjustments have to be made during hot stops, or legit causations due to on-track incidents. I found it to be far more interesting and intriguing when there were no/minimal practices. Perhaps NASCAR should impose a lap limit or fuel limit for the event that would then limit these absurdly long practice sessions that could be many, many laps. Liken it to when NASCAR *finally* got rid of the qualifying motors. It was absurd to have an engine that was built to do no more than the qualifying laps, and then change out for the race engine.
The Reg,
So I understand why race fans, especially those who are both Cup fans and short track fans, would have wanted to see something like that. Since the event was announced a lot of people asked why NASCAR didn’t go find a traditional short track to host this event. So here’s the thing, this event was created to get new eyeballs on the sport. The goal was to get new fans watching in the seats and on TV. If you had done this at New Smyrna or Bowman Gray Stadium or Five Flags Speedway all you would have been doing is playing to most of the same fanbase that would have watched or attended the old Clash at Daytona. I think the ratings will end up showing people watched this. If NASCAR came out and said They were going to have a Cup Series race at Bowman Gray Stadium or New Smyrna, most people who have never had interest in the sport would have tuned in. To those people, Bowman Gray or New Smryna means nothing. But LA Coliseum, that’s a different story. This event was not created to appease the fanbase, it was created to attract people who have never watched the sport. And all that said, there just isnt’ enough grandstand space at most short tracks for what would be needed for an event like this.
When they announced Pit Bull, mis -heard it as Pitiful, wasnt far off,
“I found it to be far more interesting and intriguing when there were no/minimal practices. Perhaps NASCAR should impose a lap limit or fuel limit for the event that would then limit these absurdly long practice sessions that could be many, many laps.”
Tell me you have no idea what NASCAR is doing this year without telling me you have no idea what they are doing.
NASCAR will have split 15 or 20-minute practice sessions at almost every race this year. And then straight into qualifying. No major adjustments allowed. Cant take the under wing off. Cant have all 4 tires off, don’t think you can even take a shock off. talladega 1/2 and Daytona 2 won’t even have practice at all.
Only races that have an extended practice is the Daytona 500, Atlanta 1 (new config) Bristol dirt, gateway (new track), Nashville, and the championship weekend.
not sure how any of that can be considered absurdly long
I Know This Shawn, I’m All For Diversity. There Are No Local Tracks In California near L A? 65 MPH Is The State Highway Speed Limit. Not A Race Track. It Reminded Me Of That Awful Modified Race A Few Years Back With The “Yeah Right” Comment.
Dareal, hard to argue with any if those points you made. But the biggest factor in lack of parity, in my opinion, is the money side if it. For years, its always been money buys speed. As absurdly expensive as it is at those levels, parity is a scarce thing to find. True, you have to have it all, its tough to win, but yeah, its about the top 4-5 organizations. Im also starting to think that it appears Haas is getting close to being off that parity bubble. While certainly anyone would be thrilled to get a ride with that organization, their wins are getting harder to come by in the last few years.
Doug, was great to see Preece get in, but Im not sure he does, if that lcq wasn’t such an attrition fest. I was pretty tough on my assessment of Rick Ware equipment, affiliations or not, and I still feel the same way. But at least Ryan is still up in cup, somewhat anyways.
Bobf, agree completely. Speed costs $$$, how fast do you want to go? I think Stewart-Haas buys engines, so it looks like they are not getting the better stuff anymore. The teams that usually do the best are the teams with their own engine shops. Those that buy power are at a HUGE disadvantage. HUGE. They all run the same chassis and bodies now. The only real differentiators are engines and weight, shock, spring setup, and at that, whatever leeway is left after all the NASCAR rules. Or that could be called the grey area.
Anybody know to what degree does NASCAR control the valve train, as in camshaft, rocker arms, valve sizing, etc.? Are these bits all SPEC?
It was a rather good size crowd for the race. They should have showed up earlier for the heats and LCQs. Looking at the shots of the fans, it was definitely a different kind of demographic than the typical Confederate flag loving, sot-like, slovenly folk you’d see at Alabama, North/South Carolina and other swampy locations. The people at the LA Coliseum were very well groomed, a sight to behold.
