NASCAR Cup Series
Clash at the Coliseum highlights: Truex Jr. wins opening race of NASCAR season
NASCAR Cup Series

Clash at the Coliseum highlights: Truex Jr. wins opening race of NASCAR season

Updated Feb. 6, 2023 12:18 p.m. ET

The Clash returned on Sunday to open the NASCAR season. 

Martin Truex Jr. emerged victorious in the second-ever Clash at the Coliseum race at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Sunday, winning the 37.5-mile race that aired on FOX.

Here are the top moments!

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Clash at The Coliseum

Start your engines!

Rob Lowe got us ready to go at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The green flag is up!

USC QB Caleb Williams was at his home stadium to be the honorary starter for Sunday's race and waved the green flag to officially get the race started.

Blaney takes a spin

Ryan Blaney spun around on turn four to put him a lap down early in the race.

Bubba Wallace takes early lead

Wallace gave his 23XI Racing boss Denny Hamlin a little bump to take the lead over Martin Truex Jr.

Ross Chastain, Hamlin collide

Nearing the halfway mark of the race, Chastain and Hamlin collided to force a pause in the action, as the two were racing for 12th place.

Wallace still leads halfway through

Wallace was in front of Truex Jr., Austin Dillon, William Byron and Tyler Reddick at the halfway mark of The Clash. 

Two cautions in two laps

In the first two laps after the race restarted, a caution was called Ty Gibbs and Kevin Harvick both spun around.

Red flag goes up with 69 laps to go

Gibbs' car ended up in the infield, likely ending his night, to bring up the red flag. Wallace still leads but Ryan Preece moved into second.

A new leader in front

Preece continued to make his way to the front, moving past Wallace to take the lead with 65 laps left. Alex Bowman moved into second while Wallace fell to third.

More like Caution at The Coliseum 

The second half of the race was filled with cautions, as Blaney spun around with 37 laps to go for the 14th caution of the night.

A new leader emerges

Truex Jr. passed Preece with 25 laps remaining and got a good lead in front of him as the race entered the home stretch.

Tangle near the top

Dillon and Wallace tried to make their move to pass Truex Jr. to take the lead with eight laps left, but as both drivers tried to fight to get to the front, they ended up getting tangled up.

Truex Jr. wins!

Truex Jr. didn't look back after taking the lead with 25 laps remaining, driving steady the remainder of the way to win the race. Dillon finished in second and Kyle Busch finished in third. Preece finished in seventh after leading the race for the longest time at 43 laps. Wallace, who led the race for 40 laps, finished in 22nd following the tangle with eight laps remaining. 

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