From Next Gen to new feuds, what we learned from NASCAR’s Clash at the L.A. Coliseum
Even before the annual spectacle that is the Daytona 500, NASCAR opened its season with a bang. For the first time, the exhibition Clash race was held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on a quarter-mile track.
It was a shift from NASCAR’s traditional preseason teaser that has typically been held at Daytona International Speedway. The race also marked the competitive debut of what’s been touted as the industry’s revolutionizing Next Gen car.
Here’s what we learned from the race.
Next Gen is durable, but teams working through ‘bugs’
NASCAR completed more than 20 tests for its Next Gen car between the project’s inception in 2019 and its debut in competition for the Clash, but the refining process for the new car will continue throughout the year, especially early in the season.
Denny Hamlin exited the Clash main event early due to a power steering issue. He said that the power-steering drive belt came off in his No. 11 Toyota and took a hose with it.
“So I didn’t have any steering ability,” Hamlin said on Fox. “This is something probably you’ll see a lot of here, is just fixing all the bugs that are gonna happen.”
Tyler Reddick led early laps in the race, but said he thought he broke his transaxle trying to get some heat in his tires. He attributed the issue directly to what he was doing in his car rather than an unexplained malfunction, but it still highlighted how drivers are also getting used to new machine.
The next test for the car will come on a bigger stage with the stakes raised at the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20, when the season officially kicks off, so there’s only so much that can be gleaned from the vastly different Clash track. A promising sign, however, was that the cars showed durability.
As Tony Stewart noted on the Fox broadcast during the Last Chance Qualifier portion of the events, “What I like about these composite bodies is that the nose isn’t ripped off, the tail isn’t ripped off. They still have something to battle with.”
Ryan Blaney, for example, was able to return to the race after his No. 12 Ford was damaged following a run-in with Erik Jones. And speaking of that run-in ...
New rivalries forming?
The Blaney-Jones situation probably produced the most surprising moment of the race. After the contact, Blaney exited his car and proceeded to throw his HANS device at Jones in the No. 43 Chevrolet.
“He wants to destroy me for seventh. It don’t really make no sense,” a visibly frustrated Blaney said on Fox. “I don’t know. Just kinda riding around, killed our car.”
Blaney, however, returned to his car and finished the race, placing 17th of the 23 cars running. Jones finished fourth behind race winner Joey Logano, and Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon.
Jones responded to the Blaney incident following the race, explaining that Blaney brake-checked him earlier.
“I didn’t appreciate that and felt like I showed it on the track,” Jones said. “So, you know, we have a conversation. It’s an exhibition race and we’re out here doing what we can, and I was frustrated with the move that he made, so that’s what happened.”
Even though it’s an exhibition race, drivers tend not to forget when they feel someone is owed, and only time will tell whether that situation is mended or continues to percolate with points on the line.
NASCAR provided the L.A. party
Ice Cube said it best: “’Aint no party like an L.A. party ‘cus an L.A. party don’t stop.”
That’s what the Clash looked like. It was a party at a racetrack, complete with a halftime performance by Ice Cube and numerous celebrity appearances. NASCAR’s chief racing development officer Steve O’Donnell described it as “fun.” There were dancing fans and smiling drivers.
“This event delivered,” he said. “I think it delivered on that. You saw it in the drivers, the industry, saw it with a lot of folks in the media. I think a lot of folks had fun.”
Logano said he sat in the stands to watch the last chance qualifier rounds and that the crowd was louder than the engines. There were wrecks during the race, but it wasn’t the wreck-fest many anticipated. Logano noted that it “could’ve gone awful.”
“It went great out there,” he said. “ ... The main event had some longer runs, had some short runs, had some very intense moments throughout it. I thought that really showed that we can put a race on in a stadium like this in the L.A. Coliseum, one of the most historical locations we can possibly go to.”
Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s senior vice president of strategy and innovation, who was responsible for the idea behind the race, said that NASCAR’s executive team would do an in-depth review of the event, but it was largely seen as a success. Does that mean it’ll happen again?
NBC Sports previously reported that NASCAR’s agreement with the University of Southern California, which operates the venue, includes an option to return next year and in 2024.
“The Coliseum, USC, have been tremendous partners,” Kennedy said. “That will be certainly an important part as we think about this. If we can prove this out, a proof of concept, it does open the door to other locations in the future.”
For now, NASCAR will have to remain content with getting through one major wait-and-see event.
“This makes it pretty special to say we’ve been able to come here and race, but even better, to win in this stadium,” Logano said. “Not many people can say they did it. I don’t think anyone can say they did it in a race car before.”
This story was originally published February 6, 2022 at 10:03 PM.
