A historic forecast indeed called for a historic decision.
With an atmospheric river capable of generating a potential life-threatening flooding situation on Sunday, NASCAR has made the decision to run the entirety of the preseason Busch Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday night.
The entire program will air on FS1.
The heat races and last chance race have been canceled. The field will be set by the qualifying portion of the third practice session. The fastest 22 cars will make the field on speed and a provisional 23rd starter will go to the driver highest in points last season to have not qualified in on time.
The NASCAR Mexico Series race is scheduled to run after the Cup Series race.
For fans who had tickets to Sunday, which also included a Machine Gun Kelly concert, NASCAR will offer a full refund. Admittance into Saturday night is free for anyone to attend.
NASCAR offered the following statement:
“Due to the threat of unprecedented severe weather on Sunday, the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Mexico Series race events for the Clash have been moved to Saturday night. Thanks to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and Los Angeles Public Safety for their partnership and support to make the schedule adjustment for tonight’s event to ensure a safe experience for fans, competitors, and staff. We understand weather conditions may worsen as the day progresses, so we encourage fans to make decisions in the best interest of safety. We appreciate our fans, partners, and everyone associated with this event on this unprecedented event.”
It’s the first time that NASCAR has moved up the entire race by a day to avoid inclement weather. The forecast calls for rain to begin late on Saturday night at Los Angeles and continue for days. A region that averages 14 inches of rain a year is set to get that much in a 10 day period to begin this month.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.