Insider Outlines Cup Teams’ Massive Monetary Loss as NASCAR Stands Firm on LA Coliseum Gimmick

After a three-month hiatus, NASCAR is back on schedule following its season-opening race at the quarter-mile track in Los Angeles. The organization kicked off the bonanza by returning to the Coliseum. Even after three seasons of bringing the first race of the season to the venue, not all is said and done. In fact, the organization still seems to be climbing a steep hill as more and more fan feedbacks reveal the popular opinion about the location.

To make matters worse, the race was cursed by the rain gods as inclement weather prompted the organization to prepone it, thus jeopardizing the music show and other grand plans set aside for the event. However, that is the least of the concerns as Brett Griffin indicated. Speaking on the popular DBC podcast, the spotter uncovered how NASCAR’s Clash at the Coliseum exhibition is costing its teams, essentially breaking their banks.

Teams tighten their belts as NASCAR’s L.A exhibition gets a poor showing

Relaying things from the fans’ perspective, dropping the long-standing Daytona tradition isn’t doing the organization any good. For one, hard-core fans are not giving their approval for replacing the iconic Daytona track with a 150-lap fixture around a quarter-mile track. And, secondly, NASCAR’s efforts to bring in the crowd aren’t doing their magic either.

While NASCAR allies blame the inclement weather for spoiling MGK’s music feast, racing analysts and pundits blame the pre-season exhibition format of the Clash. Speaking on the popular podcast, Brett Griffin, a Kaulig Racing spotter, uncovered how NASCAR’s exhibition-style fixture is actually detrimental, shaving off “$50,000 to $100,000″ from teams that are forced not to miss any event in the schedule, including the season-opening exhibition race. 

Reflecting on the low turn-up rates, Griffin said, “If the LA market is this important to us, as NASCAR says it is, then run a race that is not an exhibition race, run a true race. Because listen, man, Fontana. We sold out that place and then we went through a run where nobody was there. And then at the end of Fontana’s lifespan, people were back, coming to the racetrack. I mean, we would get into traffic. We would stand in line at the elevators and for whatever reason this LA market buzz is gone, and I don’t know how you get it back.” 

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Before concluding his take, the spotter dropped his verdict, saying, “A lot of teams lose a lot of money to go out there to not even get a chance to race. I’m not up for it. I think you think you should know in advance, what’s gonna set you up to make the race and in this situation they didn’t and they got out there and completely changed but if you’re a chartered member, you’re required to go to this race, you can not go. So you basically have to line up to lose 50,000 to a 100,000 for race. That’s a lot of money.” 

And not just that, the spotter also revealed how the LA venue might not be as popular in the NASCAR circuit anymore.

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Griffin fires away shots, calling spade a spade as he uncovers L.A Coliseum’s gone glam

NASCAR’s L.A gimmick might be on the last straw here with one of the lowest attendances. While the weather had a huge impact on this, we just cannot deny that the ticket sales were outright disappointing in the first place. To make matters worse, once the event was rescheduled to Saturday, with a mid-race music fiesta from MGK standing canceled, the numbers even dwindled further.

And NASCAR closing the grandstands for the heat races which was opened later after backlash, alienated the fans even more. In fact, only one-third of the arena’s capacity was filled. NASCAR making the tickets free post rescheduling and fans still not turning up is a worrying sight for sure.

Reflecting on this very aspect, Casey Boat, co-host of DBC asked, “What do you think, the penalty is, you know, when fans realizing like, ‘Hey, we can come for free, watch the race on Saturday, why didn’t they show up?”‘ Acknowledging the question, Griffin stated the obvious, “All right, that’s a great question and we boasted LA is our number one market. And if we can’t get a free ticket to people, Casey, that’s going to be the million-dollar question for me.” 

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He further added, “That’s why I said what I said a minute ago. You know, we saw some of the live from year one to year two go down. I know ticket sales were down this year. I’ve heard they were down even more. Obviously, we didn’t get to see that on Sunday because we didn’t race on the right day.” brett Griffin further elaborated, “But I just think it’s run as course here. I think if the LA market is this important to us, as NASCAR says it is, then run a race that is not an exhibition race, run a true race.” 

Do you think NASCAR needs to re-think its season-opening race’s location? Where would you like to see the race next year?