I think NASCAR finally gets it… this was a fantastically promoted event. And look at the results. I don’t know what the TV audience was, but the crowd was pretty good. I think it may have surprised many. I have been saying for years that NASCAR never had to promote their product for it sold itself after that sensational infield fight decades ago, and how that good fortune ran out of steam. But now, with so much competition for entertainment mindshare, promotion is crucial to just keep people aware of your existence. Perhaps this is the beginning of a NASCAR Phoenix rising from the ashes. Promotion and exposure is crucial, and outlets like this website are a HUGE part of that.
Ryan Preece was announced by Tony Stewart as His designated Driver for the 2022 Season …. He said it on the Fox Broadcast….. Did anyone else pick up on that ??? I think I was correct on the Transaxle being a weak link , or the disc on shafts need to be much much stronger …
It’s pretty safe to say that the folks frequenting this site are for the most part racing traditionalists. If that’s true it follows that we may be less likely to keep and open mind about the event yesterday that was nothing like we’ve ever seen before in any respect.
The level may be debated but there is little question it was a success and accomplished the purpose for which it was designed.
How many of us have made it a point to watch the Clash in the past. Not many I’d bet. Betcha it was a far greater percentage yesterday.
@dreal
14.7.1.9
CAMSHAFT
A
Any roller lift camshaft will be permitted.
B
The camshaft must be constructed of magnetic steel.
C
The camshaft bearing journal must be a maximum of 2.363 inches (60.0 mm).
D
The camshaft must be driven in the same direction of rotation as the standard production engine crankshaft.
E
The camshaft must maintain the same firing order as the standard production engine.
F
The engine firing order (using the cylinder identification sequence) must comply with: Table 14.7.1.9.f Engine Firing Orders
14.7.1.10
VALVETRAIN
A
Valve actuation must be limited to one lifter, one push rod and one rocker arm per valve.
B
Any type of mechanical assistance exerting a force to assist in closing the valve (a.k.a. rev-kits), will not be permitted.
14.7.1.10.3
ROCKER ARMS
A
Rocker arms must be constructed of steel or aluminum.
B
Only one rocker arm per valve will be permitted.
14.7.1.10.4
VALVES
A
Intake and exhaust valves must be constructed of stainless steel or an approved titanium alloy. Only titanium alloys with a compositional makeup that contains at least 80% titanium and less than 7% aluminum, by weight, will be permitted.
B
Intake valves must have a minimum weight of 70.0 grams.
C
Exhaust valves must have a minimum weight of 60.0 grams.
D
Valve stems must have a minimum outside diameter of 0.234 inch (5.95 mm).
E
Only solid valve stems will be permitted for valve stems with an outside diameter less than 0.274 inch (6.95 mm).
F
Hollow stem valves will be permitted if the valve stem outside diameter is 0.274 inch (6.95 mm) or more and the inside diameter remains constant.
14.7.1.10.1
ROLLER VALVE LIFTERS
PARTS DATABASE:
Roller Valve Lifters
A
Only NASCAR-approved roller valve lifters, listed in the NASCAR Parts Database, will be permitted.
B
The roller valve lifter body, wheel, and wheel axle must be constructed of magnetic steel.
C
The roller valve lifter assembly must have a minimum bare weight of 90.0 grams. The bare weight includes the removable push rod seats.
D
The roller valve lifter must have a maximum diameter of 0.940 inch.
E
Only roller valve lifters with needle bearings will be permitted.
F
The distance from the tip of the roller valve lifter wheel to the top of the roller valve lifter body must be a maximum of 2.400 inches.
G
The roller valve lifter wheel must be circular shaped with a maximum diameter of 0.855 inch.
H
Elliptical roller valve lifter wheel shapes will not be permitted.
I
The roller valve lifter wheel must rotate freely for 360° of rotation about the axle centerline. Fixed or stationary roller valve lifter wheels will not be permitted.
J
The roller valve lifter body must be circular shaped.
K
Roller valve lifter push rod seats may be integral to the part (machined or pressed in place) or removable.
L
Removable push rod seats must be constructed of magnetic steel.
M
The roller valve lifter sleeve must be pressed or fastened to the engine block valve lifter bore in a manner that allows the roller valve lifter to be removed independently from the roller valve lifter sleeve.
N
The roller valve lifter design must allow the installation and removal of the roller valve lifter from the valley side of the engine without requiring any other components to be removed.
O
Coatings will be permitted on the roller valve lifter.
P
Key, dog-bone, and wheel groove anti-rotation strategies will be permitted.
Q
When a key anti-rotation strategy is used, the key must be part of the roller valve lifter assembly and the receiving groove or slot for the key must be in the valve lifter sleeve or lifter bore.
