Busch Light Clash will run again Feb. 5, 2023—after that, who knows?
Allen J. SchabenGetty Images- The non-points race Feb. 5 likely will use the same format as this year: 25-lap heat races and “last chance” runs to decide who gets into the 150-lap main.
- The track will be a quarter mile around again, and crews will pave the infield and install barriers and catch fence. The first several rows of seats will remain empty for safety reasons, allowing for about 60,000 fans.
- The new venue came about after attendance at the Busch Clash at Daytona Superspeedway was dwindling, as it has been at many of NASCAR’s larger tracks.
By most accounts, especially the official NASCAR account, February’s Busch Light Clash at the LA Memorial Coliseum was a whopper of a success. So they’re doing it again.
“We’re bringing the Clash back in 2023 because, I mean, it was such a great event this year,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s senior vice president of racing development and strategy. “We saw some great racing on the track, Pit Bull brought a ton of energy during his pre-race show, Ice Cube at the halftime show—we want to continue to elevate that as we think about 2023. We’re really excited to be going back there next season.”
The non-points race, won by Joey Logano last February, will be held Feb. 5 in what is likely to be much the same format as this year. There will be 25-lap heat races and “last chance” runs to decide who gets into the 150-lap main, and there will be lots of entertainment, though specifically what entertainment is still not decided.
“I think (fans) can expect a very similar experience to what we had in 2022,” said Kennedy. “We’ll have all of our drivers and teams come—we’ll certainly have a lot of entertainment throughout the day. What that exactly looks like we’re not entirely sure yet. But a lot of creative thinking (has gone into it) so far—about additional content and ways we can make it unique for a lot of people that are both coming to the LA Coliseum as well as those tuning in on TV.”
The Busch Clash at the LA Coliseum was a hit, so NASCAR is doing it again Feb. 5, 2023.
Jared C. TiltonGetty Images
The track will be a quarter mile around again because there is absolutely no more room than that inside the storied Coliseum, site of two Olympic games, a World Series, professional and college football, and at least one visit each by The Pope and the Rolling Stones. Similar race tracks were set up for midget races in the Coliseum in the 1940s.
For this modern race, crews will pave the infield and install barriers and catch fence. Just as at Monster Truck events, which have also been held here, the first several rows of seats will remain empty for safety reasons. That reduces the total number of seats in the venue and changes capacity from 93,000 to around 60,000. There were 55,000 paying fans at the February Clash, according to reports.
The new venue came about after attendance at the Busch Clash at Daytona Superspeedway was dwindling, as it has been at many of NASCAR’s larger tracks. Nearby Auto Club Speedway, a 2.5-mile oval 55 miles east in Fontana, dwindled to the point that it was announced two years ago the facility would be reduced in size by two miles, making it a half-mile oval. That change has not come yet but as of this year’s Cup race at the Fontana Facility it was still supposed to happen.
Is the future of NASCAR going to be on short tracks? Road courses? Street circuits? Who knows? But everyone seemed to have a great time at last year’s Busch Clash in the LA Coliseum.
“I don’t know if I thought it would take off like this. Certainly when we announced it there were a lot of questions. We had never built a temporary track inside a stadium before and we didn’t know what a quarter-mile race track would produce from a racing product perspective. Thankfully we were able to prove that out. We saw some great racing through the heat races, the last chance race, the main event. Certainly the racing didn’t disappoint.”
And good racing may be all that’s necessary.
“Round two, in my opinion, (will be) just as exciting. We had a huge crowd this year. I think we’re going to have an even bigger crowd as we think about 2023. Just the amount of excitement and people saying they want to come back for another year was a big reason for us making this decision to come back. I think, frankly, a lot of people that may have not gone (in 2022) will probably want to go (in 2023).”
Keyword: NASCAR Clash Returning to LA Coliseum in 2023