The end of NASCAR’s contract with the L.A. Coliseum to hold the Busch Light Clash has kickstarted a flurry of opinions from various corners regarding the event’s future. With venues both international and domestic being contemplated by NASCAR’s officials, Denny Hamlin has reminded – for the second time this week – how the Clash is a financial loss for teams.
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The Joe Gibbs Racing driver engaged in a conversation with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and expressed his thoughts concerning the economic impact of the pre-season exhibition race. The latest edition of the race had a prize money of $2.2 million and this was nowhere near Hamlin’s liking. He said, “It’s 25% [Of what a normal race pays]. So, economically this race is a loss no matter what you do to it.”
Appalled by talks of an international venue under such distress, he continued, “It gets to a point where this is not an investment for the teams anymore. If you asked all of us, if we had the option, all teams probably would opt out of participating in the Clash because it has a bad negative impact.“
Being the co-owner of 23XI Racing, Hamlin is a valid spokesperson for the impact that teams face financially. Though he assured Dale Jr. that he wasn’t batting for the Clash to be removed from the calendar, he did say on Actions Detrimental earlier this week that he’d personally vote for it to be removed.
Denny Hamlin and Dale Jr. discuss the Clash moving back to Daytona
Since 1979, the Clash was held in the Daytona International Speedway before being moved to Los Angeles in 2022. The move was an attempt at reaching a wider audience but both Hamlin and Dale Jr. believe that NASCAR might be better off reverting the race to its original location.
Unimpressed with the Daytona 500 not having enough practice, Hamlin’s take was that the Clash could serve that role if moved back. “It’s just you know this is the biggest race and if you don’t have a build-up to it, there’s going to be a price to pay and it could be through ratings. So I think that there is merit to running there [Daytona].”
But even if the event was held at Daytona, Hamlin wouldn’t be appeased with the same prize money that was being offered. Mentioning that there wouldn’t be any financial difference made in that case he concluded that he wasn’t sure what would be the best way ahead. His only demand to NASCAR was that it take care of the teams regardless of whether the race goes international or to Daytona.
