Martin Truex Jr. wins chaotic Clash at the Coliseum as NASCAR returns to LA

2023 Nascar Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum Champion Martin Truex Jr. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

LOS ANGELES, CA – Stars and fireworks both were in abundance under the full moon tonight as Martin Truex won the second annual Clash at the Coliseum at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Once again, the historic stadium had transformed from a football field and dirt race track to a makeshift asphalt automotive race track. The converted track at the Coliseum is the smallest NASCAR run event since 1971.

This time on the one-hundredth anniversary of the legendary L.A. Coliseum and the seventy-fifth anniversary of NASCAR, 27 drivers packed their way onto the quarter-mile track.

"It was pretty cool, we have a smaller course, given it's the Coliseum, but I dig it," said Medhanie Habte, an Eritrean-born NASCAR fan from Long Beach. "I came here last year for this race too."

Due to the success of last year's exhibition event, there were no real structural changes from the racing event other than adding four more drivers and moving the start time later to 5 pm.

The crowd was already buzzing with energy following a pre-race performance by legendary Los Angeles-based rap group Cypress Hill as Rob Lowe took the stage.

Rob Lowe, a Hollywood star, and the Busch Clash at the Coliseum Grand Marshall had fans standing on their feet as he proclaimed the words that will excite any race fan, "start your engines!"

USC Trojan Heisman Winner Caleb Williams was the Honorary Starter, waving the green flag to start the race as the drivers crossed the start line.

Aric Almirola started the race in the pole position, with Martin Truex in second. Almirola held the lead for the first 18 laps of the race. However, early on, the road was slicker and slippery due to the later start time, which saw a 20-degree cooling difference compared to the 2022 Clash.

"The craziest thing is sitting here listening to every driver try to warm up their tires," said Austin Cindric. "Because cold tires are a bit of the problem. Every driver is doing burnouts doing whatever they can (to warm them up)."

Nascar Driver #23 Bubba Wallace Jr. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

In the ninth lap, Danny Hamlin passed Truex to move into second place. Truex had a problem with his left tire sliding, which was attributed to the slicker road allowing Hamlin to pass by him. Meanwhile, Bubba Wallace was busy moving up to fifth place after starting the race in eighth.

During lap 17, Erik Jones had been spun around, bringing out the first caution flag and abruptly ending his day. Hamlin was able to capitalize on the restart, taking the lead while Almirola struggled to drop five spots in the next few laps.

Ryan Blaney was tapped from behind and spun out, causing his car to take some noticeable damage, and this brought out the second caution flag of the race during the 23 laps. Blaney was in eleventh place at the time.

Austin Dillion had a great move on the restart, jettisoning to fifth place. Seven laps later, Wallace moved up into third place.

On lap 43, A.J. Allmendinger crashed, causing the third caution of the race. Bubba Wallace wisely chose the outside front row on the restart instead of the third row inside. This was a risky move that could have catapulted him up the standings or sent him spiraling down it.

Nascar Driver #20 Christopher Bell. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

Fortunately for Wallace, it paid off. He surprisingly knocked Hamlin out of the way, jettisoning himself from third to first place. Meanwhile, Hamlin dropped from first down to ninth in under two laps during this.

Wallace was driving the number 23 car for the 23XI racing team which, is co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and Hamlin. The same Danny Hamlin he knocked out of the way to take the lead.

Things only got worse for Hamlin a lap before halftime as he was spun around, bringing the fourth stoppage of the race on the seventy-fourth lap.

At halftime, Wallace and Truex were atop the leaderboard claiming the top two spots. Both drove Camrys, with three of the top five drivers behind the wheel of a Toyota.

Truex was consistent throughout, not dropping below third in the first half. There were only four cautions at halftime.

The halftime show featured L.A. rapper Wiz Khalifa who had the Coliseum crowd on their feet during his ten-minute performance. That was followed by Williams, who was presented with the USC Trojan Sword during a fireworks-filled presentation.

"The music choices were interesting," said Antelope Valley native Erin Ondriezek. "To be honest I was hoping for some good ole country music since I always assumed NASCAR fans liked the country. This was my first NASCAR event."

Coming out of the halftime break, Truex tried to speed up and slice in ahead of Wallace during the first lap, but Wallace defended and was able to hold him off.

