Roger Diez: Clash at the Coliseum more like 'crash'

Last weekend’s Busch Clash at the L.A. Coliseum was certainly different from last year’s inaugural event. Most notable was the level of aggression, with 16 caution flags this year as opposed to five 2022.

The 2022 Clash was the first outing for the Next Gen car and drivers weren’t sure of what to expect. Cars and parts were in short supply, and with the Daytona 500 coming up teams were wary of taking too many risks. After a year’s experience with the new car, drivers were ready to let it all hang out. In fact, the early part of second half resembled a local short track race, with the field seemingly unable to run two consecutive laps without a caution. With limited passing lanes, many drivers opted to drive through the car in front rather than around, resulting in some hard feelings that may carry over into the season.

But the fastest car prevailed in the end, as Martin Truex Jr. drove the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to the win ahead of the Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets of Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch.

With all the cautions, the average speed of the race dropped to 21.831 mph, not much faster than the Olympic foot races that are part of the facility’s history. And in a nod to those previous events at the Coliseum, a medal ceremony after the race bestowed gold, silver, and bronze medals on the top three finishers. I haven’t seen the TV ratings for the event yet, but the grandstands were noticeably less full than last year, possibly signaling that Southern California’s attention span is even shorter than we thought.

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NASCAR has made some changes to the new car for 2023, redesigning the chassis to provide more “crush” in the event of a rear impact with the wall. This should lessen the danger of concussion that was an issue last year. Larry McReynolds provided an excellent animated demonstration of the changes during one of the many caution periods. If you saved your recording of the race, that segment is worth replaying.

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Next up for NASCAR will be the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 19. That event couldn’t be more different than last weekend’s race, as the Cup cars transition from a quarter-mile flat bullring to a 2.5-mile, high-banked superspeedway. Leading up to the big race will be the two qualifying Duels on Thursday, Feb. 16 with the Camping World Truck series on Friday, Feb. 17 and the Xfinity series Saturday, Feb. 18.

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There’s some big news on the Formula One front. Ford Motor Co., has announced its return to F1 in 2026 providing engines to the Red Bull and Alpha Tauri teams. Ford has an illustrious F1 history in conjunction with Cosworth Engineering.

Lotus founder Colin Chapman was the driving force in the development of the Ford Cosworth DFV V8 engine when Formula 1 changed the engine specs from 1.5 liters to 3 liters (183 cubic inches) in 1966. The naturally aspirated DFV debuted as an exclusive engine for the Lotus team but was soon made available to other teams and dominated the series from the late 1960s through the early ‘80s. It powered Lotus, McLaren, Williams, Tyrell, and Matra to constructors’ championships and won driving titles for Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, and others. until the F1 engine formula incorporated turbochargers.

Today’s hybrid Formula One power units are a far different animal than the venerable Ford Cosworth DFV, and it remains to be seen whether Red Bull’s recently formed engine company, Red Bull Powertrains, will be able to duplicate the success of Cosworth Engineering back in the day.