 Sunday Night's Busch light Clash in LA seems to have gotten far more love that last years. A lack of parts shortages and a better understanding of the GEN 7 race encouraged far more beating and banging. It also encouraged a little more aggression on track as seen with Allmendinger in practice and far more through the Heats, LCQs and Main event.
Here are the key moments that stuck out to me from Sunday's Clash at the LA Coliseum. The Good Toyotas The Toyotas came to LA to play, that's for sure. Out of 150 laps, the TRD bunch led nearly 2/3s of the event with a combined 91 laps led between Hamlin, Wallace and winner Martin Truex Jr. Each of these cars seemed to be able to drive right up through traffic with relative ease with Hamlin being the poster child. Could we see the return of TRD performance at short tracks in 2023? This would lead me to believe so. Ryan Preece Ryan Preece made his first full-time return appearance to the Cup Series Sunday in Stewart-Haas's #41 Mustang. Leading a race high 43 laps, Preece stood behind his New England short track prowess and likely could have had a shot to win the event if it were not for a fuel pump issue costing him spots. He finished P7 after a very impressive run. Bubba Wallace Wallace led the second most laps of any driver in the event at 40 after bumping car owner and TRD teammate Denny Hamlin early in the race. Wallace truly showed just how good he is becoming on short tracks with his smooth handling of the wheel and the ease he was able to maneuver lapped traffic in the 1/4 Coliseum. He was dumped by Austin Dillon in the second half and his 22nd place finish was in no way representative of the performance. THE BAD RFK Racing For practice as well as qualifying, RFK just never showed up. Last year's Bristol Night Race winning team that dominated with over 270 laps led never even made an appearance in LA. Keselowski spun several times in his Heat and LCQ and we only ever really saw Buescher in the background. For a team that improved as much as they did last year, this could be a fluke... or it could a not very good sign. FIRES We, yet again, had another heat related fire in a car during practice. Ty Gibbs #54 Camry got very smokey and eventually the door impact absorbing foam caught fire inside the car. Now this comes after NASCAR made substantial changes to the cars to prevent this, so, what happened? Turns out it was faulty installation on the part of the Joe Gibbs Racing 54 team and nothing to do with the car itself. Still not a good look. Chase Elliott 2020 Cup Series Champion Chase Elliott has proven to be a fairly competent short track racer. But that was not the case for the Clash in LA. Chase Failed to appear during practice and fell back to a Last Chance Qualifier. But buried in the pack Elliott was essentially taken out early on and finished 21st with front end damage.
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 By: Tom Luttermoser Images By: Daphne Zhu of USC The 25 foot tall, 55 foot long NASCAR Rose Parade float is nearly finished. Adorned with the likeness of Gordon's Rainbow Warrior #24, Earnhardt's Intimidator #3 & the iconic Petty blue #43 along with elements of the L.A. Coliseum. Well race fans, it's ready for Monday's annual Pasadena parade. The float is named "Always Forward" and was made to celebrate NASCAR's 75th anniversary as well as market February's Busch Light Clash a few miles away. Atop the float will sit the King himself, Richard Petty who scored 200 NASCAR victories in his time behind the wheel. Petty represents the "where we came from" and the past. Petty will be joined by Craftsman Truck Series rookie Rajah Caruth who represents NASCAR's "where we are going" and the future. “NASCAR’s 75th anniversary is all about honoring our past, celebrating our present and looking to our future,” said NASCAR's VP of Marketing Services Patrick Rogers. “It’s only fitting that a driver like Rajah, who represents NASCAR’s now and beyond, joins our all-time winningest driver on this historic day for our sport.”  By: Tom Luttermoser Images Via: BLC official Twitter Thursday marked the groundbreaking for the 2023 Busch Light Clash at the L.A. Coliseum. California native and 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Champion Kyle Larson joined in the groundbreaking ceremony for the February 5th event. This will be the second annual Busch Light Clash at the famous L.A. Venue, one that last year broke recent records for attendance for the "Pre-Season" event with over 55,000 in attendance. That figure more than doubled the attendance to the race at Daytona in 2020 Pre-Covid. LA is a massively market for NASCAR that has pretty much been untapped. NASCAR seems expectant to match if not beat the attendance numbers for 2023. |
