L.A. Coliseum joins exclusive club in NASCAR history

The purpose-built track inside Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum joined an exclusive NASCAR club that had previously featured only two tracks.

With Sunday night’s Busch Light Clash exhibition race, which unofficially kicked off the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum joined an exclusive club in NASCAR history.

This exhibition race was introduced back in 1979, and given the fact that the Daytona 500 is the annual official Cup Series season opener, the Clash had been contested at Daytona International Speedway.

Prior to Sunday’s Busch Light Clash at the quarter-mile, purpose-built track inside Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Daytona International Speedway had been the only venue to host a Clash.

For the first 42 years of the exhibition race’s existence (1979 to 2020), it was contested at the Daytona Beach, Florida venue’s four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked oval.

But that changed in 2021. After making its Cup Series debut as a COVID-19-related replacement race in August 2020, Daytona International Speedway’s 14-turn, 3.61-mile (5.810-kilometer) road course hosted the Clash last February.

That new “tradition” lasted for just one year.

While the tight, low-banked course inside the home of the USC Trojans football team is the third different track to host a Clash in the last three seasons, it is just the third different track to host a Clash in the 44-year history of the event as well.

And after 43 years of running the Clash at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR made Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum just the second ever venue to host one.

As for the future, it’s hard to find an option that isn’t on the table. A return to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum certainly isn’t out of the question, and the idea of moving the race outside of the United States has been floated as well for something completely different.

Interestingly, this marks the first time that that Clash has been contested at a track which does not have a regular season date. While the Daytona International Speedway road course has only ever been on the calendar for two seasons, it did have a regular race date in 2021 as well.

Naturally, the oval always had two regular season race dates, including one for the season-opening Daytona 500 and another for the annual summer race.

Regardless of what happens with this exhibition event moving forward, don’t expect to see the same track host it for 42 consecutive years, or the same venue host it for 43 consecutive years, ever again.

The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season is officially scheduled to get underway with the 64th annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 20. This race is set to be broadcast live from Daytona International Speedway on Fox beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.