Joey Logano wins, Kyle Busch disappointed in Clash
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
LOS ANGELES — For all the spectacle of the Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the exhibition race was still, well, a race.
And that means there were winners and losers — at least as much as there can be in a preseason event on a flat, quarter-mile, asphalt track that won’t really relate to anything else NASCAR teams will see the rest of the season.
The driver celebrating in victory lane — the stage below the famous peristyle — obviously was the biggest winner, but it wasn’t just him. For Joey Logano, this was a team victory.
Here are three takeaways from the Clash (and as of this writing, crews are already beginning to move fencing, as NASCAR has two weeks to return the Coliseum to a football field).
'It exceeded expectations' — Bob Pockrass on The Clash at the Coliseum
Logano wins a team effort
Logano wasn’t great in practice Saturday, so the fact that his team was able to work on the car and get it better to the point that he was in position to win Sunday was a big deal.
With this being the first event with NASCAR’s new Next Gen car, that proved even more noteworthy, as all teams are learning how to pivot with this new car when they don’t arrive on point.
"We were 26th on the board," Logano said of practice. "That was me trying really hard to go as fast as I could go. To see everybody come together, not just [my] 22 team, but Team Penske in general, to be able to all lean on each other, what we learned in practice, [we] ultimately put together a really good package to where it qualified well.
"We were able to win our heat race, keep track position, be good on the long run, which was a bit surprising to me."
'It's changing the game!' — Joey Logano describes the potential impact of the Clash at the Coliseum
Kyle Busch nearly goes back-to-back
Busch won the Clash last year, when Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott tangled on the final lap at the Daytona road course.
This time, he was the fastest in qualifying and won his heat race to sit on the pole for the main event. He led 64 laps before Logano passed him with 35 laps remaining.
Busch had pushed his equipment so hard to try to retake the lead that he didn’t have the grip in his tires to make the move.
"I was being perfect, doing everything I needed to do [and] keep the tires underneath me," Busch said. "When I got close, I was like, ‘OK, I’ve got to try more and pounce at an opportunity and just overheated the tires and smoked them in three laps, and that was it.’
"Disappointing."
FINAL LAPS: Joey Logano wins The Clash at the Coliseum | NASCAR on FOX
Temper, temper
Blaney was so angry with Erik Jones that he took a piece of equipment that keeps his neck from stretching during an accident and threw it at Jones’ car.
It was a rare showing of emotion from Blaney.
"He destroyed me for seventh," Blaney said. "It doesn’t really make any sense. ... I was kind of just riding around and just run in the back of you and killed our car. Yeah, I was mad, but you’ll have that."
Jones thought the way he raced Blaney was justified. He said Blaney brake-checked him — slammed on his brake to ruin Jones’ momentum by forcing Jones to do the same.
"He brake-checked me off of [Turn 4]. OK, no real reason," Jones said. "I didn't appreciate that. I felt like I showed it on the track. ... I was frustrated with the move that he made. That's what happened."
NASCAR executive Ben Kennedy evaluates the Clash and whether it could return to L.A.
Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!
