Busch Light Clash returns to the Coliseum


Cars race at coliseum.
NASCAR’s Busch Light Clash returned to the Coliseum for the second year in a row with around 50,000 fans in attendance. (Vincent Leo | Daily Trojan)

In the Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum’s second year, Martin Truex Jr. drove away with the win. Heisman-winning quarterback Caleb Williams, comedian and actor Joel McHale and actor Rob Lowe highlighted the pre-race events, with pre-race and halftime performances from hip-hop group Cypress Hill and rapper Wiz Khalifa, respectively.

The Clash made its debut at the Coliseum last year and brought in an audience of around 50,000 people, around 70% of which had never seen a NASCAR race before.

Once again, it was a spectacle to behold with the football field taking a backseat to a small racetrack about a quarter-mile long. Fans poured in as the qualifying races flew by, with the festivities beginning as early as noon before Truex put the race away at around 7 p.m.

From 1979 to 2021, the Busch Light Clash took place at Daytona International Speedway. In the second installment of the Clash at the Coliseum, Truex experienced something for the first time in a while: a win.

“Last year was a pretty rough season for us with no wins,” said Truex Jr. in a post-race interview with Fox. “Sometimes they work out your way and sometimes they don’t. Tonight it went our way and we made some good adjustments too.”

The day began with qualifying races to determine the starting lineup of the main event. Four rounds and two “Last Chance Qualifying” races decided the final six spots of a 27-man starting lineup for the Clash.

Joey Logano, the winner of last year’s Clash, underperformed expectations, finishing in 16th place. Truex Jr. foreshadowed his victory in the second qualifying race, finishing in first. After the rest of the final race’s drivers joined him in qualifying, it was time for the main event.

Aric Almirola, Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin started the race with the lead. On the 17th lap of the race, the first of many caution flags were waved as Erik Jones spun out. By the end of the race, a caution flag had been signaled a grand total of 16 times.

A second caution flag was thrown after Ryan Blaney (No. 12) took a hit from Daniel Suárez (No. 99). After 24 laps, Hamlin, Truex  and Kyle Busch (No. 8) filled out the top three.

As the race went on, while the top two remained the same, Bubba Wallace (No. 23) made his way into the top three 37 laps in. By the end of the 75th lap, Wallace found himself in first place with Truex in second and Austin Dillon (No. 3) trailing behind in third.

In a caution-filled second half of racing, Wallace maintained his lead with 69 laps to go while Truex trailed in second and Ryan Preece (No. 41) in third. Wallace eventually lost the lead he had sustained for a majority of the race as he fell to third.

With seven laps remaining, Wallace got hit by Dillon, causing him to fall from second to 22nd. In the final stages of the race, Truex Jr. was able to take the lead and come out as the winner after staying in the top three for much of the race.

Dillon spoke about the aggressiveness of the drivers during the race in an event filled with caution flags.

“I think everybody knows here that there is going to be contact,” Dillon said. “During the first 30 laps, my head was against the headrest probably every lap.”

For Truex, the victory was a great way to begin the season after going winless in 2022. From 2015 to 2021, Truex won 29 races before missing the playoffs in 2022 for the first time since the 2014 season.

“It was definitely satisfying,” Truex said after the race. “It’s just nice when it all works out and you can come to the track and things go the way you hope they will.”