NASCAR has completed the second running of the Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum after Martin Truex Jr. claimed the gold medal over the new Richard Childress Racing duo of Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch.
It was an electric event that featured 16 cautions which were due to the aggressiveness of drivers in the second half of the event. With the news that Auto Club Speedway won’t hold a race during the 2024 season, the Clash at The Coliseum has been coming up in conversations.
Would the NASCAR Cup Series go to The Coliseum for a points-paying race in the second event of the season after the 2024 Daytona 500? This is what some drivers said about the idea of it possibly happening.
Related: Kyle Busch calls out Joey Logano for dumping him at the Busch Light Clash
NASCAR drivers argue against the Clash of the Coliseum becoming a points race in 2024
Auto Club Speedway will not host a NASCAR event during the 2024 season after making the very questionable decision to convert the exciting two-mile track into a 0.5-mile short track with characteristics of Bristol and Martinsville.
Due to this situation, NASCAR will lack a points-paying race in California outside of Sonoma Raceway in the summer. The debate of the weekend was whether The Coliseum should become a points race in 2024.
Starting with the winner of this year’s event, Truex said he wouldn’t understand why NASCAR would change it to a points race and ruin something that is working so well. Truex’s crew chief, James Small, also thinks it should continue to be an exhibition event.
The New Jersey native’s teammate Denny Hamlin said it “would be perfect” if NASCAR decided to put The Coliseum in the playoffs. Obviously, Hamlin was being sarcastic with the tally up to another denial of making it a points race.
Joey Logano, the 2022 Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum winner, was more vocal about the idea of The Coliseum being a points race when he spoke to NBC Sports’ Dustin Long.
No, we can’t do that. You’re going to fit 40 cars out there? We can’t even make a caution lap without the pace car bumping the last-place car…No, you can’t do that. That’d be dumb.”
Joey Logano on the idea of The Coliseum hosting a points race in 2024
It is clear that none of the drivers want The Coliseum to host a points race and that is the exact right response. There is no reason to make it a points race and it would be an even bigger mess with 36 cars on the track.
The Busch Light Clash will almost certainly return to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum next season because it was a three-year contract. Unless the contract is broken, it should already be penciled on the schedule in some shape or form.
NASCAR has a great thing going with the Busch Light Clash and there is no reason to ruin it. In the end, it would be a very shocking development if the sport decided to change it.