NASCAR Clash at the Coliseum in Los Angeles moved to Saturday night. New TV info, odds
NASCAR Cup Series drivers will officially jump behind the wheel for the first time in 2024 tonight.
For the third straight year, the Cup Series begins its season with the exhibition Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum (8 tonight, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR) race in Los Angeles.
The race was moved to tonight because of expected rain in the Los Angeles area Sunday. It will now be televised on FS1.
NASCAR’s Mexico Series will also open its season tonight following the completion of the Clash, marking the series’ second race in the United States.
Martin Truex Jr., now the Cup Series’ oldest full-time driver at 43, won last year’s Clash. With 48-year-old Kevin Harvick now retired, Truex and Denny Hamlin (also age 43) become the oldest drivers in the Cup Series.
Last year’s regular season champion, Truex bowed out of last year’s playoffs with an engine issue at Martinsville in the penultimate race.
Joe Gibbs Racing has 11 victories at the Clash
Including Truex, this season-opening exhibition race has been won by a Joe Gibbs Racing driver 11 times.
Hamlin won NASCAR’s Clash, which had been held at Daytona from 1979 to 2021, in 2006, 2014 and 2016. Kyle Busch, now 38 and with Richard Childress Racing, won it in 2012 and 2021. Tony Stewart won a trio of Clashes in the early 2000s, and Erik Jones won the 2020 race.
Christopher Bell is the only JGR driver coming off a Championship 4 appearance. Bell, 29, led the Cup Series with six poles last year.
40 years of Hendrick Motorsports
Hendrick Motorsports, the 14-time Cup champion team that was founded in 1984, is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
Kyle Larson, 31 and the oldest driver in last year’s Championship 4, is a California native and finished fifth at the Clash in both 2022 and 2023. William Byron is the only driver who’s run in the top 10 for all 300 laps across both races.
Chase Elliott was voted NASCAR’s most popular driver for the sixth year in a row last season, despite missing time to injury and suspension. Alex Bowman is also looking to bounce back after missing time last year with a fractured vertebra.
Berry, Gragson lead new-look Stewart-Haas Racing
Josh Berry will now drive SHR’s No. 4 Ford Mustang after Harvick’s retirement. Harvick will broadcast races for FOX Sports.
Noah Gragson, who was reinstated following an indefinite suspension and subsequent release from Legacy Motor Club, will pilot the No. 10 after Aric Almirola’s departure from full-time racing.
Mexico Series to race in United States for the second time
The NASCAR Mexico Series will also open its 2024 season tonight at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
The race (FS2, FOX Deportes, MRN) will be the series’ first in California and second in the United States after a 2013 race in Phoenix. Trackhouse Racing veteran Daniel Suarez dreamed of reaching this series when growing up in Monterrey, Mexico, which sparked the Mexico native’s unprecedented Cup career.
“This is a tremendous win for our fans and our sport,” Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s senior vice president of racing development and strategy, said in a release. “Not only will the fans see the stars of the NASCAR Cup Series in action, but they will also bear witness to the talent and skill that is found within the NASCAR Mexico Series. I can’t think of a better way to begin our 2024 season.”
Odds for the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum
As of Saturday afternoon, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin were the favorites at +900 odds, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. Martin Truex Jr. has +1000 odds to repeat.
How to watch the Cup Series race
Race: Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum
Place: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Date: Tonight
Time: 8 p.m.
Purse: $2,210,000
TV: FS1
Streaming: Fox Sports
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 37.5 miles (150 laps)
Stages: No stage breaks
This story was originally published February 3, 2024 at 5:30 AM with the headline "NASCAR Clash at the Coliseum in Los Angeles moved to Saturday night. New TV info, odds."