Insider Believes NASCAR Has the Opportunity to Make the “Big Bold Move” After Years of Deliberation

The Busch Light Clash exhibition event by NASCAR was brought into action to cater to a long-term vision. A vision to promote the historic American Motorsport to a wider audience. It’s often said that NASCAR is not the entity or powerhouse it once used to be during the golden days. While it is true that the sport has seen better days, by no means has it lost its charm or appeal. Moreover, NASCAR has put certain plans in motion to bring the ‘glory days’ back.

Breaking away from its traditional approach, the Busch Light Clash at Coliseum indeed served its purpose, but change is now imminent after three years. NASCAR has thought about an international move, and the Clash reported to move away from the Coliseum could pave the way to implementing those major changes. Speaking of the international market and exposure for NASCAR, an insider believes the Clash event could be headed to Mexico or Canada. Thus fulfilling the promise and branching out to be more than just an American sporting series.

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The 2024 Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum did not go as planned. NASCAR was forced to have the event a day earlier, leading to chaos and confusion amongst the fans. While they managed to put on a good show with a fraction of fans in attendance, the Coliseum has run its course to serve as the venue for the exhibition event. With the Clash now looking for its new home, NBC’s Dustin Long feels like this could well put NASCAR’s big plans about going international into motion.

Speaking on GoPRN Live, Long said, “NASCAR continues to talk about being international. Obviously, there was a lot of talk last year about the potential of the race this season in Canada and Montreal, didn’t work out. What if you could add a race, the Clash in Mexico and maybe get to Montreal next year and have three countries as opposed to just being in the US. That would be a big bold move for NASCAR with the schedule.”

“Steve Phelps has talked about continuing to make the schedule dynamic and creating events. Certainly, a Clash outside the country would do that and if you could race in Montreal or someplace in Canada, for as hungry as the Canadian fans are that could be a big win for the sport as well.” Long was also of the opinion that rather than sticking to traditional venues, a move to Mexico for the Clash would make sense.

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An exhibition event like the Clash has more to it than just monetary gains and getting TV ratings. It is about the idea of attracting a new audience and promoting the iconic motorsport series.

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The Clash at the Coliseum served its purpose despite taking a financial hit

It was a commendable job by NASCAR to put out the Clash event against unprecedented challenges. While Denny Hamlin did take home the prize money, it was NASCAR who bore the brunt of moving the event ahead of schedule and its financial ramifications. However, the idea of moving the Clash to Los Angeles was not to gain financial profits; instead, NASCAR was looking to tap into the diverse culture of the city and gain more fans from the unique event.

Explaining the intent and purpose behind the vent like Clash event, Long added, “I don’t think this was much of a money-making endeavor in terms of the Clash. It’s just trying to prove that you could do something different, especially the first year, trying to get a new audience and trying to play a long-term game. So the first year you gained a lot of new fans and they became NASCAR fans. Then that’s a win.”

“It just kind of grows organically like that. And I think that’s one of those things that is the benefit of this Clash. You can try different things like that and now it leads to the question of what do they do next, what are the options(…) I think there’s opportunities to move it to some warm climate areas and make the Clash something that is a unique event and NASCAR willing to try different things.”

So considering how this year’s Busch Light clash played out, in addition to Dustin Long’s opinion, where do you think the pre-season clash’s new home should be?

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