“Unprecedented” is THE word for the kickoff to the 2024 Season.
With El Nino bearing down on the L. A. Coliseum, NASCAR made a never before decision to move its season-opening Busch Light Clash up a day to Saturday night from its originally scheduled Sunday. The decision proved to be the correct one as they were able to get that race and NASCAR Mexico race in before the rains began. With the area facing in impending natural disaster with flooding and landslides and all that goes with it, the last thing the good people of LA needed was more folks there or coming there for an event. Likewise for NASCAR, the last thing they needed was their entire Charter race fleet stuck in the middle of and at risk from such a potential devastating event.
Tagged as ‘Unprecedented” this move proved to be just another in a series of unprecedented decisions that helped define the weekend.
Here’s a recap –
Fans Locked Out of Practice/Qualifying, Heats and Last Chance Qualifying Race
This third iteration of the Clash saw several changes from previous versions. Lost somewhere in all the discussions that included reduction in the field size from 27 cars to 23, basing qualifying speed on fastest practice times instead of single car runs against the clock, heat formats and all the other stuff that was going into setting the field for the Clash scheduled for Saturday, was the fact that none of this would be available for fans to see live at the stadium. This little tidbit bubbled to the surface around January 16th, barely two weeks before race weekend.
No Saturday Tickets to be sold. Sunday’s tickets can’t get you in.
No way for fans to get in to see racing.
More disturbing, no explanation as to why fans were locked out.
More disturbing still was no one asked why or if they asked and got an answer, no one was sharing.
Most disturbing is nothing was said about it until fans started buying tickets and asking.
Except for the COVID Lockouts, I can’t recall a race or events leading up to a race (qualifying, etc) where fans were ever prohibited from seeing an event live.
There may have been times when practices were closed to the public, but races… unprecedented.
Fan Outcry Leads to NASCAR Reversal
When the realization hit that fans would not be allowed in to watch Saturday’s events it triggered a social media backlash that ultimately resulted in NASCAR lifting the lockout 48 hours later. NASCAR had heard the fans “loud and clear” and openedSaturday’s events up to the fans.
Great news for the fans wanting to go and see cars on the track. With eliminations, it was the only day all fans could be assured of seeing their driver on the track.
NASCAR reversing a decision is a rarity. To do so because of fans outcry, unprecedented.
Saturday is Free
Kennedy doubled down on Saturday, not only opening Saturday’s events up to the public, but offering it to fans free-no charge. No ticket needed to get in. You don’t have to have a Sunday ticket to get in on Saturday. Show up Saturday. Get in free. No strings attached.
In a business where every possible revenue stream in exploited and maximized to its fullest – Free is never part of the discussions-which made this unprecedented.
Note – For the record, “Free” was never a part of the fans’ “demands”. All they ever asked for was “access” to Saturday’s events. “Free” was just an appreciated and unprecedented bonus for those who made plans to attend.
The Clash Moved Up
Everyone knows this one and why this was unprecedented. Races have been delayed for weather or other situations in the past. Races have been moved up an hour or so ahead of schedule to maximize a window in hopes of getting a race in. Initial plans had been made to move the Sunday race up 2 hours ahead of schedule to get it in that night. When it became obvious that this weather window was never going to develop, NASCAR had to decide between putting the race off until the storm passed (projected Wednesday at the earliest) or moving the race up to later that day.
Never had the Sanctioning Body moved a race up 24 hours in advance of its original start time. That made Saturday’s Clash race unprecedented. And all the effort made by all the parties to make this happen from first responders to Coliseum personnel to broadcast partners to the teams to the Sanctioning Body and any others should be applauded. Similar efforts take place when a race is delayed, but it’s a new experience when moving a race up. And with attention and resources divided on the incoming storm made it an even more impressive accomplishment.
Short Notice for the New Race Date and Time
The last things fans and teams heard Friday night when they called it a night was Saturday was going to be practice/qualifying, heats and Last Chance race. Then about four and a half hours before Saturday kickoff, along came the announcement and everything changed for everyone. Fans especially, got little notice and most didn’t get enough time to change their plans to make the new race date. Unfortunately, it showed. But those who were able to make it Saturday became a part of NASCAR history.
Half-time Concert On, Then Off
Machine Gun Kelly was set to perform at the Clash Half-time Concert. When the race rescheduled, most fans assumed that was off. Then a couple of hours before start time SIRIUS XM announced that arrangements had been made and MGK was available and back on. Somewhere along the way, the concert got cancelled. So, any fans who showed up for a free MGK concert got a race instead. To scramble to make a concert happen a day early only to then cancel it must also fall into the unprecedented category.