R
When a wheel groove anti-rotation strategy is used, the groove diameter must be a maximum of 0.940 inch.
S
Roller valve lifters must conform to the following
Suitcase.
I heard tony say that as well yesterday.
On another note, my perspective for the coliseum. And I know, nobody asked, but I did have a few observations in my mind.
To me, its funny how a lot of nascar top tier dissenters, have bemoaned the cookie cutter tracks for years now, and clamored for the “old days” of close quarters and storied venues, ala north wilksboro et al, and nascar does a wildly “new thing”, and runs a nationally televised and highly promoted race, on a bull ring. Wow! Out of the box thinking! True what they say, whats old is new, and purists of the sport i would guess, love it. Am I the only one that finds that mildly ironic?
I think back when cup was growing leaps and bounds, and the small venues were being squeezed out, venues that were the cup’s bastions for years. Tracks like California were built, (bigger was better) and all the who’s who, showed up for the first couple of years for their photo op. (And yet a small venue like Bristol regularly sold out at 160,000 +. – fan seating) And then when the shine wore off in California for the who’s who…
I couldn’t help but think of that yesterday.
Yes, there is an image change afoot, and nascar is trying to appeal to a new audience to grow the sport. In my opinion, for all the money, time, effort, the place should have been sold out. 75% I believe it was. The hype was through the roof, and im not sure how many fans were there for the “concerts”, the star appeal, or the racing. True, nationally televised, and maybe a boatload of people watched it on line.
I give Nascar credit for investing in this, to promote all the aspects of auto racing. Nothing ventured nothing gained. But How many “new fans” it won over, will remain to be seen.
In the meantime, this fan looks forward to next years clash, the duels, and the 500, like I’ve done for countless of years, no matter where they are held. Traditionalist? Maybe. Or maybe a fan of a sport that just doesn’t appeal to everybody. Doug, I hope you are right, and it converted a bunch of new fans. Jmo.
I Watch The Clash Every Year Since The First Year It Started. It’s The First Race Of The Year After A 3 Month Layoff. It Doesn’t Matter What Track They Are Racing For Me. It’s Not Racing If Nobody Is Passing! We Wanted To See The Car New Race, And We Didn’t. Maybe The Stands Are Not As Full Anymore Because Of Ticket Prices. My Loudon Tickets Are $120.00 A Piece. Maybe NASCAR Needs To Think About That Also. Use Stafford And Thompson As A Example Of NASCAR’S Greed!
Did I say that? That the race “ converted a bunch of new fans”. Why no I didn’t say that at all I said the event was a success. The reviews are in and for the most part are pretty, pretty, pretty……..pretty, pretty darn good. I’m speaking about the visuals and execution and meeting the goal of exposing CUP racing to a new audience. Generating news fans is a longer term goal of which this was only the first step.
Let’s take a look back at the last few years to see what kind of reactions the Busch Clash has had from the readers of RaceDayCt.
2/10/19
Jimmie Johnson Wins Rain-Shortened Clash At Daytona After Massive Wreck
1 comment from Elect
“Pretty boring race ,single file inside lane couldn’t do anything, must be a new package by Nascar to make racing better, could even make the Lt late models at Stafford look good”
2020-won by Erik Jones. I could find no article on RaceDayCt reporting the result just one in March talking about the move to a road course in 2021.
2/9/21
Wild Ride: Kyle Busch Wins Cup Series Busch Clash At Daytona
Zero comments.
Judging from the completely unofficial RaceDayCT enthusiasm meter that’s a total of 1 comment on the Busch Clash results over the last three years and it was not flattering. Compared to 24 comments by 9 different people not including the moderator nor this one for the Clash at the Coliseum and it hasn’t been 48 since the event. Not just more comments but interesting insights.
Sure sure you’ve watched the Busch Clash every year forever. If you say so. But did any of them cause any kind of meaningful reaction here? That would be a resounding no.
I keep searching for TV ratings but they are not out yet. That’s the real test. . Last three years on FS1 they have been 2.294 in 2019, 2.455 in 2020 and 1.5 million in 2021. That’s a pretty low bar especially last year.
The Reg, stop being a Drama Queen. Get a new box of corn flakes.
If you are still paying $120/ea for Loudon tickets, you are an idiot. It’s your own fault, you are your own victim. The track pushed tickets as low as $29/ea the last few years. The place isn’t full at all.
