The season-opening Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum in Los Angeles on Sunday will take place on a quarter-mile asphalt oval that will be built around the stadium’s football field.
The exhibition race (6 p.m. ET, FOX) is being held outside of Daytona International Speedway for the first time since its inception in 1979 and will provide a first competitive look at the Next Gen car.
Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott are the co-favorites at +600 by BetMGM, followed by Martin Truex Jr. (+700) and Kyle Busch (+800).
Larson has been the clear public favorite, drawing 13.8 percent of the tickets and 45.8 percent of the money wagered on the race at the sportsbook. The next-closest drivers have been Busch with 6.4 percent of the tickets and Elliott with 8.2 percent of the money wagered on the winner.
Other popular bets have included Alex Bowman and Brad Keselowski, who have both drawn 5.7 percent of the total bets at +2000. Meanwhile, Truex Jr. has been backed by 5.0 percent of the money.
Cup Series cars will practice and qualify on Saturday to determine starting positions for four 25-lap heat races on Sunday, with the top four finishers in each heat advancing to the main event. Two 50-lap last-chance qualifiers will follow the heats to complete the 23-driver field for the Clash.
The top three finishers in the last-chance qualifiers will advance to the Clash, with the final spot in the field awarded to the highest finisher in 2021 points not yet qualified.
The Clash will run in two segments of 75 laps each. Only green-flag laps are scored.
Even for a veteran driver like 2017 Cup champion Truex Jr., racing at the Coliseum will be a novel experience.
“Thinking about it, I’m not sure I’ve raced a stock car on a track this small, and obviously, we’ve never raced the Next Gen car, so it’s going to be interesting,” Truex said. “The cool thing is it’s going to be a lot of fun to do something fun, and there’s a lot of excitement around it as well.
“I think everybody is anxious to get out there — get on track — and see what we can do, and hopefully it turns into a fun event for the drivers. I’ll enjoy it, and usually when I enjoy it, we run well. I’m excited about it, and it should be good.”
Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron got an early look at the track on the virtual iRacing platform, an essential component in the development of the new racing facility. How that translates to reality remains to be seen.
“They came to me back in I think August/September to ask me about the track and what I thought, so I got a chance to run a few laps on it and kind of get a feel for it,” Byron said. “Definitely a cool track, and I feel like it’s got a lot of potential. Pretty cool to see it all come together through iRacing, so that’s pretty neat. Hopefully it turns out good for the fans.”
The 150-lap race will cover 37.5 miles an includes a stage break after 75 laps.
–Field Level Media (NASCAR Wire Service contributed to this story)