NASCAR Clash rescheduled to tonight, but evening will have south-of-the-border flavor
EDITOR'S NOTE: Because of severe inclement weather forecast for Sunday, the Busch Light Clash and the NASCAR Mexico Series undercard have been rescheduled for tonight (Saturday night) at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Clash will begin at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT, and the NASCAR Mexico event will follow upon completion of the Clash.
NASCAR’s roots may be in the south, but the sport’s influence has expanded south of the border.
Despite the fact Sunday's Clash and NASCAR Mexico race at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum were rescheduled to Saturday night, it is expected that there will be a strong Hispanic presence in the stands, as both races have been heavily marketed to the Mexican-American community.
What's more, not just for Hispanic NASCAR fans, but rather for ALL NASCAR fans, both of tonight's races will have free admission, and those fans who already purchased either tickets or prepaid parking for the originally scheduled events on Sunday will have their money completely refunded.
For those of you who may not be aware, NASCAR indeed has a Mexican racing series, one of several international series, as the sanctioning body also hosts races in Canada, Europe, and Brazil. But the introduction of the Mexico Series in 2006 marked the sport’s first international championship.
Mexico Series cars, which are built by Five Star RaceCar Bodies, are very similar to late models. Each car utilizes a 350 crate engine that is able to produce 400 horsepower.
The Mexico Series competes on a variety of tracks, including multiple ovals. Saturday’s race will mark the furthest teams have ever traveled for a race, having traveled approximately 1,947 miles from the series headquarters in Mexico City (similar to the distance from Los Angeles to Chicago). Even with the rescheduled events, both the Clash and NASCAR Mexico races will still be broadcast live on FS1.
However, this Saturday night's race won’t be the first time the Mexico Series has raced in the United States. The Series also previously raced at Phoenix from 2013-15.
Saturday night's King Taco La Batalla en El Coliseo (Battle at The Coliseum) will feature 22 of Mexico’s best stock car drivers, including a name all NASCAR fans should be familiar with.
Cup Series regular Daniel Suárez is still scheduled to pull double duty Saturday night, driving the No. 99 Quaker State Chevrolet in the Mexico Series race after hopping out from behind the wheel of his No. 99 Cup Series car in the Clash.
A native of Monterrey, Mexico, Suárez won the 2010 Mexico Series Rookie of the Year title and won 10 races in the series. He then went on to become the first foreign-born champion of the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2016 and first Mexican Cup Series winner in 2022, when he took the checkered flag at Sonoma.
“I really want to emphasize how big of a deal it is for the NASCAR Mexico Series to be here,” Suárez, who will make his first Mexico Series start since 2014, said in a press conference Friday afternoon. “I know that because I was part of this series for a long time and the way that this series and the organization views NASCAR Cup Series or Xfinity Series or Truck Series is nothing but admiration.
"For NASCAR Mexico to have the opportunity to share a weekend with the Cup Series in a place like Los Angeles in the Coliseum is a big deal. I know that because I’ve been in those shoes before and it’s a huge opportunity. I really want to praise everyone in the organization of NASCAR Mexico and NASCAR here in the United States for making this event happen.”
Saturday night’s race is such a big deal for Suárez that he said it was just as important to him as the Daytona 500. But he does not believe that competing in the Cup race before the Mexico Series race will give him any major advantages. Instead, he’s racing in it for another reason.
“I’m doing this because I love to compete,” Suárez said. “And for me there is no better opportunity than to compete with my old mechanics and my old team. Some of these guys I used to work with. For me it’s a big deal, and I think that it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Joining Suárez in Friday’s press conference was Jose Blasco-Figueroa, a fellow NASCAR Mexico alumnus and Suárez’s race engineer at Trackhouse Racing, who was a crew chief in the Mexico series for over a decade.
“I know a lot of the guys (in NASCAR Mexico) so coming back and competing against them is kind of fun,” Blasco-Figueroa said. “You know, going back to your roots and competing against the people you started with, that’s very exciting.
“But the cars have changed. I haven’t seen those cars in eight years so my old tricks might not work now (he said with a chuckle). But it’s real exciting to be here with the guys. Like Daniel mentioned, they look up to the Cup Series. I had the opportunity to go up to the Cup Series. All the guys down there want to do that. It’s very important for us to put on a show and show that we can do a good job so other people can look up to us and say ‘Hey, they started here (in the Mexico Series)’.”