What's with the rumor of NASCAR moving Busch Clash from Daytona to L.A. next year? | KEN WILLIS

Here we go again, another California gold rush for NASCAR.

Maybe.

But if true, at least this one has a pleasant catch. Not pleasant enough to satisfy everyone, of course. Maybe not enough to satisfy enough folks to justify the whole thing.

There’s a rumor afloat suggesting the 2022 Busch Clash — the season-opening exhibition run at Daytona since 1979 — may move to the Los Angeles Coliseum and run on a purpose-built track circling the football field.

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Granted, a streamlined lineup on a quarter-mile track inside an iconic venue sounds like a great made-for-TV affair (there's your pleasant catch). But at the cost of yet again upsetting what remains of the older, loyal core following?

A previous generation of NASCAR leadership was hell-bent on Southern California. They hitched their wagons to upwardly trending numbers and rocketed into Fontana (and Las Vegas). Old faithfuls Darlington and Rockingham were left in the launch-pad rubble.

NASCAR President: We lost our way

A couple of years back, looking back to those days and various other moves that angered much of the masses, NASCAR president Steve Phelps suggested, yes, NASCAR “probably lost our way.”

That admission seemed big at the time. And Phelps wasn’t just issuing a passing thought. No, he elaborated.

“I think we were trying to search for that next-generation fan ... and I don’t think we listened to what the hardcore fan wanted,” Phelps said back then before adding, “those days have ended.”

The current L.A. story was rolled out on a reputable website — The Athletic — and while it doesn’t offer many details, it wasn’t just invented from whole cloth. There’s likely something there, but what?

Would NASCAR really run in L.A. a week or two before coming to Daytona to start the season with the usual Speedweeks fare, minus the Clash?

When is the 2022 Busch Clash at Daytona?

If so, they’d have to update the Speedway’s website, where you can currently buy tickets and reserve campsites for a 2022 February visit that seems to include a Busch Clash on Feb. 15.

Phelps’ previous words came on the eve of the 2019 season, and Lord knows, a whole, whole lot has happened since then. But when you’re talking core beliefs and strategies, these words certainly have a longer shelf life than two-plus years. Or so you'd think.

“We’re not going to make everyone happy,” Phelps said then. “With that said, at its core we need to make sure we’re taking care of our longtime fans. That’s critical for us.

“Our philosophy — which was wrong — was ‘hey, don’t worry about it, the hardcore fan is going to be there regardless, so let’s change who our brand is and try to do things differently that might make it feel more modern.’ We were chasing a different fan that was outside of this core base. So what we need to do today is make sure we’re giving those core fans what they want.”

Yes, they want more short-track racing, and it's in a cool, unique setting, all the better. But my guess is, they also want the Busch Clash where it belongs.

Could Busch Clash fill the gap between Pro Bowl and Super Bowl, Daytona 500?

Not that anyone is asking, but here’s your best-case scenario. Yes, they run a preseason exhibition at the L.A. Coliseum. And they run it Feb. 6, the idle Sunday (aside from the dreary Pro Bowl) between the NFL’s conference championships and Super Bowl — a Super Bowl also slated for Southern California, by the way, and broadcast by NASCAR partner NBC, which would already be trucking a ton of equipment that way.

This past February, NASCAR and Daytona moved the Clash to the road course, and after a tedious start, it turned into a very exciting race. It’s hard to imagine them pulling the plug altogether after one year on the road course and 42 years at Daytona prior to that. 

But these past two seasons have been full of things we never thought we'd see.

— Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com