Shortly thereafter, the 2022 Xfinity Series Champion Ty Gibbs was spun out by Danny Hamlin. Gibbs, the 20-year-old grandson of famed Super Bowl-winning coach Joe Gibbs, was later wrecked, ending his day prematurely.

Nascar Driver #41 Ryan Preece. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

There were 69 laps to go, and Ryan Preece took the lead from Wallace with a deft pass on the outside coming out of the ninth caution. Wallace had led for 39 laps up to that point, the most laps led by any driver during the race. With 44 laps to go, Truex was still sitting in third biding his time.

A few laps later Blaney wrecked into the wall causing the fourteenth caution flag on with 37 laps to go. He had pushed his way up to ninth at the time before Ross Chastain hit Tyler Reddick causing a chain reaction and putting an end to Blaney's day.

With 25 laps to go the race was running smoothly with drivers experiencing one of the longest periods of the match, stoppage free. Truex used that to his advantage as he made his move bumping Preece as he accelerated ahead of him into first place. It was his first lead of the night for the 2017 Cup Series champion.

Five laps later Preece dropped to fourth in what he initially thought was an electrical problem.

"The fuel pump (broke). At first, I thought it was the ignition so I shut off my alternator and all my electrical stuff," said Preece. He would drop down to fifth place over the next four laps.

The biggest fireworks of the match happened between Dillon and Wallace with nine laps to go. The two had been playing bumper tag all night and while battling for a position after a restart, Wallace was drilled into the wall by Dillion.

2023 Nascar Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum Auto Racing. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

Wallace's crew chief Bootie Bunker seemed to see the proverbial writing on the wall earlier in the match.

"Everyone's gonna hit everyone. It's gonna come down to a restart," said Bunker.

The crash ended the overall lap leader's chance to win the Clash, causing Wallace to sputter into a last-place finish after he crossed the checkered line at the end of the race.

Wallace was understandably frustrated afterward remaining in his car long after the match during Truex's award ceremony.

"It is what it is. I got to run into the fence by him down the straightaway, on that restart," said a visibly frustrated Wallace. "So I gave him a shot. Then we get dumped. It sucks."

When pressed for more Wallace added, "y'all are looking for something, but I ain't going to give you nothing."

The final seven laps of the race finished without stoppage. Teammates Kyle Busch and Dillon were running second and third the final few laps with Busch selflessly letting Dillon pass with a push, propelling him ahead with a chance to catch Truex.

"I could have gone second but I let Austin go. He was better than us in practice," said the two-time Clash winner Busch. "I thought he could have a shot at trying to get close to (Truex) and I'd push him through to get a one-two finish but never made it there."

Truex held onto taking the checkered flag, winning his first Clash race. Fittingly there was a multi-car pileup behind him seconds later as racers scrambled to the finish.

The race featured 16 cautions, with a dozen of them happening down the stretch in the second half.

"I think it was really fun to watch the wrecks. Especially since no one got hurt," said Ondriezek. "I came out today because I wanted to experience something new."

The Clash featured a new medal ceremony this year with the top three drivers all being awarded medals. NASCAR typically only celebrates the first-place winner.

The 42-year-old winner Truex had been mulling retirement last year during the offseason after going 15 months without a win.

"Last year was a pretty rough season for us with no wins," said Truex. To come out here and kick it off this way, I'm just really proud of these guys. Tonight it went our way and we made some good adjustments. Just battled through and we found ourselves in the right spot at the end."

Truex had run great all weekend, finishing with some of the fastest heat times during qualifying on Saturday. Former racing legends Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson both picked Truex to win before the race.

"The Nineteen (car) looks really strong. It did a nice job moving through the field this weekend, " said Johnson.

Overall, the Clash at the Coliseum was a success for NASCAR, with an estimated attendance of nearly 60,000, further proving Los Angeles is the sports capital of the world. Great news since NASCAR spent over one million dollars to convert the stadium for the race.

Next up for NASCAR is the Daytona 500 in Florida. It's the Superbowl of auto racing which conveniently takes place the week after the actual Superbowl. Truex will be looking to use his momentum from tonight's Clash to start the new NASCAR season off strong.

The next NASCAR event in Southern California will be in Fontana on February 23 at Auto Club Speedway.