February 5, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

Before green flag waves at the LA Coliseum, Harvick calls the Clash a success

LOS ANGELES—Every NASCAR driver wants to be first—and winning the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum is no exception. 

For Kevin Harvick, who grew up two hours north of the L.A. Coliseum in Bakersfield, California, there would certainly be a sense of pride involved in claiming the inaugural victory for an event that has always called Daytona International Speedway home since its debut in 1979. 

Regardless of Sunday’s outcome, the former Cup champion and 25-year-veteran of the sport already considers NASCAR’s arrival in L.A. a win-win for everyone involved.

“Well, first, just the guts that it took for NASCAR to take the leap and try an event like this and then seeing how practice went and how smooth everything has gone,” Harvick said. “The doors that are open have been blown wide open now. I think as you look at this particular facility, the thing that I remember most about it are Mickey Thompson off-road trucks jumping out of the top over there. Motorcycles and those off-road trucks were what I watched here. 

“Obviously it is an iconic site and I think for me, being close to home and knowing that I have a lot of friends and family that are just intrigued by the event. The intrigue of the event is really the most valuable piece of the event, not only for what we do as teams but for our sponsors and new fans and for the sport in general.” 

After Saturday morning’s practice—and not just because Harvick ended up second-fast on the speed chart—he deemed the event a success. Chase Elliott’s lap of 66.889mph led the nine practice sessions with 36 drivers logging between 108 and 45 laps throughout their three opportunities to shake down the Next Gen cars. 

“This is the type of event that you need to blow it out of the water at the start of the season to get the eyeballs and the people and you guys to all show up because it is different. That is the world that we live in. We live in different and trying new things and having the guts to do it is sometimes hard to do but the rewards are pretty big on the other side when it works.

“I don't think you can screw it up at this point, personally. The event is here. The race track didn’t fly up. Practice went good. The cars all made the corners. People were passing each other and as our good friend (former NASCAR exec) Jim Hunter would say, ‘You have to have cars that pass, Kevin’ to make a good race. When you look at everything that has happened, the amount of tickets and media passes and all the things -- you can’t screw it up at this point. That is my opinion.”

In less than six weeks, NASCAR transformed one of the iconic sports venues into a race track, using 6,900 cubic yards of asphalt, 3,840 feet of temporary tracks walls and 1,400 feet of SAFER barrier topped with catch fence surrounding the 0.25-mile, 2.5-degree-banked oval.

Harvick believes the opportunity to introduce stock car racing to entirely new audiences is not out of the question given the sport’s ability to so beautifully convert the century-old facility.

“For me, I look at the NFL and what they do in London and I look at the things that they do,” Harvick said. “I think in order to really open doors, I think Wembley Stadium would be fun. I think everyone wants to do something but the weather has to be different. But this is something that you could put in the middle of the year and I think the All-Star race is definitely something that could learn something from this just because of the fact that it needs to be more like this instead of just at a 1.5-mile track that we go to all the time. 

“It needs to have that intrigue and fun and atmosphere that goes along with an event that is different. I am of the opinion that I would never do this twice, but I know that I will probably get overruled after this happens. It is kind of like the Roval, the intrigue isn’t as much the second year. I would move it all over the place. If this goes like everyone thinks it will, it will just blow the doors open to opportunities and I would take them.”

As for the debut of the Next Gen car, Harvick did his best to test the bumper in practice—on the competition and against the SAFER barrier. The outcome didn’t phase the driver.

“I didn’t even look,” Harvick said. “That’s not my job. My job is to use it, not fix it. That is the theory I am going with this week. I hit the wall, hit a car, and they haven’t said a word about it. So next time I will use it harder I guess.”