OK… The Busch Light Clash… At the end of the day we can put most of our skepticism in the garage. It wasn’t needed. NASCAR planned a thing, put on a thing, executed a thing and did a really fine job on most all of the things. Are there things to tweak? Of course… But opinions are what they are and what tweaking gets done is left to be seen. As far as “gimmicks” go this one seemd to play out as planned with a show that came off really well. There were some bits that seemed odd but as they say… You can’t please everyone…

For the most part, if it were our show, we would not be doing a “Superbowl Style” half time. The race IS the the show. Pre-race entertainment is one thing but once the green flag flies let’s go race. Show us the differing strategies playing out with the teams. This would have been a great time to showcase and highlight the changes with the “NextGen” car (For many who have not been following all the things…). It would have been a great time to run a montage of changing the stadium over to racing. Another good feature might have been a closer look at the teams and changes for the 2022 season. There could have been any number of angles to feature and kept the focus on the racing and the upcoming season.

That placed out there… Most was just fine. The “heat race” format was definitely the way to go on the 1/4 mile, stadium showdown. The tension was almost scripted as many long-time stars of the sport were left hanging on “last chance” races to make the main show. The stadium filled up nicely with fans and we can hope many were presented with their first live look at NASCAR at this level. One question… Why wait to come in for the “main” with so much going in the heat races? Fans lingering or waiting to make their seats missed quite a bit of the action… After all, it’s not every day race cars with a national pool of top talent drivers come in and race on a “paved for this event then removed” track. If it were us, we would soak in as much as possible on our ticket. However, it is LA… Maybe the latte service at the coffee local was running a bit behind with demand…

Another thing… Whoever did the actual engineering and paving at the coliseum needs to share their techniques nationally with the contractors and municipalities in charge of fixing roads. Granted, it was only a short span of time but that track took quite a bit of punishment over the course and didn’t even show a buckle or crack (that we know of…).

The “NextGen” car made a good debut. We did not see any real pit stops under time and pressure but that will come at Daytona. The car itself ran close quarters well with bumps and rubs but the body shell held up. Granted, putting one in the wall can still tear one up. There were a few mystery mechanicals with the drive train that will be looked at closely. Overall, the car looks really good on the track.

Also notable, as far as “firsts” go, Joey Logano took the win at the LA Coliseum. It was the first race of its kind with a purpose built, temporary track over a football field. Logano also won the first dirt race at Bristol in 2021. With such a start it will be interesting to see just what is in store for 2022. The points season opener is coming up in Daytona.

They haven’t moved that… Have they?