Denny Hamlin may have won the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, but he’s of the opinion that NASCAR should change the event for 2025.
Evidently, the Joe Gibbs Racing wheelman, who doubles as the co-owner of 23XI Racing, believes the cost of running The Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum simply isn’t worth it, coupled with the lack of practice for the Daytona 500 it causes. He thinks it’s time to retire the event, and leave it in the past.
“I don’t know. Certainly, I feel like that’s the chatter today. Everyone’s kind of just moved on from what’s happened (Saturday), and what now? They want to know what now. I don’t know what now. I gave my opinion on the financials, I think it should pay as much as a normal race. That would make me more open to go anywhere, as far as that’s concerned. I don’t know. We mentioned on the podcast last week, when you took it from Daytona, it took away from the storylines a little bit,” Hamlin explained, in the days following his victory, via his Actions Detrimental podcast. “There was always a correlation of, the person that wins The Clash, or someone who looks strong or leads The Clash at Daytona, they’re going to be the ones to beat for the Daytona 500. Now, we don’t know, until qualifying, like who’s car is going to be fast, and with the lack of practice that we have now for the 500, it makes even more sense to be at Daytona. But there’s no way I want to go tear up multiple cars at 23XII, financially.
“The old model just doesn’t work. It just costs too much money for us to go tear up a bunch of cars, if it was back at Daytona. I don’t know the answer. … I’d probably vote that we did not have The Clash, and that we’d run more practice before the 500. I think that’s a better use of resources. I think that’s a better build up to the 500. The negative to it is you’re losing a race and an event on TV that has had two or three million viewers, so I don’t know how you make up for that.”
Alas, Hamlin’s opinion mimics that of many drivers and fans. The shine has worn off of The Clash being held inside a football stadium. It’s certainly a sight, but perhaps NASCAR would be better served moving it back to Daytona, if they hold it at all.
Time will tell what the decision-makers decide, but Denny Hamlin has never been one to shy away from giving his opinion, and he remains steadfast in his views, even after winning the event on Saturday.
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