NASCAR’s Clash at the Coliseum moved up from Sunday to Saturday night due to weather

LOS ANGELES — With a few days of heavy rain being predicted for at least three days beginning Sunday, NASCAR moved its exhibition Clash at the Coliseum from Sunday night to tonight at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. 

The race will run at 8 p.m. Eastern on FS1. The NASCAR Mexico Series race will follow. 

The 150-lap event is run on a temporary quarter-mile track built inside the iconic venue.  

NASCAR made the unprecedented decision to move the race a day early as a dangerous rainstorm is being predicted for Southern California, with rain lasting into Wednesday. 

NASCAR had originally hoped to run on the scheduled date Sunday, but with the dire forecast, it opted to move the race to Saturday with the lineup determined by speeds in a qualifying session scheduled for mid-afternoon.

There will be 22 spots set by those qualifying speeds, with one spot for the remaining driver highest in 2023 driver points. 

NASCAR said in a statement:

“Due to the threat of unprecedented severe weather on Sunday, the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Mexico Series race events for the Clash have been moved to Saturday night. Thanks to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and Los Angeles Public Safety for their partnership and support to make the schedule adjustment for tonight’s event to ensure a safe experience for fans, competitors, and staff. 

We understand weather conditions may worsen as the day progresses, so we encourage fans to make decisions in the best interest of safety. We appreciate our fans, partners, and everyone associated with this event on this unprecedented event.”

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NASCAR will have the grandstands open for free admission to the event Saturday and then work with those who bought tickets for Sunday when it comes to refunds or credit for future NASCAR events.

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Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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