NASCAR’s deadline to return to the L.A. Coliseum

The clock is officially ticking for NASCAR to determine whether they want to return to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for another Busch Light Clash.

The NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Busch Light Clash exhibition race was contested on Sunday at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, marking the first time in the 44-year-history of the event that it has not been contested at Daytona International Speedway.

Last year’s race at the Daytona Beach, Florida’s 14-turn, 3.61-mile (5.810-kilometer) road course marked the first time that it was not contested at the venue’s four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked oval, meaning that the race has now been contested at three different tracks in the last three years after there were no changes in the first 42 runnings.

Despite plenty of criticism and skepticism leading up to the event at the purpose-built, quarter-mile oval inside the home of the USC Trojans football team, the event was a smash hit with pretty much everybody in the industry, including the fans.

Talk among fans has shifted from whether or not the event would be a success to what other stadiums could host such an event in the future.

According to NBC Sports, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Joe Furin has stated that NASCAR and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum have a three-year deal for the Busch Light Clash.

However, that deal contains options on both the 2023 and 2024 seasons, and NASCAR holds the option on whether or not to return for those years.

NASCAR must make a final decision within 90 days after Sunday’s race. Including Sunday, that means that a decision must be made by Friday, May 6.

So will NASCAR be back for a second straight Busch Light Clash at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum next February, or will the race that saw no change in location for over four decades see a fourth different track in four years in 2023? Within three months, we should know the answer.