The decision was courageous and unprecedented, and it found favor with the NASCAR Cup Series drivers scheduled to race in Sunday’s Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum.
Because of a dire weather forecast for Sunday and several days beyond, NASCAR opted to move the season-opening exhibition race to Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. NASCAR made the move after consultation with its FOX Sports television partners and the management of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Kyle Busch was vocal in his praise of the decision, which ultimately was governed by potential public safety issues from heavy rains and possible flooding.
“No question—I think today is an unprecedented mark in our sport and one that I think all of us will applaud NASCAR and FOX and everybody on for giving us a chance to get a race in today,” Busch said. “I don’t know if we would have been able to do it before Wednesday. And would we even have been here on Wednesday?
“This is the best chance that we had, and I feel like it was a very good move.”
Busch, who finished second and third, respectively, in the first two editions of the Clash at the Coliseum, didn’t think the revised schedule would have a negative effect on the performance of his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
“You better be ready when you get here,” Busch said. “It’s all good. It’s already done, so (we’re) ready for what we have in store for today—just get out there on the track, run some practice laps, get some qualifying laps in hopefully that are good and get us in the top 22 to be in the show and from there, go race it out.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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