2022 Busch Clash

The 2022 Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum is an upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race that will be held held on February 6, 2022 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. Contested over 150 laps, it was the first exhibition race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Background
The Coliseum was problematic as an NFL venue. At various times in its history, it was either the largest or one of the largest stadiums in the NFL. While this allowed the Rams and Raiders to set many NFL attendance records, it also made it extremely difficult to sell out. The NFL amended its to allow games to be televised locally if they were sold out 72 hours before kickoff. However, due to the Coliseum's large size, Rams (and later Raiders) games were often blacked out in even in the teams' best years.

Partly due to this, from 1964 to the late 1970s it was common practice to shift the playing field to the closed end of the stadium and install end zone bleachers in front of the peristyle, limiting further the number of seats available for sale. For – and USC- games, which often attracted crowds upward of 90,000, the bleachers were moved eastward and the field was re-marked in its original position. When a larger east grandstand was installed in 1977–1978 at the behest of Rams owner, the capacity was just 71,500. With the upcoming 1984 Summer Olympic Games, a new track was installed and the playing field permanently placed inside it. However, the combination of the stadium's large, relatively shallow design, along with the presence of the track between the playing field and the stands, meant that some of the original end zone seats were as far from the field by the equivalent length of another football field. To address these and other problems, the Coliseum underwent a $15 million renovation before the 1993 football season which included the following.

On September 14, 2021, the NASCAR Cup Series would announce the annual Busch Clash would take place at the Coliseum, at a purpose-made quarter-mile track.

Format and eligibility
The race is 150 laps in length, The race is open to those drivers who won a pole in the 2021 season or had won "The Clash" previously.


 * The event is open for all teams and drivers for the first time in its history.
 * A total of 350 laps in six races.
 * The 36 charter teams and up to four open teams will participate in qualifying. Should more than 40 teams enter the race, it is unknown if qualifying will determine who advances to heat races.
 * Based on lap times, cars are put in one of four heat races of 25 laps each.
 * The top four drivers advance to the feature.
 * All non qualifying drivers are assigned to one of two 50 lap heat races.
 * The top three drivers advance to the feature.
 * The highest driver in 2021 Cup Series points standings not in advances to the feature in the last position.
 * The feature is 150 laps.

Media
FS1 covered the race on the television side; Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer handled the call in the booth for the race; Reporters TBA handled pit road for the television side.