Just Me – The Original… thanks for that. So there is still plenty of leeway that an engine shop can do to squeeze out another pony even though the engine is managed by a computer controlled by NASCAR. Soooooo, organizations with their own in-house engine shops have a HUGE advantage, and they are definitely NOT going to be selling their best engines to teams that buy their power. The best engines stay with the home team. Look at Hendricks… they were the weak team until a year or so ago, and all of a sudden they are back as the power team with all cars usually at the front. I bet the engine shop “found something”. Given the rest of the rules and controls, the valve train is the last frontier.
Bobf, I second your emotion, great perspective. The pre-season Clash never attracted attention. I never paid any attention to it, it was boring. The place was EMPTY all those years. This year, it was intriguing and I’m glad I made the effort to watch it. I started from the first heat, it was interesting. NASCAR finally gets it, THEY HAVE TO PROMOTE, and at the conclusion, even Tony Stewart made comments to the same effect. Promotion is crucial. It would help if NASCAR were to figure out why and how they lost their base which resulted in the stands being empty the last couple decades.
NASCAR Cup racing was it’s best when the cars were like Super Late Models, and there was competition. Since there has been meddling, none of it worked, the competition has gone away, and yellow flags and mysterious cautions are called to bunch the cars up.
Let’s see how this version of the COT works out.
Really, Da Idiot Fella! What The HELL Does Politics Have To Do With Racing. At Least I Stick To The Topic! This Is RaceDayCT Not Covid Or Politics Day Ct!!! AT LEAST I GO TO THE TRACK !! MUST BE NICE TO BE RETIRED AND TALK THRU A COMPUTER ALL DAY!! WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID TO LEAVE YOUR HOUSE TOO? I MIGHT NOT BE A LAWYER BUT, I’M NOT AN IDIOT!! OR AFRAID OF MY OWN SHADOW!
Reg, COVID has and probably will continue to impact the public and way of life for a while. About 2,500 Americans have been dying everyday for the last few weeks because of COVID. Sporting events are impacted by COVID. Racing has been and is impacted by COVID. Hence, it is reasonable to discuss it on a racing site where events we are interested in and might attend are impacted. Ultimately, the moderator has the final say in that and appears to have allowed the In a couple weeks, the American death toll due to COVID will reach one million, that looks like 1,000,000.
Do you know why people are wearing masks? 😷
I’m not afraid of going outside. I’m afraid of being around idiots because they are a risk.
I go to the track, when it is safe to do so.
Hey, is someone on your lawn?
🙃😝
I enjoyed the race. I watched all day. I can say I had seen more of this Clash than the last 5 clashes combined. It was an event. It attracted a new more diverse audience which Nascar wanted given the musical acts invited. They had a DJ blaring music all day, they had a prerace concert and a halftime concert I think this is the formula to get a younger crowd into racing. Lord knows they dont have the same attachment to the automobile that the older generation has. I know some of the big Formula 1 races have concerts which coincide with the race. Formula 1 popularity is gaining in the US thanks mostly to the Netflix show. There are two F1 races in the US this year. I dont think you get the same spectacle if you held this race at an already built quarter mile track. I think one of these a year is a good idea. Look at the NHL they have that outdoor game. It draws a ton of interest. It is an event much more so than any other regular season game. This year it was in MN played at night in 10 degree weather and still had a heck of a crowd. Its an event you dont want to miss which will be at Fenway next year..I follow a Nascar Youtuber who went to the race and he talked to several people in the crowd. Most were at a Nascar race for the first time, everyone said they enjoyed the show. i applaud Nascar for trying something different, Doug makes a good point. Just look at the interest on this website for the Clash. It went from nothing to a whole lot of something on these forums. I think it was a win for Nascar.
Doug;
You are correct. You never posted that.
Therefore, I do owe you an apology for my post of “ Doug, I hope you are right, and it converted a bunch of new fans”. My apologies for that statement above. That wasn’t right on my part. Sorry. I need to do better than that. B
Numbers are in. Depending on the source they’re between 3.5 million and 4.3 viewers. Fox seems to be happy about it.
For those that see some kind of violation of racing purity by having entertainment a part of the show. Back in the 1980’s Stafford had the thrill show and a carnival in the parking lot every year and there is still fireworks. If anything local tracks may want to experiment with bringing in non traditional entertainment like NASCAR did. It is a show after all.