We don’t want Livid Fans…
To avoid that, Steve O’Donnell said “We’re going to be reaching out to see what we can do to make it good on their end.”
I’m confident NASCAR will do what it takes to make things right with those fans who bought tickets to Sunday’s race. What that will take, who knows. Untold numbers of fans were flying in for the Sunday race and because of the late notice couldn’t change plans or cancel. “To make it good on their end” is the right thing to do but may require more than just ticket reimbursements. To do that would be unprecedented.
Zero Gate
With Saturday being a free event and Sunday’s tickets being reimbursed this may the first race in the now seventy-six-yearhistory of NASCAR that had zero gate. Should this be a concern of the fans – No. This is a NASCAR concern and is only mentioned because it just another of numerous unprecedented aspects of Clash weekend. Plus, had the initial plans included opening Saturday up to the fans as part of the Sunday ticket (two day pass) or through a reduced price Saturday pass the first three unprecedented decisions would have never had to been made and NASCAR would have come away with some gate to help offset some of the expenses. Unfortunately for them that wasn’t the case.
This summary helps show that moving the race up was just one of many unprecedented decisions that helped make up an unprecedented 2024 Busch Lite Clash.
Beyond the Clash – an Unprecedented Future?
Now that we have the 2024 Busch Lite Clash behind us, what is its future?
2024 was the third year in a three-year contract with the LA Coliseum. Do we call the “let’s build a track inside a stadium and race” experiment a success and take that model somewhere else? If so, where? Daytona? Mexico? Another stadium or track to be named later?
Or do we stay to continue to provide Cup racing in LA, NASCAR’s second largest market?
There is a lot to consider.
The declining trends in attendance and viewership even before the preemptive race this year, points to racing at the LA Coliseum having run its course and is ripe to go elsewhere. However, NASCAR views that market as so vital and with no chance of a 2025 return of Fontana, exiting would leave that market without a Cup race is almost unthinkable. Could a suitable substitute track be found before then or do we look to do something like a street race in the area which would keep a race in the market, check off another box and further demonstrate the Sanctioning Bodies commitment to street racing?
Or does NASCAR forego the LA market and use this race to explore new markets and expose new folks to the sport? Does a Clash in Mexico become the much sought after and much anticipated international race on the schedule? Intriguing for sure, but does the unprecedented on-going border issues keep the race north of the border and place it in another US city that has a suitable unused stadium at that time of year or is willing to shut down its streets for a Cup race through them?
Is it time to rotate it to another warm weather track on the schedule? Texas? Homestead?
Or is it time to move the race back to its roots in Daytona and restore it as the kickoff to Speedweeks and the teaser to the Daytona 500? Has the three-year absence been long enough to make its return have a big enough appeal? Will the event have to change from its last format used there to make more appealing to fans and broadcast partners? Would a return to a pole-winner-only race like it was originally run back in 1979 be enough to create the necessary buzz and draw attention to racing worthy of a season kick-off race? Or does it return to the Road Course, which was the configuration it ran on before leaving for LA be an acceptable opener?
And there is probably a dozen more possibilities still to be explored.
To me, it all comes down to what does NASCAR want to accomplish with it. If it’s to provide racing in their #2 marketand continue to try to mine that market for more fans, then they must stay. If it’s to expose new markets and fans to racing, it has to leave. If it’s to provide a teaser to the 500 that can only be done in Daytona. Depending on the move though it could be unprecedented.
One option that I haven’t heard discussed would be to move the Clash to Phoenix and use it as not only a kickoff to the season but a teaser or preview for the Championship Finale. Bookending the season with a track that has such ramifications would make it more meaningful than running a one-off in a football stadium. It returns the focus back on the season and ultimately the Championship. And since it’s the only time the teams would be on the track before the Finale, you can be sure they are going to take it seriously which should make for a better on-track product. By taking that race out of the regular season schedule it frees up another race date to add a new track on the schedule, like an international points race in Mexico City or Montreal, giving the Series essentially two bangs for the buck. Using this new date, which can be shuffled around on the schedule instead of the Clash as its new market exploration race gives the Series more options to expand into as weather would no longer be a restriction.
