The Clash is underway. I’ve not bothered to watch much of the pre-race stuff. Tony ‘Smoke’ Stewart is in the booth with Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer for some inexplicable reason. I never enjoyed those two together in the booth. This is a combination I am not happily anticipating. Great to hear Mike Joy’s voice. He’s the best thing going on NASCAR broadcasts. The LA Coliseum track is a quarter-mile track. Yawn. There are 38 cars in the field. The event is scheduled for 150 green flag laps.
The new car is kinda weird looking, but okay. It looks very low to the ground and really wide. I don’t like the new placement of the numbers; they’re harder to read than they were last year.
FOX Sports has jumped on the gimmick camera shots – particularly the bumper shot – leaving me uninterested in watching the event. So far, NASCAR has not made any changes that excited me about the 2022 season; especially with the bad silly season decisions.
The cars are driving around in circles. Nothing to write home about so far.
Red flag caution on lap 53 of 150 for a spin by Ricky Stenhouse Jr (47).
MRN reports ‘Desperate’ Denny Hamlin (11) is out of the car and his day is done due to a problem with the power steering under this caution period. According to Desperate, “A belt came off and took the hose with it and [we] didn’t have any steering”.
Chase Briscoe (14) has left the track due to something in the drive line.
Leader Tyler Reddick (8) believes he broke the transaxle and has dropped to the inside of the track. Bowyer says its the same thing Briscoe reported.
Restarting on lap 54 of 150 with Kyle ‘KyBu’ Busch (18) and Joey Logano (22) up front.
Mike Joy is calling the race. That’s a good thing since he knows how, but it leaves me wondering why there are two other guys in the booth. One of those guys should be able to actually call the race. Neither can do so.
FOX is spending a lot of time showing things other than on-track action like the flame at the top of the Coliseum as well as Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick standing around chatting. Now it’s bumper cam. That leads to a split-screen of two sets of driver’s hands and two shots of something else useless. FOX Sports has picked up all of NBC’s bad habits it seems. I’m wondering if I will make it to the end of the FOX Sports season at this point.
In the meantime Chase Elliott (9) spins bringing out the red flag caution on lap 65 of 150.
Briscoe says he thinks the drive-shaft broke.
MRN reports Chase Elliott said he’s having trouble locking up the left front.
Restarting on lap 66 of 150 with the same two up front.
A break is scheduled at the half-way point.
Scheduled caution is out on lap 75 of 150. Logano gave KyBu a little bump and run to take the lead on the final lap before the caution.
MRN is promoting a concert by Ice Cube during the mid-race break.
MRN is talking through the mid-race break. I wondered if they would air any of the Ice Cube performance audio. It’s kinda of funny looking at a whole bunch of white chicks standing around talking during the performance. Looks like a mismatch, overall, between the audience and the performer. They’re trying hard to find people in the stands or in the audience responding to the music. Since there seems to be few that are really paying attention they keep showing the same half-dozen people over and over. It’s highlighting how few people are into it. They finally found a person of color in the audience – a black guy who’s holding up a phone recording it. Ice Cube is working it hard to get the audience involved. The camera keeps showing a lot of people standing around and a tiny number dancing to the beat. I think its also telling that the majority of the people bopping to the beat were holding alcoholic beverages. I enjoyed Ice Cube’s performance. I wouldn’t mind a mid-race co
ncert for other races, if they have a good act. That’s where my doubts surface. In the years I went to Atlanta Motor Speedway, they frequently advertised bands I didn’t realize still existed. The couple of pre-race concerts I saw were by groups I’d never heard of – with good reason. They were far less than enjoyable.
MRN is airing a bit of the performance.
Restarting on lap of 150 with KyBu (18) and William ‘WilliB’ Byron (24) up front.
On lap 81 of 150 the gimmick shots are underway again. FOXSports seems to get bored earlier than NBCSports. Unfortunately they also linger on their variety of gimmicks for long stretches. On lap 85 it’s still unwatchable with a split-screen leading to an overhead shot on lap 87 of 150.
MRN is reporting on lap 87 of 150 Ryan Preece (15) is out with a brake failure.
Ryan Blaney (12) heads to pit road on lap 115 of 150 after tagging the wall. Ryan is getting out of the car on pit road. Blaney threw his HANS device at Erik ‘DaBrat’ Jone (43) whom he said ran over him racing hard for seventh which he described as ridiculous.
