NASCAR Announces 2022 Season-Opening Clash at the Coliseum in Los Angeles

NASCAR’s 2022 season will open with a first – bringing an event to the iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the first time. The Clash at the Coliseum was announced on Tuesday, and will bring NASCAR to the California stadium on Sunday, February 6, 2022.

The race was announced as part of the rollout of NASCAR’s 2022 schedule, with the 2022 Cup Series schedule announced on Wednesday morning. The points-paying event calendar kicks off on February 20 with the Daytona 500, running through the summer and closing with the season-ending championship race on November 6 at Phoenix Raceway.

“We’ve been discussing the Clash for a while, and we’ve had it at the (Daytona) oval for a number of years,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR senior vice president of strategy and innovation. “We moved it to the road course this year, but really wanted to think outside the box as we thought about the Clash in the future — and seeing that it’s an exhibition event, we looked at a number of different places and locations that we could host it at, and ultimately narrowed it down to the L.A. Coliseum.

“I think the large fan base that we have here in Los Angeles, the largest that we actually have in the nation, paired with exciting racing and being here in the downtown Los Angeles market, I think will be really special.”

The Clash at the Coliseum will be the first instance of a prelude event before Daytona taking place away from the Daytona International Speedway. The stadium, located in downtown Los Angeles, features a capacity of over 93,000 fans. Plans are to have a temporary quarter-mile oval track installed for the event, which features a large cash purse rather than championship points as the reward for success – lending itself to a different type of driving from a standard NASCAR event. The track will be the shortest that the Cup series has had in a competition in the modern era.

A demonstration of the track layout at the Coliseum was created by iRacing – check it out below:

Tickets for the Clash at the Coliseum will be available to the general public beginning Thursday, September 16. Presales are happening now for those eligible. Ticket prices start at $65 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under.

2022 NASCAR CUP SERIES SCHEDULE