Opening and closing the season at the same track is not unprecedented. In 1981 the season opened at Riverside, closed at Riverside, and even had another race there in between. They were originally scheduled to race there for races 1 and 15 but had to go back for the third race because the Ontario Motor Speedway closed before the finale could be held there. Those were all points races, where the proposed Phoenix option would be an exhibition-championship combo.
What would make such a schedule unprecedented is it would be the first time the Clash is held on the same track as the Championship race. That could be the buzz the race needs to build a sustainable attendance and viewership numbers and keep it relevant for the fans, teams and sponsors for several years to come.
Something to think about though. NASCAR has a lot to consider in a short period of time as 2025 schedule will be here before we know it. I don’t envy them in the least. So, I’ll leave Ben Kennedy and company alone to sort it all out for us.
With that said, me hushing about the subject may be the most unprecedented aspect of the event.
Thunder On… And Stay Safe
Photo Credit (cover): Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
As a 70 years young fan who has gone racing since he was 7, I know my opinion doesn’t really matter to the NASCAR folks now days. In 1990, I was given the opportunity to attend my first SPEEDWEEKS. The whole week was like a dream come true! All the races were in the mostly warm afternoon, at night we attended races at New Smyrna, went to the Ocean Center trade show or the mall to see and hear drivers and famous folks from the past. After a cold winter, it was a week immersed in racing. Not that way now! Chilly night racing on Thursday and Friday and by the time you get back to your expensive accommodations after the late afternoon Saturday races, it’s back to the speedway early to get parked and sit around and wait for the mid-afternoon 500! While I’m thankful for seeing races on TV I don’t attend, their dictating start times has ruined NASCAR in my opinion! If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Clash and qualifying on Sunday to begin the buildup, Twins Thursday afternoon, Xfinity Saturday afternoon, 500 at 1pm on Sunday!
Thanks John. Never made it down there but remember when they ran early and we’d shuffle breaks around so folks could go out to their vehicles, listen and then report back. We’d tag team it to get it all. It became a tradition. Now we can watch it but sure feel for those who are there.
Take care and thanks for reading and sharing your story.
Have a great race weekend.
As I’ve said on here several times, I didn’t watch the Clash. I am though very impressed with what NASCAR did to get the show in. David, you brought to light the multitude of hoops that they needed to jump through just to get the race in. I applaud them for doing that. Yeah, I’m like you, never ever heard a NASCAR basically footing the bill for just about everything, to include the costs of building/tearing down the track. It will be interesting to see/hear how they do to compensate those that flew/drove in from distant locations. Hopefully that goes well, and that NASCAR doesn’t have to deal with fraudulent claims, as they’ve already had to swallow the loss of all of this.
I don’t know if they will go back to race there (costs), and I really love the idea of moving it to Phoenix. I wonder if the powers that be in Daytona might look at Kevin Harvick’s Kern County raceway. It’s about 350 miles from LA to PIR, but it’s only 112 miles to Kern Co, and almost all of those miles are on I-5. I think Californians would appreciate that it’s closer, and it still says that NASCAR is staying inside the state lines for the race. Harvick has been very vocal about wanting to support racers/racing in CA. Plus, Kern Co has quite a bit of land around the track, and could easily add to their seating capacity. No, it doesn’t have all of the infrastructure that PIR now has, but it wasn’t that long ago that PIR didn’t either. The first 2-3 years that Safeway committed to bringing groceries etc to PIR, they only had a giant tent to sell their goods.
I’m with Mr Cooke though. It’s going to take something special to get me back to looking forward/watching the Clash again. I will always be fond of the original format of the Clash, but we’ll never see that again. The channels can’t sell enough commercials, and NASCAR can’t sell enough burgers and beer. So that just leaves some kind of convoluted format. If they at least hold it on a real racetrack, that isn’t a road course, then I might be watching again. We can only hope..
I seriously doubt that the 1/2 mile track will ever be built in Fontana. And because NASCAR owns PIR, I don’t think that they will take away a points paying race for there. And I absolutely don’t see them giving that date to an SMI owned track.
Ron,
I appreciate your comments. They pulled off something pretty special. It was a perfect storm though as they had the FS1 slot, the talent, equipment, etc. already in place. There’s a very interesting podcast that come out a few days after with NASCAR and FOX on how it came together.
NASCAR is somewhat in a box with that market. They want to keep a presence but there is not a ready solution available without Fontana or a sub in place. Kern would be interesting and may be a big enough draw to make it viable, but after being in the Coliseum would it be a letdown? I don’t know. Being closer helps and I know the track could stand the bump.