Restarting on lap 116 of 150 with Kyle ‘KyBu’ Busch (18) up front. Logano has been knocking on the rear end of KyBu’s bumper. Logano starts alongside.
Caution on lap 116 of 150 for Kyle Larson (5) running Justin Haley (31) into the inside wall. Haley was pulling his usual nonsense and Larson wasn’t having it.
MRN is reporting there’s concrete repair on the inside barrier. FOXSports was showing the crowd and the sky.
Restarting on lap 117 of 150 with Joey Logano (22) and Kyle Larson (5) up front.
Joey Logano (22) wins holding off Kyle Busch (18).
He had to pause before doing his burnout due to Martin Truex Jr (19) and Michael McDowell (38) sitting across the track after spinning.
I’m glad that was a relatively short event.
Joey says his wife Brittany is having their third child tomorrow. He’s quite excited about the baby and about the win at the inaugural race at the LA Coliseum.
KyBu says his son Brexton won yesterday.
Erik ‘DaBrat’ Jones (43) says Ryan Blaney (12) brake-checked him and he didn’t appreciate it and showed it on the track.
It was relatively short, which was good. It was mostly boring. I don’t know if the on-track action was as boring as the television broadcast. When the cameras spend a lot of time showing bumpers, and drivers’ hands, camera views of the track from the windscreen and aerial views of the stadium, there’s not a lot of racing action shown. The coverage indicated the racing wasn’t worth watching. We, the viewing audience, were expected to be impressed/captivated by television tricks and the history of the venue. I tuned in to actually watch racing. I did not have much opportunity to do so. It was a disappointing start to the 2022 season. It feels like a continuation of the 2021 season which left me questioning if I would tune in this year.
Motorsport News:
- Kyle Weatherman Joins DGM Racing with 5 Confirmed Races.
- Mary Our Named Co-Owner of Our Motorsports; Car Owner of No. 02 Chevrolet.
- NASCAR Announces Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash Races for 2022; 38 Cars in Each Race.
- 2022 Triple Truck Challenge Races Announced.
- Congrats to Brett and Stephanie Moffitt.
- Darlington Raceway will not sell backstretch seating for May race.
- Eric Dickerson Named One of the Clash grand marshals.
- Helio Castroneves Would be Interested the Daytona 500.
- USAF Thunderbirds to Perform Flyover for Daytona 500.
- Select Blinds Sponsoring David Ragan, Rick Ware Racing for Daytona 500.
- Kaz Grala to Attempt to Qualify for Daytona 500 for The Money Team Racing.
- The Clash Could Return to Los Angeles for Multiple Years.
- Tuesday Night Concert With Rodney Atkins Kicks off Speedweeks at Daytona.
- Derek Griffith Joins Sam Hunt Racing for Partial Xfinity Series Schedule.
- Josh Bilicki Competing for DGM Racing at Daytona.
- David Starr Hopes to Run Some Cup Races This Season.
- G2G Racing Running Two Teams; Matt Jaskol Driving Full Season; Johnny Sauter, Tim Viens, Roger Reuse Part-Time.
- J.J. Yeley to Attempt Daytona 500 with MBM Motorsports.
- Jeff Hensley to Crew Chief Matt Crafton in Trucks; Brett Moffitt Gets New Crew Chief.
- Christian Eckes Returning to ThorSport Racing for Full Season.
- Sam Hunt Racing Announces Jeffrey Earnhardt’s 7-Race Schedule for 2022.
- Highly anticipated Clash brings debut of NASCARs Next Gen car.
- Kaz Grala To Complete No. 02 Chevrolet Lineup For Youngs Motorsports in 2022.
- Jimmy White Honored with 2021 Ken Patterson Helping Others Award.
- First HANS Device Highlights new Motorsports Hall of Fame of America Safety Exhibit.
- Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Claims 2nd Rolex 24 Victory.
- Out With the Old, In With the New: 2021-2022 NASCAR Silly Season Recap.
- SRX Announces 2022 Schedule.
- Floyd Mayweather’s The Money Team, Kaz Grala Attempting Daytona 500.
- Ron Vandermeir Jr. Running Part-Time ARCA Slate.
- Rick Ware Racing Enters WeatherTech Sprint Cup with Ryan Eversley, Aidan Read.
- Michael Waltrip Is on the Lookout for an Underdog Story.
- Martin Truex Jr. Aims To Avoid ‘Crash Fest’ in LA.
