While it was the No. 19 Toyota TRD Camry of Martin Truex Jr. in Victory Lane during the 2023 Clash at the Coliseum on February 5th, Truex was joined by two NASCAR Chevy drivers on the podium in Los Angeles. Kyle Busch put on a valiant charge from the back of the field to finish third in the No. 8 Chevy Camaro ZL1, and his Richard Childress Racing teammate, Austin Dillon, eked just ahead of him to capture third place in the No. 3 Camaro.
Kyle Busch, driver of No. 8 NASCAR Chevy (left), Martin Truex Jr., driver of No. 19 Camry (middle), and Austin Dillon, driver of No. 3 NASCAR Chevy (right)
Despite his second-place effort, Busch was far from pleased with the quality of racing he experienced on the temporary quarter-mile oval track built within the Los Angeles Coliseum for the event. “Last year’s show I felt like was relatively clean and good racing, some bumping, some banging, but we could run long stretches of green-flag action,” he said in a post-race interview, “where today was I would call it a disaster with the disrespect from everybody of just driving through each other and not just letting everything kind of work its way out.”
Busch was particularly displeased with Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Ford Mustang, who spun Busch’s No. 8 NASCAR Chevy out midway through the race. Logano, however, wound up finishing 17th. In an interview on SiriusXM, Busch accused Logano of being “two-faced.” He explained, “[Logano and I] were in the TV booth earlier in the night together and when we were all done with that he was like, ‘Hey man, good luck tonight’ and I said, ‘Great, thanks, yeah. Whatever.’ And then lo and behold, there you go, he wrecks me.”
Meanwhile, Dillon’s No. 3 Camaro also found trouble with a competitor, Bubba Wallace, driver of the No. 23 Camry. Wallace and Dillon got together late in the race while racing near the front, sending the No. 23 Camry plummeting through the field and eliminating his chances of winning.
“Obviously, Bubba knocked me through the corner,” Dillon said. “I was going to hit him back. Didn’t mean to turn him like that but when it gets down to the end, I think everybody knows what’s going on and that’s what you see at places like this and [North Carolina short track] Bowman Gray Stadium.”
There were 16 cautions during the event. For comparison, the 2022 Clash was slowed by yellow flags only five times. Overall, it was a decent night for the NASCAR Chevy teams. Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Camaro and Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Camaro finished fourth and fifth respectively, meaning race winner Truex’s No. 19 Camry was the only non-Bow Tie racer to finish in the top five.
As a reminder, the Clash at the Coliseum is an exhibition event, and drivers do not accrue points toward the NASCAR Playoffs.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 150 | 25 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 2 | 10 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Get Bioethanol Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 3 | 6 | 8 | Kyle Busch | BetMGM Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 5 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 5 | 14 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 6 | 11 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | MoneyLion Toyota | 150 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 7 | 16 | 41 | Ryan Preece | United Rentals Ford | 150 | 43 | Ford Mustang |
| 8 | 12 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota | 150 | 26 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 10 | 4 | 24 | William Byron | RaptorTough.com Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 11 | 9 | 31 | Justin Haley | Celsius Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 12 | 18 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Busch Light Ford | 150 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 13 | 23 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Interstate Batteries Toyota | 150 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 14 | 13 | 42 | Noah Gragson # | Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 15 | 7 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 150 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 16 | 17 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 150 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 17 | 15 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Great Lakes Flooring Ford | 150 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 18 | 1 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 150 | 16 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 19 | 19 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Jockey Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 26 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Action Industries Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 21 | 22 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 22 | 8 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | DoorDash Toyota | 150 | 40 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 23 | 25 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | gener8tor Skills Ford | 140 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 24 | 21 | 34 | Michael McDowell | FR8Auctions.com Ford | 137 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 25 | 27 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Freightliner Ford | 106 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 24 | 54 | Ty Gibbs # | Monster Energy Toyota | 81 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 27 | 20 | 43 | Erik Jones | Allegiant Chevrolet | 16 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
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Comments
Stupid venue. Stop with the concert at ‘half-time ‘. Crowd looked pretty sparce. Typical NASCAR theater.
Sad how lame present society has become and how everything is so glamourized and commercialized ! that race made me want to stop watching tv and leave the country ! 🤡
hahahahahaha. Racecars are literally rolling billboards and you’re mad about the sport being “commercialized?”
I will admit, I seldom watch NASCAR races so my opinion may be irrelevant here, maybe seen 20-30 in my lifetime. To me, this event was by far the dumbest oval race I have ever attempted to watch. Between so many cautions and the halftime show, and the little amount of time I was willing to give to this, I changed the channel so many times that it was good marketing for other networks.
Bring it back to Daytona where it belongs to start the beginning of speedweek. Also to keep it interesting run it on the road course like the Rolex 24 hr. Way more interesting and can actually see a race of cars going faster than 70mph.
The most wasted money spent on a worthless Nascar race followed by the Bristol dirt track race. Everyone I’ve spoken to said they could only take about 10 minutes at a time before being discussed with it. NASCAR had better wake up before it’s too late! Tomg
I watched it last year just to see what it was about, meh. This is a stupid idea for a race. Musical acts and half time shows are not NASCAR. Quit trying to make it into something it’s not just to boost ratings. Is it working? And speaking of which, where are all the fans? NASCAR jumped the shark (years ago).
“Kyle Busch put on a valiant charge from the back of the field to finish second in the No. 8 Chevy Camaro ZL1, and his Richard Childress Racing teammate, Austin Dillon, captured third place in the No. 3 Camaro.” Sorry, but Austin Dillion actually finished 2nd and Kyle Busch finished 3rd. You might want to correct this.
Last year NASCAR indicated this was a big success. Personally, I don’t think it’s worth attending. The Clash will probably move to the Auto Club Speedway once it’s converted to a half-mile short track. Until then we’re stuck with the Collisium.
I also heard it costs them $1 million dollars to pave the stadium and them rip it all up after. Doesn’t seem to be the best way to go green in this day and age.
Worst race ever and in a town that could care less and few fans.
How about bringing cup to Mid Ohio where real race fans show up in greater numbers on a real track.
y’all want short track racing, y’all want beating and banging and mad drivers, and then you get it and y’all get pissed off. there’s no pleasing you boomers is there? sorry but you’re not the future of the sport, the Clash was awesome and me and my non-NASCAR friends absolutely loved it. but y’all go off lol
Booker approves of the nascar freakshow.
You probably enjoyed watching the Grammy awards show too.
The mix at Daytona of super speedway and road course is the best setup there is!
the grammys were on? lmao
I like watching cars go fast in a circle. if that’s on, I’m happy, no matter the venue. yall just like complaining.
I am going to be giving my age away here but when I was a young kid growing up in the early sixties my dad would take me and my older brother to the Oakland Auditorium in Oakland Calif. to watch the midget races which where a lot more exciting to watch than these guy’s where. And if you look at the first level of seating was blocked off for safety reasons.