Joey Logano won the exhibition Busch Light Clash at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum in the first ever NASCAR race held at the stadium.
Joey Logano won the exhibition Busch Light Clash on a temporary quarter-mile track built inside Memorial Coliseum for a made-for-TV spectacular intended to hype NASCAR’s upcoming season.
The Clash was a success before a single racecar drove through the Southern California football team’s tunnel and onto the smooth, black asphalt that covered the Trojans’ field. Ice Cube performed a six-minute set from the Peristyle during a brief “halftime,” and Pitbull with backup dancers outfitted in a checkered-flag theme used the same stage for his pre-race concert.
Thousands of fans flooded the stands as well, full of anticipation – and some unfamiliarity – as many of the attendees, 70% in fact, were first-timers at a NASCAR event.“This is something different,” he told CBS reporters. “I mean the history of this stadium, it’s just a very special event.” The field was determined by heat races held earlier Sunday, and a pair of last chance qualifiers to give drivers one final chance to make the 23-car starting grid. The format made for spirited racing in the final “LCQ” as rookie Austin Cindric bounced and banged his way through traffic trying to transfer into the main event.Cindric fell short but was in good company: NASCAR champions Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch were among the drivers who didn’t make it out of the heats.
Logano won the Clash for the second time in his career. It was the fifth win for Team Penske, which has won three of the last six runnings of what had traditionally been a warmup for the Daytona 500. Tickets to the event ranged from $65 to $145, a cost well worth it to people who have never had the opportunity to experience an event like this.