- Daniel Suarez Hosts New Car Series for FYI.
- NASCAR Revives Cup Series Documentary Plans for 2022: Report.
- Johnny Sauter Joins a New Team for 2022.
- You know Josh Sims from Fox 46. Now he’s the first Black full-time NASCAR pit reporter.
- 2022 NASCAR Cup season features many drivers in new places.
- NASCAR’s ‘significant investment’ into Clash at the Coliseum exceeds $1 million.
- Jimmie Johnson, ‘busier than expected’ with full 2022 schedule, still draws a Daytona crowd.
- Joe Coss, Ben Dodge named voices of NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour for 2022.
- Josh Berry’s IceBreaker run before Xfinity Series schedule a newfound source of short-track racing fulfillment.
- Why Clash will hold special meaning for football players turned pit-crew members.
- Landon Cassill adds part-time Cup schedule with Spire to full-time Xfinity ride at Kaulig.
- Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Team Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports Breaks Through for First IMSA Podium Finish At Daytona.
- MSR Acura soars to Rolex 24 win.
- Meyer Shank Racing claims another Rolex 24 win, 10 years from its last.
- Herta delivers late heroics for DragonSpeed to take LMP2 victory.
- Pfaff takes dramatic GTD Pro win after final lap Porsche battle.
- Steiner warns smaller teams won’t ‘open a loophole’ over Sprint budgets.
- WRC ace Ogier set for WEC LMP2 campaign.
- Ocon credits ‘legend’ Alonso for accelerating his development.
- Fellow Canadians Wilkins and Wickens prove an ideal partnership.
- FIA launches ‘new and robust governance process’.
- ECR emphasizes continuity with 2022 engineering line-up.
- 5 Takeaways: Helio Castroneves holds off Ricky Taylor to win Rolex 24 at Daytona.
- St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch named grand marshal of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding.
- Racecar Driver Lindsay Brewer Eyeing Ride in Indycar Ladder and NASCAR ARCA.
- F1 to make COVID vaccine mandatory in 2022.
- F1 declares mandatory COVID-19 vaccines.
- W Series tryouts aim to put women back in Formula One driver’s seat.
- Fry named Alpine CTO in technical reshuffle.
- Haas becomes first team to launch new-look 2022 F1 car.
- Steiner expresses doubt over 2022 sprint race plans.
- After horse tracks and airports, L.A. Coliseum is hardly the oddest venue for NASCAR.
- Brown: Winning IndyCar title is O’Ward’s quickest way to F1.
- Why Kirkwood and Foyt deserve success together.
- Chilton becomes development driver for Speirling EV car.
- Chilton ends IndyCar career, aims for Le Mans.
- Chase Elliott Fastest in Busch Light Clash Practice.
- The Busch Light Clash Heat Race Starting Orders Are Set.
- Kyle Busch Quickest in Qualifying for Busch Light Clash at the L.A. Coliseum.
- Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch Fail to Make NASCAR’s Busch Light Clash, Ty Dillon Disqualified.
- Congrats Chandler and Kenzie Smith.
- Josh Williams Bringing Host of Sponsors to BJ McLeod Motorsports.
- Successful Clash Could Lead to International Races.
- A Special Message from Steve Phelps.
- Joey Logano holds off Kyle Busch to win memorable Busch Light Clash in Los Angeles.
- Racers Edge Motorsports, Wayne Taylor Racing Partner for GTD Pro Sebring Entry.
- Up to Speed: NASCAR Still Chasing the Casual Sports Fan.
- The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2022 Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum.
- Thinkin’ Dirty: 2022 Winter Freeze at Screven.
- Herta, Johnson earn surprising second at ROC.
- Josh Berry wins 2022 IceBreaker at Florence Motor Speedway.
- Solberg father and son win ROC team title for Norway; Team USA second.
- INTERVIEW: Stenhouse on the Battle of Los Angeles.
- Loeb beats Vettel to be crowned ROC Champion of Champions on Sweden’s snow.
- Heat races set the stage for Busch Light Clash in L.A.
- Kurt Busch among those sidelined by messy LCQ heat.
- NASCAR aims to attract new audience with Clash at the LA Coliseum.
- NASCAR races at the LA Coliseum today. How to watch, race format and money on the line.
- From Next Gen to new feuds, what we learned from NASCAR’s Clash at the L.A. Coliseum.