NASCAR on TV this week

Clash For Justin Haley Ends Early After Showing Early Speed: ‘It was already a win coming in’

by
Justin Haley races in the 2022 Clash at the Coliseum (Photo: NKP)

Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley wound up 19th in the final running order at Sunday’s (Feb. 6) inaugural Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

But that was nowhere near indicative of his race and overall weekend.

Haley, who posted the third quickest time in qualifying Saturday night and won his heat leading flag-to-flag, was a solid top-five contender during the main event. He looked to be a dark horse contender for victory until contact sent the No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet careening into the infield barriers on lap 116, ending his day.

Zach’s Turn: iRacing Plays Pivotal Role in Clash Success

by
NASCAR Clash Coliseum

Inside the storied walls of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum sits a quarter-mile racetrack, built solely for a one-off exhibition short-track race for the NASCAR Cup Series in downtown L.A.

The idea would have felt absurd any time before 2020, before any mention of COVID-19 threatened to halt the world, let alone the sport. But NASCAR today is not the NASCAR of the last five decades – or even the last five years.

The majority of the credit lies with people like NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Strategy and Innovation Ben Kennedy and Patrick Rogers, the sport’s vice president of marketing, for being willing to think outside the box and turn a previously unthinkable decision into a reality that comes to fruition Sunday night (Feb. 6).