Count Kyle Busch as a driver that can’t wait for the experience of racing inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Sunday’s Busch Light Clash.
The unique, quarter-mile track built inside the historic Southern California stadium promises to be one of the biggest challenges drivers have faced in recent years. Busch is not only looking forward to the opportunity to race but the potential exposure for NASCAR under a huge spotlight.
“It’s really cool,” he said. “Obviously, the history of the Coliseum is really, really neat. It’s going to be tight corners for us, there’s not a lot of space there. We’ll put on the best show we possibly can.
“Being it’s such a historic venue, we hope we can get a good crowd out there and enjoy the show, and hopefully have a few new eyeballs come out there and tune in on TV and keep some of those people to watch our other races during the remainder of the year.”
Busch is certainly no stranger to racing at tight bullrings throughout his career. He started out in Legends cars before graduating up the stock car ladder to full-bodied super late models before rising to NASCAR’s top tier.
However, even Busch acknowledges the tight configuration of the Coliseum track will provide a complete unknown to drivers over the course of the weekend.
“My anticipation level is probably a lot like everyone else’s, just not exactly knowing what we are going to see,” Busch said. “I’ve raced on tracks that small before, but it was in Legends cars. We’ll have to see how this track fits these big, heavy stock cars. We’ll see how it goes.
“I have no idea what it’s going to be like. Top speed is probably going to be around 60 mph and the low speed in the corners may be 20 mph. It’s going to be action-packed.”
The race will also be the debut of the Next Gen Cup car in a competitive environment after months of testing. That’s another variable to throw into the mix drivers will need to deal with as they chase the checkered flag in Sunday’s 150-lap main event.
Busch is ready for it all. But for him, the most important element will be what he can do behind the wheel of his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
“Being in Los Angeles is cool,” Busch said. “But when it comes time to race, it’s time to get down to business. We have objectives in mind to be able to go out there and win. It’s a performance-based business, so with that in mind, you want to go out there and do well whether it’s a points-paying race or not for your team and for your sponsors. It’s the first race with the new car so there’s a lot on the line there.”