Phoenix may not be close enough to help but taking it out of the points race but being the only other chance to be on the finale track takes the Clash to a new level elevating it from a one off PR gimmick to something meaningful that contributes to the Championship while opening the regular season up to new revenues. Plus Phoenix is a track with two dates that needs to lose one and they can accomplish that without truly losing it if that makes sense.
What if you take that date and run a double header points race with IndyCar at Long Beach? New venue. Street race. Play off of IndyCar. Share construction cost with IndyCar so less expense. New fans.
Or you can run later and go to Canada and check all those boxes.
Figure if politics can be worked out it will be MC. That doesn’t turn my crank but they have proven satisfying me isn’t that high on their list. LOL.
That date definitely won’t go to an SMI track but there are plenty of tracks out there that they have or have access to.
I would love to see it back at Daytona but since Speedweeks have changed and the Clash has change I don’t think it will have the same impact. Plus the Clash was a ball to the wall event and that’s just not it with this car.
Lot to consider. Glad it’s not my call.
Thanks for the comments.
Have a great race weekend!
Hi David, I just read that NASCAR is talking to the LA Dodgers about possibly using Dodger Stadium to hold races there. Wouldn’t that be interesting? And I mean that not in a good way. NASCAR has done this before, racing around a baseball diamond. Before New Asheville Speedway was built, NASCAR races around a ballpark there. I never saw a race from there, as I am too young. But my dada did, as he was from the Asheville area (Marshall to be exact). He told me 2 things from those experiences. First was it was pretty hard on equipment, and the other was there wasn’t much passing. Unless of course the drivers reverted back to the first reason, it was hard on equipment. Those cars were huge, the track was narrow, and the cars didn’t have loads of horsepower. Now the cars are smaller, but have 4 times the HP. What could go wrong? Doesn’t sound like a race I’ll be anxious to see.
We were in LA for race weekend. We arrived on Thursday, as we had plans to visit some area attractions before Sunday’s festivities. But it was obvious to us by Thursday night, that if we were going to see race cars on track that weekend, we had better be there Saturday. So we rearranged our schedule, and went to the track instead. Yet there was no announcement from Nascar about a change until noon on Saturday. Had there been some sort of announcement on Thursday night or Friday, there’s no telling how much better things would have been for Nascar and it’s fans on Saturday. This is oversimplification, I’m sure, but if we knew on Thursday, why didn’t Nascar?
Thanks, David! As usual, you brought up a lot of things to ponder.
I like the idea of racing the Clash in Phoenix. That would be great! I also like the idea of taking it back to Daytona. The fans in the South are the best fans, imo. They can make money there and most of the time, weather is good. Most of us older, long time fans still just want to see good racing with great competition. New rules and the young set of “stars” have turned NASCAR into shows instead of racing, imo – again! The bias from NASCAR, along with the announcers, just turns a lot of us off. However, we continue to watch. It is hard not to after it has been a lifetime draw, habit and excitement for us. Like I wrote in an article, ‘I have gas in my blood’…
Thanks again, David!
David, the latest salvo has been lobed from the RTA camp, and to a smaller scale, so has NASCAR. During all of the rain on Sat, the RTA asked NASCAR to join them in a meeting. Not just any old meeting, but one with top antitrust lawyes in the US. When NASCAR declined, the RTA decided to hire Jeff Kessler to rep the RTA. So far, he’s going to only help advise the RTA in negotiations. My guess is, that if NASCAR doesn’t make some genuine efforts to get the charter system and revenue splitting issues settled, Mr Kessler won’t just be advising the RTA. This is the guy that got colleges & universities to now have to pay college athletes stipends. He’s been involved with the NFL,NBA & Women’s Soccer, all involving pay/benefits’ issues. Mr Kessler has a very good track record in getting entities to give up some really big $$ amounts, and getting entities like NASCAR, to start paying for things that they never had to before. NASCAR is probably a scalp he’d like to add to his wall. I really thought that we’d get farther into the season before things got started. But then again, businesses operate their budgets on the fiscal calendar (like the US government does), not the annual calendar. I think this ride is about to get bumpy..
Pretty interesting stuff. I never thought it would get this far but RTA looks like they aren’t playing. Heard conflicting reports on how United they are though. Some say solid. Others say no so much and NASCAr didn’t want to meet so they could try to deal one on one and further divide. It’s going to be something to watch. Not sure any of us have seen anything like this before. It’s an unprecedented season and this only adds to that. Tighten those belts!
