STAGE ISSET FOR COLISEUM CLASH

KevinHarvickhas twice raced a stock carthrough thestreetsofLosAngeles. He watchedMickeyThompson’s supertrucks on television whentheyracedinside theLosAngeles Memorial Coliseum.

ButtheBakersfieldnative hadnever actuallyseen theColiseuminperson,not untilSaturdaywhen NASCAR started itsengines on the 2022 seasonandhe drove his Ford pasttheUSC locker roomandthrough the same tunneltheTrojans use on game days.

Harvicksteered his way onto the asphalt thatnow coversthefamed field.Then he turnedlapsonthe temporary quarter-mile track built insideoneofthemosthallowed venuesinsports.

“Thisis overthe top and looks great,”Harvicksaid.“I don’t think you canscrew it up at this point. The event is here.Theracetrackdidn’t fly up.Practice went good. Thecarsallmadethe corners.People were passing each other You can’tscrew it upatthispoint. You can’t.I am telling you.Therace doesn’t even matter.”

Nope,theBusch Light Clash scheduledfor today is not your grandfather’s race.

Butthisisn’t your grandfather’s oldNASCAR,either. The series has takena freshapproach to its staid scheduling and cookie-cutter tracks,itslatest gamble thismade-for-TVspecial eventattheColiseum. A collaborationbetween NASCAR and Fox Sports, theprojectblew pastits$1 millionbudgetbut guaranteed NASCARsixhoursof live programminganda freshattempt to buildmomentumaheadofthe Feb. 21 season-openingDaytona 500.

The industry has firstday-of-schoolenergy and teamsseem genuinely motivated to perform tonight. NASCAR, claimingitis pleasedwithticketsales, andsaidatthestart ofthis weekthat 70 percentof peoplewhohadboughtseats identifiedas first-time NASCAR attendees.

“We talkaboutthisallthe time the Los Angelesmarket ishuge forus,”saidBen Kennedy the 30-year-old great-grandson of NASCAR’s founderand cur-

GOLFREPORT

BuschLightClash

Today: 3p.m.,L.A.Coliseum Ontheair: Ch. 5/69 rentsenior vicepresidentof strategy andinnovation.

“Thisis a huge opportunity for us to come to Los Angelesanddoitin a different way that we’ve ever done before,”headded,“But to doit two weeks before our biggest eventofthe year theDaytona 500? You think about ‘new and ‘innovative’and ‘bold’thekindof words that are starting to beingrained inour culture.”

Aconcert stage for a preracePitbull show and a performancebyIceCubeat “halftime” was builtalong thePeristyleplaza.Their setswillbeperformedunder theOlympiccauldron torch builtforthe 1932 Summer Games.

The torch is litforspecial events at theColiseum.

It was glowingSaturday, theday before NASCAR’s expensive exhibition.The Clash was heldatDaytona every yearsinceits 1979 inception and ithad beenthe unofficialseason-opener the last40 years.

“Thisisthe typeof event that you need to blow itout of the water atthestart of theseason to get theeyeballs,”Harvick said.“We live indifferent times andtrying new things and having the guts to doitissometimes hard to do, but the rewards are pretty big ontheother sidewhenit works.”

TheClash was alwaysan exhibition appetizer to the Daytona 500 and typicallya preview of “TheGreat AmericanRace.”Butits prestige haddiminished, NASCARlast yearmoved therace to Daytona’s road course,andTheClash stoppedfeelingspecial years ago.

“Thatrace was kindof just goingon, I feellike, to go on,” said reigningCup champion Kyle Larson.“It added a weekofbeingin Daytona all for what?”

Thatenergy changed as soonasNASCAR completed the deal to raceattheColiseum, the centerpieceofboth the 1932 and 1984Summer Gamesandsite ofsomeof the top sportsmomentsin history. TheColiseumin 2028willbecomethe first venue to host three Summer Games.

“Whenthis was first drawnup,I’msure there were a lot ofpeople that probably didn’tthinkit was possible,” Larsonsaid.“It’s added a lot of excitement. It’s given our televisionpartnerssomething to promote differentlythan justusbeing atDaytonaforanother week.It gives us an opportunity to notonlyhave more eyesonthis eventbutalsobe able to promote theDaytona 500 throughthis event.”

ChaseElliott was fastest inSaturday’s practicesession;NASCARdividedthe 36 carsinto three groupsof 12 andeach group was on trackforthree eight-minute sessions.

Single-carqualifyinglaterSaturdayset the lineups forheatracesthatwillbe heldaheadofTheClash today Theheatraceswilldetermine the 23 cars thatadvanceinto TheClash, a 150lapracethatwillbestopped athalfwayfortheIceCube concert.

Winningtherace counts nothing toward the championship thedriverand team get only a trophy anda share ofthepurse

But with the new venue came renewed enthusiasm forwinningtherace.

“Ithinkit wouldbesuper