First NASCAR race on a quarter-mile oval in over 50 years: Joey Logano wins at the Clash at L.A.’s Olympic Stadium – Various defects in Gen7 debut
The first race of the new NASCAR era is history. Although it was not yet an overall NASCAR Cup Series 2022 race, but the non-points scoring “Clash” invitational race, it was still the racing debut of NASCAR’s brand new car, the Gen7 or Next Gen car.
The venue for the historic race was an equally historic one. For the first time, the race was held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. For this purpose, asphalt pavement was laid inside the stadium, which will host the next but one Summer Olympics in 2028.
The result is an oval with a length of 0.25 miles (402 metres), which is temporarily located above the actual stadium floor. It is not only the shortest NASCAR track since 1971, but also the one with the tightest curve radius. The action was correspondingly rustic at times in front of more than 50,000 spectators.
150 laps with 23 brand new cars in the Olympic Stadium
For the main race, Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum, 23 of the 36 NASCAR drivers who arrived had qualified based on this year’s Clash format. These 23 drivers tackled the 150-lap race distance in their brand new cars shortly after 15:30 local time in Los Angeles (00:30 CET).
Apart from a planned interruption that divided the race into two segments after 75 laps to allow for tyre changes and modifications to the car on the one hand and a halftime show with rapper Ice Cube on the other, there were “only” four yellow phases. Although overtaking on the ultra-short oval was extremely difficult and almost impossible without contact, the crashfest feared by some in the run-up did not occur.
In the end, Joey Logano (Penske-Ford) prevailed over Kyle Busch (Gibbs-Toyota), who had started from pole. When there was a lengthy green flag run in the closing stages, Logano’s Ford Mustang had the visibly better drive out of the tight corners than Busch’s Toyota Camry.
“I can’t believe we’re here at the L.A. Coliseum and we won. This is an unbelievable event,” Logano cheered after his win, sending out “congratulations to NASCAR for taking this huge step in our industry. ”
Polesetter Kyle Busch finished a close second after leading 64 laps. “I was struggling with the tyres at the end. They overheated too much,” was the explanation from the Gibbs driver, who had won the 2012 and 2021 Clash at the previous two tracks (Daytona oval and Daytona circuit).
Austin Dillon (Childress-Chevrolet), Erik Jones (Petty/GMS-Chevrolet) and last year’s champion Kyle Larson (Hendrick-Chevrolet) completed the top 5. Rounding out the top 10 were William Byron (Hendrick-Chevrolet), Cole Custer (Stewart/Haas-Ford), Christopher Bell (Gibbs-Toyota), A.J. Allmendinger (Kaulig-Chevrolet) and Kevin Harvick (Stewart/Haas-Ford).
Martin Truex Jr (Gibbs-Toyota) only reached the 23-car field via the so-called “provisional” because he finished the 2021 season as the runner-up. In the race, however, Truex Jr. didn’t quite make it from the very back. He saw the chequered flag in P15.
Numerous defects in debut of next-gen car
A total of 18 of the 23 cars that started finished. Tyler Reddick (Childress-Chevrolet) had to retire in the lead with a defect in the transmission. Denny Hamlin (Gibbs-Toyota) retired with a defective power steering. Ryan Preece (Ware-Ford) retired with brake problems.
Chase Briscoe (Stewart/Haas-Ford) was stranded with gearbox problems. He was one of the few who did not drive the short oval completely in the second of five gears. Instead, Briscoe regularly downshifted to first gear before the corners.
Apart from the various defects, Justin Haley (Kaulig Chevrolet) was sent into the wall by Kyle Larson and had to retire with damaged front suspension. Ryan Blaney (Penske-Ford) lost several laps with damaged rear suspension after a rustic duel with Erik Jones, but ultimately finished.
Six heats: Keselowski, Kurt Busch & Co. sifted out
The main race was preceded at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum by free practice and pre-qualifying (both on Saturday) and a total of six heats. The heats served to reduce the original 36-strong field to the 23 for the actual Clash.
The six heats – four heat races of 25 laps each and two so-called last-chance qualifiers of 50 laps each – took place on Sunday before the main race and resulted in the starting grid. Kyle Busch won the first heat race to take the clash pole. Wins in the three other heat races, and thus grid positions two to four in the main race, went to Tyler Reddick, Justin Haley and Joey Logano.
Among the 13 drivers who ultimately missed out on making the 23-strong grid for the main race were former champions Brad Keselowski (RFK-Ford) and Kurt Busch (23XI-Toyota), each in their first outing after a winter team change.
In addition to Keselowski and Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman (Hendrick-Chevrolet), Austin Cindric (Penske-Ford), Aric Almirola (Stewart/Haas-Ford), Ross Chastain (Trackhouse-Chevrolet), Chris Buescher (RFK-Ford), Todd Gilliland (Front-Row-Ford), Corey LaJoie and Landon Cassill (both Spire-Chevrolet), Cody Ware (Ware-Ford), B. J. McLeod (Live-Fast-Ford) and, after a penalty (jump-start in the final pre-run), Ty Dillon (Petty/GMS-Chevrolet) also participated in the successful qualifying for the point-less start to the new NASCAR year.
What’s next for NASCAR Clash?
The 2022 edition of the Clash was the first NASCAR race on a quarter-mile oval since the introduction of the “Modern Era” in 1972. Prior to that, the last time there had been a NASCAR race on such a short track was August 6, 1971. It took place at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem (North Carolina) and was won by Bobby Allison.
It has not yet been decided whether the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will also be the venue for the pointless opener to the new NASCAR season in 2023. In principle, NASCAR can imagine further stadium races, possibly also outside the USA. A race on a street circuit is not ruled out for the medium term.
The first points race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup season will take place on 20 February in the form of the Daytona 500.
