Ten years after its first 24 Hours of Daytona victory, Meyer Shank Racing won its second with Hélio Castroneves, Oliver Jarvis and Tom Blomqvist. Robert Wickens returned to competition and was third in the TCR class in the Michelin Pilot Challenge season opener from Daytona. Mark Wilkins deserves recognition for his final stint in the #33 Hyundai after swapping with Wickens. Colton Herta is going to Sweden. More NASCAR races are in Joey Hand's future. Kimi Räikkönen will be team principal for Kawasaki's Motocross World Championship team. Oliver Askew said Formula E was the "most fun I've had." Eat it, IndyCar. Dan Ticktum is already being blamed for things in his new series. Here is a rundown of what got me thinking.
Getting the Most Out of It
NASCAR's most anticipated event in the last year because NASCAR comes up with an anticipated event every season, whether it deserves it or not, is almost here!
This time the anticipation is deserved with NASCAR's Clash moving to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It is the first time NASCAR has raced in a true stadium in over 50 years and it is one of the most historic in the United States.
We do not know how this race will turn out, but it is something we have never seen in contemporary NASCAR, plus it is the debut race for the new car. There is plenty to be excited about. There is one problem. The NASCAR race is the only event taking place. Over a million dollars has been spent to convert a football stadium into a racetrack, and it will get used for one event in terms of a race.
This is NASCAR's event, but this has been compared to the NHL's Winter Classic, when a hockey game is brought outside to a stadium, football or baseball. While the Winter Classic is the main event, these rinks do play host to other games. It becomes a weekend, or even week or in some cases weeks of hockey. There have been alumni games for the two NHL teams playing. College rivalries are played. Even high school teams get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to not only play outside but play outside in a historic stadium! It is a great way for the sport of hockey to shine from the highest level to the developing stars of tomorrow in that local area. It becomes a community event.
For NASCAR, only the Cup guys will get on the track. This is year one, and in fairness, the first Winter Classic in Buffalo only had the NHL game. The extra events have come in the years since, but in the future, NASCAR should take advantage of this track and turn it into a week of racing and give other series a chance. I even have a few suggestions.
Midget Car Race
We are fresh off the Chili Bowl, arguably the most important midget car race in the United States, and the Clash oval is a quarter-mile. The Chili Bowl is a quarter-mile, albeit a dirt oval. Midget cars are used to running on a track that small, and we see midget car races take place in arenas across the Midwest and other parts of the United States during the winter months.
This is set up for a midget car race. Make it one night, and an invitational. We don't need 400 cars entering this like the Chili Bowl. Invite the top 50 or 75 midget car drivers in the world. Have five heat races, take the top three from each for the A-Main, and then break up the remaining 35 to 60 drivers into mains and have a smaller bowl of alphabet soup before determining an A-Main winner.
Legends Car Race
Same vain as a midget car race. Legend cars are made for quarter-mile ovals. Invite the top 50 or 75, run some heats, have some preliminary main events, and then have an A-Main to decide the best of them all.
I am not sure how popular Legend cars are in California. It does seem to be something that has stuck to the Speedway Motorsports Inc. tracks (i.e. Charlotte and Atlanta) and has not grabbed the same national traction that you would think it would have. There are some Legend cars in California, but I am not sure enough to become a big event and I am not sure teams are going to cross the country unless there is a big prize for winning it all.
NASCAR Modifieds
Same as midget cars and Legends cars. Modifieds run quarter-miles. The series runs the quarter-mile Riverhead Raceway on Long Island. This Clash event could be the season opener. Like Legends cars, I am not sure the modified teams would want to travel across the country for one race, unless it was a massive prize. The furthest west the modified series will go in 2022 is New Smyrna, Florida! Can you believe it? I looked it up. New Smyrna is at 80.9270º W while Martinsville is at 79.8725º W, only 1.0545º further west, which is about 55 miles!
Anyway, nobody considers a trip to New Smyrna Beach, Florida a trip out west. That gives you an idea how much of an Eastern series the modifieds are.