David, I’m betting that Bill Sr & Jr aren’t rolling over in their graves, they’ve vacated the premises.. I don’t think that it will be long before all sides start circling the wagons, to protect either what they currently have (NASCAR), and those setting their stakes in the ground (teams, RTA, network providers), for what they are willing to fight or walk away for. If this all crashes and burns, I think NASCAR comes out the winner, and I use that word almost tongue & cheek. NASCAR could simply say, No More, and close the doors. They aren’t hurting for cash, and they own all of their stock now. They could sell all of the assets, and have a very comfortable life, even if they only get 20 cents on the dollar. Whereas the teams would never want to race this car, if NASCAR wasn’t mandating it. But even if they did want to race it, they’d need NASCAR’s permission. So that would put the owners having to expand or build back their manufacturing capabilities. If they decided to get out, who’s going to buy their fleet of cars that nobody wants to race?
The networks have contracts, and who knows how flexible they’ll want to be in dealing with new partners. I think that they are the easier problem to solve. They want to air a good product, and NASCAR has provided that to some extent for decades. I know, there are many that will claim that to be untrue over the last “fill in the blank” years. But NASCAR has been consistent with getting the show in, weather permitting. So that’s the question mark for the networks, who would be that reliable as NASCAR has been? And at the end of the day, all of these networks need to have something to air. If you don’t think so, who would have ever guessed that sports channels would be airing professional poker, darts & billiards? Not to mention cheer dance.
As is usually the case with anything in business, it’s all about money. All sides want maximum return on investment, and who doesn’t? NASCAR intimates that they need more to “feed the beast’, without saying that THEY are the beast. The teams & the RTA are screaming that they can’t cover costs, because sponsors aren’t writing blank checks to the teams anymore. Networks are seeing viewer numbers decline, so they think that they aren’t getting their money’s worth anymore. I’ve owned and operated 3 businesses in my life. All 3 were startups with my own money. These businesses were started with whatever money that I could save from those exorbitant salaries that I made in the Air Force. All made money during operation, and later in sale. If I had any of the issues that each of the 3 shareholders are screaming about here, I would have gotten out each business that had any of these problems for survival. I haven’t noticed any teams say out loud, that they can’t make it under these circumstances. Yes, I know that it has been an issue with really small teams, but for them to have even started their teams, they understood that it was a gamble. I sure know that when I started my businesses that it was a gamble. Networks aren’t running from NASCAR, as more have signed up to broadcast races, for a higher cost, with the new contract starting next year. So once again, it’s down to money, and who gets what.
There is 1 thing that I think could have negated a lot of this for the teams & NASCAR, and it’s not anything that’s changed in the last few years. And again, it was all about money, that and greed. In my eyes, NASCAR screwed their own business model years ago, when they started taking sponsors from teams, and signing those sponsors as the “Official (fill in the blank) of NASCAR. Look at the number of Official whatever of NASCAR over the years, that used to be a sponsor for a team. And NASCAR sure wasn’t looking at filing for bankruptcy before signing these “Official” sponsors.
As much as we like to think about racing as a sport, it’s not. It’s a business, just like the NFL, MLB, the NBA, Proctor & Gamble, and Hendrick’s car empire. Is NASCAR too greedy, YES! Is the RTA/teams too greedy, YES! Are the networks too greedy, YES!. So, NASCAR has screwed their own business model. The teams have spent themselves into needing more & more every year. Because gaining that extra 10th of a second was worth the $20 million needed to find it. As for the networks, they’re requiring sponsor companies (the teams & NASCAR’s) to buy ad air time, to inflate their bottomline. And a lot of those ads aren’t even full screen! They’re paying for ads that will run on a split screen with the race. Hey, I know that I only watch those ads when it’s a split screen, don’t you?
I’m hopeful that all of the parties will come to their senses. But we’ve seen this train wreck before. How’d that work out for Indycar and the IRL?? One has never regained its status, and the other one died. That’s where the old saying applies “Those that don’t learn from the past, are doomed to repeat it. It’s the same mistake that virtually every country goes through with starting a war. They build all of their plans around how they won or lost the last war. Then the first battle takes place, and nothing is like what they planned for. All 3 of these parties have game plans. But the likelihood of those plans playing out like they think they will, yeah that ain’t happening. At the end of the day, the real losers are the fans. Isn’t it funny how the rich always seem to come out on top?