Yahoo Autos Martin Truex Jr. Wins Second-Ever NASCAR Coliseum Exhibition
The NASCAR Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a simple concept: get short track stock car racing into the heart of one of America's biggest cities by building a temporary short track inside of an existing stadium. Last year, the first-ever race in the format was overshadowed by the debut of a revolutionary new car that changed the entire NASCAR Cup Series business model. In the second year of Next Gen, the focus was entirely on the race and its unique format. If the goal was drama and chaos, it certainly did not disappoint.
The final feature race was just 150 laps, but it was slowed constantly by 16 separate cautions. Most were for individual spins, the result of a tight track that encourages passes initiated by contact to the rear bumper and does not punish turning those bump-and-run passes into straightforward intentional wrecks. Twelve of the yellows came after a halftime break for a concert, extending the race well past sunset.
Ahead of all that carnage, Martin Truex Jr. charged forward to take the lead from Ryan Preece with 25 laps to go. Truex built a massive lead and eventually won. Preece, making his debut for Stewart-Haas Racing after a year as the team's reserve driver, eventually faded to seventh.
Behind the leaders, the biggest drama of the night came in a late battle for second between Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, and Bubba Wallace. Wallace cleared Dillon for the position after Busch bumped both while they ran side-by-side, but Dillon hit Wallace in the bumper a corner later and spun him out. New Richard Childress Racing teammates Dillon and Busch would go on to earn the new-for-2023 medals for second and third in the race, while Wallace would finish a disappointing 22nd.
While Truex's win does not actually count for anything in the official series championship, it is his first of any sort in the Next Gen car. Truex and his Joe Gibbs Racing team will hope that it is the first success of many in 2023; after all, Joey Logano's win in this event last year means that every Clash at the Coliseum winner to date has gone on to win the championship later that season.
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