It sounds great, but logistics might make it unfeasible. Even though it might be the best possible race of the weekend.
NASCAR West or East Series Race
Or ARCA West or East Series, whatever they are called now. NASCAR's regional series are used to running on quarter-mile ovals. This would just be another race for these series, but it would be a great season opener for these cars. It could be a 100-lap race, a few Cup guys could enter, and it would be a fun preliminary event. It would give some drivers that don't normally get such a spotlight onto a bigger stage. NASCAR should want to give its developing drivers and local heroes a moment in the sun.
Celebrity Race
Los Angeles is known for being the playground for the rich and famous. With it being in their backyard, NASCAR should bring get a dozen celebrities and hold a 25-lap. The Grand Prix of Long Beach once held a celebrity race. This would be contained and require less training.
I am not sure what car could be used. I am sure they could get a few Toyota Camrys and make those safe enough to race.
Go-Kart Race
Find a local rent-a-kart place and get a dozen or two-dozen to race. A quarter-mile is plenty small enough for a 15-minute race. I want to see the actual Cup guys race these. But I would also make it open for one fan to race against the Cup guys. Set aside a day, have all the people who sign up qualify and race and the winner of that competition would get to run against 20 Cup drivers and get the chance of a lifetime.
It would be the most neutral race and would be the one chance to truly decide who is the best driver in NASCAR.
Formula E Race
You are probably wondering how Formula E and NASCAR cross paths, and they do not, but it would make a lot of sense for Formula E to run in a stadium.
1. Formula E should run an oval event. There is no point in why it shouldn't. It needs to broaden its identity.
2. A quarter-mile would be small enough and slow enough that I do not think Formula E would have to worry about a horrific accident. Formula E cars are just glorified go-karts anyway.
3. Formula E's goal is running in city centers. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum could not be any more centered in a city. I understand Formula E wants street races, mostly because it does not have the vision beyond following what every other single-seater series has done before it, but this could be something different for Formula E. A 45-minute sprint race around a quarter-mile stadium course.
If NASCAR can fit 23 cars on track, Formula E can fit 20 cars. It would be different, the drivers would get to do something different, and I think it would be a lot of fun. The drivers would get a kick out of it for sure.
We don't know the future of this race, if it will remain in a stadium and possibly go around the country following the Super Bowl wherever it is held, or if it will return to a proper racetrack, possibly Daytona, but if NASCAR does this in the future, it should be more than the Cup Series with a practice day and race day. If it is going to cost a million dollars a year to convert a stadium into a racetrack, it should be a racetrack for more than two nights and be for more than one series
It should be at least four days of action, Thursday through Sunday, with a different series featured each night. The track was ready this past weekend. It could be two weekends, six days of action, Friday through Sunday each weekend, building up to the Cup race. That might be overkill, but this should be more than the Cup Series for two days. More than 36 drivers should get the chance to say they raced in the stadium.
If stadiums are the future for the Clash, NASCAR should expand the weekend and truly reach out to the grassroot series, making it an inclusive event that raises all boats.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Meyer Shank Racing, but did you know...
The #81 DragonSpeed Oreca-Gibson of Colton Herta, Patricio O'Ward, Devlin DeFrancesco and Eric Lux won the 24 Hours of Daytona in the LMP2. The #74 Riley Motorsports Ligier-Nissan of Gar Robinson, Felipe Fraga, Michael Cooper and Kay van Berlo won in LMP3. The #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche of Matt Campbell, Mathieu Jaminet and Felipe Nasr won in GTD Pro. The #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Jan Heylen, Ryan Hardwick, Zachary Robichon and Richard Lietz won in GTD.
Nyck de Vries and Edoardo Mortara split the Riyadh ePrix races.
Eli Tomac won the Supercross race from Anaheim, the fourth different winner in four races this season.
Coming Up This Weekend
NASCAR's Clash from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Race of Champions from Sweden.
The delayed Kyalami 9 Hours.
Supercross will be in Glendale, Arizona.
